Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1998 10:02:44 -0400 From: BREWER_CHARLES@ecomail.damneck.navy.mil To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg2529$foo@default> Subject: Re[2]: VFT dormancy/ moss
Hi Jange,
When VFTs go into a dormant period, how long would one expect it to
last.
I like to keep my adult VFTs in dormancy at least three to four months.
You
can shorten this if you are interested in seed production, but for the
normal VFT grower, stick to the 3 or 4 month dormancy. Young VFTs
plants can be kept growing all year long for about three years. Then
consider allowing them to go into a natural dormancy. if I am going to
repot them, when should I repot, during dormancy or any other time? I
grow a few hundred VFTs and I just don't have the time to divide up and
re pot VFTs during late winter/early spring. I do avoid re potting VFTs
during flowering and late summer, but any other time is good for me, but
late winter to early spring seems to be the best time. Where do most
people go to obtain sphagnum moss (sp??); is there a suitable
alternative if you cannot get any fresh moss? Sure, I find that live
sphagnum moss tends to grow faster then the VFT does, therefore I only
live sphagnum moss as a top dressing, on my outdoor VFTs, to keep the
soil from washing out during heavy downpours.
I use a basic soil of Peat Moss/silica sand/small pine bark and
shredded pine
needles. This seems to work fine. If you don't have pine needles or
pine mulch available, the old Peat/Sand(50/50) works great. Another
alternative to fresh sphagnum moss is dried sphagnum moss. Take the
dried sphagnum moss and soak it in warm to hot water, for a while, until
completely wet. I make up about 20 gallons at a time. I usually add
the warm water to the dried sphagnum then let it sit over night. The
next day, it's ready to use.
I hope this helps.
Charles
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