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Water

I was reading on another site that you can let tap water sit out for around 48 hours and then it would be ok to water VFTs with, but still not as good as distilled water. Is that true? It seems a little odd to me.

Oh and another. How exactly do you acclimate VFTs to the outdoors? Wouldn't they just get acclimated to the indoors from the cube, and then have to start the process over again from in to outdoors?
 
lol i just threw my VFTs from Lowes outside. it wont hurt em, they might burn a little, but trust me, its really better for them. ive had about a 98% success rate from all 400$ worth of my lowes rescue plants, most were near dead so we got 75% off of that. lol, quit the rescue really all in all. Dont risk the tap water, just buy a about 10 gallons of distilled water, once your out, start using the RO water machines at your local grocery store, its about 30-40cents a gallon depending on who your going to. its cheap, and in the long run id buy an RO water machine if your going to get heavy into this hobby. i havent done it yet, but its well worth it. or collect rain water lol.
 
I was reading on another site that you can let tap water sit out for around 48 hours and then it would be ok to water VFTs with, but still not as good as distilled water. Is that true? It seems a little odd to me.

its not true.
that trick works for aquariums, but not CPs..
the problem with tap water, for CPs, is the "water hardness"..the minerals in the water.
some water is "harder" than others, but most tap water is too hard for most CPs..

when you let the water sit out for 24-48 hours, the only thing that dissipates away is chlorine..(which then makes it safe for aquarium fish) but NONE of the mineral hardness goes anywhere..actually, letting water sit also results in the removal of water itself..in the form of water vapor, evaporation..so technically water that sits out for awhile gets HARDER! because the minerals stay, and the amount of water lessens..so in theory, letting water sit out makes it worse for CPs!

Only rain water, distilled water, or reverse osmosis water for CPs..
nothing else..
no tap, no bottled, no "treated", no brita filter, no ion exchange, no culligan man..none of that helps for CPs..

Oh and another. How exactly do you acclimate VFTs to the outdoors? Wouldn't they just get acclimated to the indoors from the cube, and then have to start the process over again from in to outdoors?

not sure what you mean by "acclimated to indoors"..
you dont want them acclimated to indoors! ;)
when you get them home, in the cube, remove the clear plastic cube top, throw it away,
stick the pot in a tray of (rain, distilled or RO) water, and stick it out in the sun.
dont worry about acclimation..
you might get some sun burn, but IMO that is a small price to pay for getting the plants out in the direct sun they need.

Scot
 
Ok cool thanks, I didn't realize it was so cheap. Naw I don't expect to go crazy into the hobby, but I might pick up some more next year. I just wanted to start back up and rekindle my interest. I had a couple of these when I was around 10 and you can probably guess what happened to those.

Thanks again
 
I water mine with those BRITA filters, but I don't use a tray system so that's how I make up for it-because the pots get flushed every time I water. I've been growing with BRITA ever since I started.
 
To scotty: (I replied and then yours showed up) What I meant was that over on gardenweb some people told me to let them acclimate by keeping them indoors, but it seems to me that would just acclimate from being in the cube to indoors, which in turn would make them have to acclimate to outdoors from the indoors. cube->indoors->outdoors ( makes it harder on the plant in my opinion)

I thought just putting them outside made more sense because of this, but oh well.

Thanks for confirming
 
lol the hobby gets addicting...i didnt think id get heavy into it...ive only been growing for about 8 months, and BOOM collection has exploded lol....have fun holding the urge back xD its like a nicotine addiction...only worse....but better for your health
 
lol the hobby gets addicting...i didnt think id get heavy into it...ive only been growing for about 8 months, and BOOM collection has exploded lol....have fun holding the urge back xD its like a nicotine addiction...only worse....but better for your health

unless you're poor.
 
  • #10
lol. I actually just went to the store and bought some distilled water, so I feel nice and prepared. Your supposed to water from the bottom for VTF's right, and why does that matter? I've got a 6in plastic pot with one of the trays btw.
 
  • #11
the pot it came in is fine probably, they dont have any major roots so its not gonna be an issue. just sit it in a tray of water, top watering is fine too though
 
  • #12
Your supposed to water from the bottom for VTF's right, and why does that matter? I've got a 6in plastic pot with one of the trays btw.

The reasoning behind "watering from the bottom" is because Dionaea are typically found in wet bogs. You don't have to water from the bottom, but leave the pot in a tray that holds water so the soil is constantly wet. Watering from the top is great because it aerates the soil and prevents it from becoming stagnant. You could water from the top and let the water collect in your tray.

xvart.
 
  • #13
Do what xvart said.
 
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