Inorganic Fertilizer Usage

[tzestan]

I setup an experiment to compare long-term effect of fertilizers on Nepenthes.

3 xVentrata cuttings were established from the same stem, and grown in the same pot. This removes factors such as genetics, soil, light... from biasing the results.

The cuttings were not started in exact same size.


One plant (the largest) is the control.

One plant (medium size) is fed with frozen bloodworm once every week.

The last one (smallest) is fertilized once every week with home mixed inorganic soluble salts including all major (N, P, K) and most minor (Ca, Mg, Fe, Mn, Cu, Zn, B, S, Cl, Mo) nutrients. Incompatible ions that would form insoluble compounds are delivered to different pitchers.

The setup has been running for 2+ months. Already I can notice some differences. The smallest plant is greener than the other 2, with control being the palest. The differences don't show up well in photo.


Ignore the irrelevant invading bical pitcher.


I'll continue it for at least 6 months before making conclusion. If there are really appreciable advantages, should be obvious by then.

Let me know if there are suggestions or anything overlooked...

[kevyn chan]

""The last one (smallest) is fertilized once every week with home mixed inorganic soluble salts including all major (N, P, K) and most minor (Ca, Mg, Fe, Mn, Cu, Zn, B, S, Cl, Mo) nutrients. Incompatible ions that would form insoluble compounds are delivered to different pitchers.

The setup has been running for 2+ months. Already I can notice some differences. The smallest plant is greener than the other 2, with control being the palest. The differences don't show up well in photo.""

i do agree on the result from the usage of inorganic soluble salt, the plants grew broader greener leaves and stockier pitcher too...however i could not give the exact timeline of effectiveness because the pot of hookeriana that i used had been knocked over numerous times by the monkeys that invade my growing area. it suffers from "shocks" now and then....

[sooxiwei]

why not separate them into 3 different pots so that you can obtain a more accurate measure

If you have too many cuttings at one time, can try out 5 pot with one method, 5 pot with different method and 5 for another cares, that'll be more accurate for data collection since all of them will more or less get affected by the fert you give if they were in one single pot

[NepNut]

Sorry if I miss some point, what you meant by fertilizing is actually fertilizing the plant via it's pitcher?

Your control plant, did you make sure the pitcher is without any insects that it attract naturally?

I think a more interesting experiment would involve foliar spray with inorganic fert to see if nep really recieve nutrient this way and to see how good it work....

[tzestan]

Yes, fertilizers into pitchers. Delivered via syringe. It is hard to keep foliar spray droplets away from nearby sensitive plants. Pitchers are nutrient absorbing organs. Keep in the same pot makes sure they are getting same quality of light, soil, and water.

I don't stop insects getting into any picthers. All plants stand the same chance. If all of them get same amount of insects, none has advantage. If however, one plant attracts more than others and grows better, it just shows that the feeding recipe makes it more attractive to insects.

Delivering fertilizers through pitchers is convenient. This exercise is to see whether it produces significant improvements in plant appearance.

[NepNut]

Great experiment you're conducting here tzestan and thanks for sharing your findings.

However for me (and me only), IMHO manually feeding the pitcher to see how it would help / benefit the nep is a redundant experiment. We all know most nep will grow better if nutrients were available to the plants via pitcher absorption. For most of us, most nep are more than capable of catching their own "food" when grown outdoor in our tropical weather. Personally, to experiment the advantages of fertilizing via root zone and applying it via foliar spray is a more interesting subject since there's really a lack of results (I can only find a few on internet) to show whether it'll greatly benefit the nep and most importantly, how to properly do it to get the intended results...

Yet, it's still interesing to see if what you're trying to find can significantly imporve the growth of neps. As he saying goes.... "Never try, never know...". Please keep us updated...

[tzestan]

After so long, I manage to compile a photo of the progress.


3 plants clockwise from 10 o'clock position, no feeding, frozen bloodworm feeding, and mineral salt fertilizing into pitcher.



In short,
- Leaf and pitcher colour is paler without feeding/fertilizing.
- Fed/fertilized plant looks healthier overall.
- Not much different in bloodworm feeding compared to fertilizing.
- Fertilizing results in more compact growth.

[alpiner]

Great experiment. Good to see that inorganic fertilizer yields similar results with organic/worms. Call me sissy , but I just don't hv the hearts to throw live stuff into the pitchers. If those bugs jump in themselves, that's diff story.
I've been putting slow release fert into new pitchers once a month with good results. I've read ppl using diluted fish emulsion and coffee as well. But to ppl with green house like Rob and Khoon, that's crazy amount of work. That's why a controlled study on spray foliar techniques will interest a lot of us, judging on the direction we're heading with seeds grown plants and group purchases.