Re: Osmocote and pitcher feeding

From: CMDodd@aol.com
Date: Fri Nov 19 1999 - 12:54:36 PST


Date: Fri, 19 Nov 1999 15:54:36 EST
From: CMDodd@aol.com
To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com
Message-Id: <aabcdefg3944$foo@default>
Subject: Re: Osmocote and pitcher feeding

In a message dated 99-11-19 05:12:25 EST, you write:

<< In the colder weather with fewer insects, I've tried
 feeding my outdoor Nepenthes by dropping a few pellets
 of Osmocote into the pitchers. I thought perhaps the
 slow release of nutrients would mimic the slow digestion
 of insect prey.
 
 I used Osmocote for Potting Mixes, which contains 17-6-10
 plus minor nutrients. For larger plants and pitchers, I put
 two or three of the little pellets in some pitchers. For
 smaller plants, one little pellet only.
 
 So far, it hasn't seemed to cause any harm - the pitchers
 with the osmocote seem as healthy as those without - though
 neither has it seemed to spur any dramatic bursts of growth.
 
 I'm wondering if anyone else has tried this or has any
 comments.
 
 -- Chuck Bigelow
>>

Chuck,

I had a very bad experience with Osmocote once. At the suggestion of a
friend who assured me that he had tried this on his own plants, I put a few
of the pellets into several Nepenthes pitchers. All of them died and in one
case the necrosis started working its way up the tendril toward the stem and
I had to remove the leaf. Maybe I was using a different formulation but I
never tried it again.

Cliff



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