Date: Thu, 10 Sep 1998 20:26:34 +0100 From: "Adao Pereira" <miguelporto@mail.telepac.pt> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg2972$foo@default> Subject: Tap water consequences and levitating Pings (again)
Hello Edwin and others!
You wrote:
> I've tried tap water on a Drosera Capensis. The result is a short, stubby
> plant, with very little dew on the tentacles, and poor colouring. (Note:
that's
> only a sample of one plant, so hardly a scientific study). It didn't die.
>
> I've also used water from a well on my plants. The Drosera Capensis
plants all
> did well, as did the Sarracenias. My VFTs died, and my D. Binata leaves
all
> died. The D. Binata recovered almost immediately when they got rain
water.
> I won't do that again!
That is very strange for me!
Look: the best Drosera capensis I've had was grown with tap water all its
life AND in a soil that was exactly the opposite of a CP soil - a compact
compost with lots of nutrients that when watered turned into mud. I didn't
even mixed sand to make it an airy soil mix. And this was the best D.
capensis I've had. It produced lots of seeds and flowers and it looked
quite healthy with lots of dew.
Now, let me tell you this: I have some D. capensis growing in the same
conditions I said, but in complete shade. I also have some D. capensis
growing with distilled water in a peat and sand mix (in the same terrarium
as my Nepenthes, which is doing excellent), in a bright place.
Can you guess what happened? Those I kept with distilled water died! And
the others continue growing! What I want to say is that my D. capensis seem
to love compost and tap water! Even in complete shade they grow! If there's
another theory, please say.
BTW: what I said for D. capensis is exactly what I say for my Pinguicula
oaxaca: those I keep in the Nepenthes terrarium just stopped growing. The
others I keep in compost and tap water are huge! And the strange thing is
that they grow without any roots, just levitating. They propagate
themselves by offsets a lot, but these have no roots and grow without even
touching the soil. And so, these plants flower, reproduce... in the air. If
anyone can explain me how they get the nutrients, I would be glad. I don't
feed them, and they are enclosed in a glass tank, so they get nothing from
the outside, not even eventual particles in the air. And believe me, they
reproduce by offsets *a lot*!
With these words, I finish.
Good growing,
Miguel
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