Date: Mon, 24 Nov 1997 09:26:00 -0500 From: "Mellard, David" <dam7@cdc.gov> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg4493$foo@default> Subject: RE: Nepenthes
great big belly laugh about D. capensis growing on Mars.
>Do your pitchers go a deep red like mine? I've been using these special
flo tubes ( >Hagen "Life-Gro's") and have seen alot of small (1 1/2 to 2
inch) very red
>pitchers as a result. What sort of setup do you use? Photoperiod? Just
>wondering. The N. madagascariensis species are to me a very SLOW
growing
>nep!
It's a 55 gallon aquarium with a bottom layer (may 2 to 3 inches) of
long sphagnum fiber, charcoal, and rock size perlite. I didn't measure
portions just threw the stuff together unitl it felt light and airy.
This is top dressed with a 2 to 4 inch layer of live sphagnum. I keep a
good 1 to 2 inches of rain water in the bottom of the tank. All cp's
are kept in plastic pots that are inserted into the live sphagnum but
above the water line. It also serves as a nursery for Paphiopedliums
that are not doing well in the outside world. I water with rainwater
periodically but never on a set schedule, just when I remember and try
to turn the fan on a few hours each day but often forget. I plan to go
to a computer store some day and see if I can find a smaller fan that I
can put on a timer. I use Excella lights, I think from GE. They are a
full spectrum light that costs around $6 and I'm very pleased with them.
I tried D. capillaris but they don't really thrive. They manage to hang
on. I'm sure the reason is that they are too far from the light because
I have them in my grow room under the same lights (maybe an inch or two
away) and they do fine.
D. adelae loves it, as do the Ceph's and the Heliamphora. I also kept a
S. minor in it that did fine, too. I suspect the minor is what did in a
nest of ants that appeared when I first set the aquarium up last spring.
David
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