Water Toleration

[Nepenthesis]

How much water can neps tolerate? How long can the medium be at it's water retention capacity without root rot? I've read that after fertilizing, you must flush the pot with water until it generously flows out the bottom. Will that be too much water and/or cause root rot? How dry is too dry?

I'm new to neps and just received my first two a little over a week ago. One in a Pasion Highlands Truncata (3") and the other is a ventricosa x talangensis (12"). Regarding the ventricosa x talangensis, there is sphagnum around the roots and a bark mix around the rest of the pot. The other is planted in bark, but it's only 3" across. Not sure if that's because it's small or because of the species it is, or if it's just lack of experience of the vendor.

I know watering is usually in relative terms, such as "moist," "soak," "drench," etc. and it's very difficult to know exactly how much water is too much.

The questions I have asked are assuming that the medium is LFS, which is very retentive of water.

Thanks in advance!!

 

[Heli]

They like it damp but not sopping wet. When I flush my plants I put them in my sink to let the extra water drain out.

 

[lance]

I just fill my nep trays up with water and then let their roots air out for a few days after the water is gone...never had a problem once.

I fertilize my neps by spraying their leaves so I never end up having to rinse them...only when I clean out the greenhouse every now and then

 

[Nepenthesis]

They like it damp but not sopping wet. When I flush my plants I put them in my sink to let the extra water drain out.

Thanks for the fast reply! I guess why I'm confused about watering is because it's full of relative terms. By flush it with water, should a lot drain out the bottom even if it's sphagnum? When I just mist a few times, it leaves the sphagnum soaking wet, but nothing ever drains from the pot their in.

I guess a question that would help me the most is how long can they stay wet (not moist, but wet) without root rot? Then I can figure out the max I can water given my evaporation/drying rate.

---------- Post added at 06:43 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:41 PM ----------

I just fill my nep trays up with water and then let their roots air out for a few days after the water is gone...never had a problem once.

That sound easy enough, but my neps are going to be in hanging baskets when repotted, so they won't have trays that I can do that method with.

 

[lance]

That sound easy enough, but my neps are going to be in hanging baskets when repotted, so they won't have trays that I can do that method with.

For hanging baskets you water frequently and make sure the spagnum is somewhat moist when drying out (dont want the roots to dry). I would water them every day. Are you gonna use hanging pots? Vacation time could pose a problem if they are in mesh wrap hanging baskets.

 

[Nepenthesis]

For hanging baskets you water frequently and make sure the spagnum is somewhat moist when drying out (dont want the roots to dry). I would water them every day. Are you gonna use hanging pots? Vacation time could pose a problem if they are in mesh wrap hanging baskets.

They'll be in a greenhouse, so the humidity and temperature will be higher, and they won't be exposed to wind. When I go on vacation, I will get a neighbor to take care of them. There are three people within walking distance that range from leisure growers to extreme hobbyists, so the plants will be well taken care of.

The baskets will be 12" metal baskets with coconut-husk-like lining. This is the specific one...

They'll be planted in 50/50 sphagnum/perlite. But the key thing to watering I guess would be to know how much is too much, so how many days could they survive completely soaked without root rot? They more than likely won't be soaked ever, but I'm curious how much water would be too much for flushing them after fertilizing.

 

[lance]

Flushing them with water after fertilizing would probably start to effect them after the water was running for a week...so I wouldnt worry

 

[Exo]

I use those pots for some of my neps, so I'm familiar with how different mixes work with them....and my guess is that if ya use the mix that you mentioned, you shouldn't have too many issues with root rot. Those baskets are very porus, and excess water drains/evaporates rather fast. In your case, it would be a matter of how often to water. There is no way to predict how long a nep will tolerate that mix if it were watered say....every day, because it depends on the size of the plant...species, temprature, humidity, sunlight, root ball size, age of the media, PPM of the water, and a ton of other factors.

 

[lance]

I leave my nepenthes in trays while im gone for 2 weeks which is close to "flushing".

 

[31drew31]

Flushing them after fertilizing by running water through the pot for 5-10 minutes will be no problem. 30seconds to 1 minute will be plenty to flush the pot though.

I have accidentally left Oncidium type orchids sitting completely submerged in water up to the base of the plant for approximately 36hrs with no troubles, and they like to be much much drier than Nepenthes. In other words, I cant see leaving Nepenthes soaking wet for 48hrs or so being problematic assuming the media is allowed to dry to the normal water level.

I noticed you said when you mist it leaves the LFS soaked. Depending on how long you are misting for, the media in the middle is not soaked, but just damp. The same can be assumed of the opposite.

 

[Nepenthesis]

Right now they are in 4"w x 4"l x 5"h pots, so would one cup of RO be sufficient to flush them out? Sorry for bombarding you guys with so many questions!

 

[Exo]

Right now they are in 4"w x 4"l x 5"h pots, so would one cup of RO be sufficient to flush them out? Sorry for bombarding you guys with so many questions!

No problem...questions are good...yes, that is enough water to flush them.

 

[31drew31]

I think 1 1/2 cups would be better

Honestly though, I would let water pour out the bottom for 10 seconds or so... then let it finish dripping and replace it back in the tray or where ever you keep them. Really its trial and error though, need to figure out what works for you in your conditions.

 

[Nepenthesis]

No problem...questions are good...yes, that is enough water to flush them.

I think 1 1/2 cups would be better

Honestly though, I would let water pour out the bottom for 10 seconds or so... then let it finish dripping and replace it back in the tray or where ever you keep them. Really its trial and error though, need to figure out what works for you in your conditions.

Thanks guys! The medium is lightly moist, but not dry, so I'll fertilize in a few minutes.

Another question... How long after fertilizing should I wait before flushing? Is two days enough time?

 

[Dexenthes]

Honestly it sounds like you may be over thinking it just a little bit.

Nepenthes soil should just be moist at all times, it can be really wet for a while, and dry out to pretty dry, but not bone dry. But really I think you will find out how simple it is soon.

 

[Rokosauros]

One thing I've notice, after a week (give or take a day or two) where any nepenthes' media are continuously wet to waterlogged, they tend to slow down their growth. After that, it's varies amongst species and hybrids of how the plant reacts. Some just stay flash frozen without any growth or drying up. Some make continuously smaller leaves after that. The thing is, once the leaves and stems start blackening from the bottom (the roots), that's the most serious case and usually it is really hard to recover a nep afterwards.

As for how I water them, I really cannot advice much about it because I'm staying in the tropics where I grow my nepenthes outdoors! I water them every 3 days or so by hosing them with water until water flows from the bottom of the pot. Furthermore, during the hot and dry season of my tropical Malaysia where temps can sky rocket up to 33*C, I'd have to water my neps daily! It's worth noting that I use burnt earth and peat moss which does not possess the water retention level of long fibre sphagnum.