Ras
10-31-2013, 07:36 AM
(usa only please)
Hi, Im pretty new to planted tanks, so I dont have many specific plants im looking for, just a few. if you have something I dont name feel free to mention it and I'll google the plant and let you know if I'm interested.
Id be willing to buy OR for those interested in carnivorous plants ( insect eating plants aka CP's) I have quite a few Drosera species for trade. See the bottom of this post if you are interested in carnivorous plants and I will explain what you need to do to care for them, aswell as the cheapest way to do it.
Here is a link to a list of all my plants as well as some pictures of them if you just want to see what some look like.
http://www.flytrapcare.com/phpBB3/another-growlist-pics-lots-of-pics-t14790.html
if not interested just post or pm a price with the name of the plant you have
as for the plants I am looking for
African water fern (Bolbitus Heudelotii)
Pearl moss (Plagionium)
any other type of low maintenance moss.
4Leaf Clovers (marsilea)
Tiger Lily (nymphaea lotus)
Dwarf Baby Tears(Hemianthus callitrichoides)
crystalwart (riccia fluitans)
Marimo or Nano Marimo (Aegagropila linnaei)
Pink Hippo Grass (Limnophilia hippuroides)
remember you can pm me or post if you have something I didnt mention that you think is cool and i might want it
and to anyone who has plants over flowing and is throwing away plant clippings, or has excess plants they don't want or need, or just wants to be a nice guy then let me know and Ill pay for shipping to take any aquatic plant of your hands that you don't want >:)
thanks for looking
CP's FOR TRADE
(D= Drosera, S = Sarracenia)
(tropical, not cold resistant, best grown indoors under light)[/B]
D. Burmannii "Giant Red", from Hann River, Kimberly AUS
D. Burmannii Green, with red tentacles
D. Sessifolia, (Chapada dos Guimaraes, Brazil)
D. Intermedia "Cuba"
D. intermedia "Mount Roraima"
(sub-tropical ---can be grown year round--- Perfect for beginners--- can handle temps as low as 45f and will form a dormant winter bud with no trouble, though dormancy for these plants is not required)
D. Spatulata "queensland"
D. Spatulata ''friaser Island''
D. Dielsiana
D.Capensis
D. XSnyderi (DielsianaX Nidiformis hybrid, gorgeous plant)
D. Nidiformis
D. "Lantau Island"
(temperate ---- requires a cold winter dormancy period ---- can handle light frosts and temps as high as 90f with little to no humidity, temps higher than 90f may require 'the tray method' (see bottom) or extra wet soil for added local humidity, seeds require cold stratification. Best grown outdoors or brought outdoors for cold periods )
D. Binita Dichtoma "Giant"
D. Binita
D. Binita Dichtoma
D. Binita Multidifa Extrema
S. Purpea - still babies
S. purpea - seeds
Once given the right conditions these plants are the easiest plants to care for that I've ever owned, the only downside is you will need follow a few simple requirements. You may even have all the stuff you need due to your aquarium .
1)Soil.
Dead/Live sphagnum moss OR Peatmoss made from sphagnum moss. I recommend peatmoss. You can find all three at walmart, lowes, homedepot and most garden stores for under 10$ a bag, adding silica sand or unfertilized perlite is optional( it helps keep the water in the soil evenly distributed and protects from root rot). remember only use peatmoss/ perlite that has NO fertilizers. nutrients and fertilizers are BAD for CP's. This is why they catch insects and eat them. By doing this they fertilize themselves through the leaves making them able to live in such acidic and poor soil. On the flip side of that, most root fertilization will kill them.
2) Water
Pure water, a gallon cost 1$ or less, it will last longer than you think, for me it can last weeks, and most stores carry it. Water from an RO machine, distilled water or collected rain water will be fine as well, assuming your rain isn't polluted. Keep soil moist at all times, this is not hard to do at all if using peatmoss as soil. I recommend watering using the "Tray method"( see bottom).
3)Light
Fluorescent Light. depending on where you live and the species of plant its possible to grow outdoors with sunlight. For everyone else a sunny windowsill(usually south facing), or a 2-5$ CFL(compact fluorescent bulb from walmart will do the trick, I have grown amazingly healthy plants with just cfl's. here is a pic of my fullgrown albino capensis under 2 cfl's(most drosera species are small enough to only need one cfl)http://oi44.tinypic.com/11lu8ty.jpg
any type of fluorescent light will do(t5, t6, t8, etc are generally better but not needed) as long as it is between 3000k-7000k in color temperature. 3000k and similar bulbs will set most plants into a blooming state. Around 6400k bulbs set the plants into a 'grow state'. higher wattage/lumens gives better coloration as well as faster movement . Although as you can see from the pic above, high wattage and tube bulbs aren't always necessary for a perfectly healthy plant.
Just remember with dimer bulbs you may have to move the light closer to the leaves.
4) Food aka nutrients
they will catch their own food with their leaves, some growers like to hand feed them for optimal growth. during the winter months when there aren't many bugs some growers hand feed tropical species to keep them looking great, some species even get extra benefits from being fed, for example D. Burmanni is an annual, usually dieing after it flowers. But if fed heavily during flowering it will live for 5+ years. D intermedia "cuba" is usually a very tiny plant, leaves around the size of a pencil eraser..... if fed regularly it can double or triple in size in a matter of weeks. Once that regular heavy feeding stops Intermedia cuba will shrink back down to its normal size. Most if not all the plants I listed need no help with feeding when grown outdoors. When indoors they catch houseflies and nats. If you have no insects that occasionally sneak into your house there is an alternative... Fish food, basically imitation bugs but with more nutrients
all you need to do is drop a bit of fish food on the leaf pad( for a sarracenia you would drop the food down its hole), and BAM, you just took care of your plants fertilization for weeks, even months. in some cases certain species, (mostly sub tropical. D. spatulata, D. Capensis, D Dielsiana, and so on) can survive years without food, making them great for beginners who are prone to mistakes and or neglect.
Just always remember they get nutrients from their leaves, not roots
The Tray Method
Simply put your potted plants into a tray,
http://www.growsundews.com/sundews/sundew_tray_method/sterilite_trays.JPG
anything works really. You generally want the tray to be taller or as tall as your pot(s).
http://www.growsundews.com/sundews/sundew_tray_method/light_fixtures.JPG
This is used so you can water the plants without getting the leaves wet, by pouring water into the tray rather than the pots. Letting the water soak into the pots through the drainage holes in the bottom leaves you with beautiful untouched dewy plants. This method also adds to local humidity which gives larger dew drops.
so in summary,
sphagnum/sphagnum peatmoss+pure water+light= http://oi49.tinypic.com/zm1cty.jpg
easy right?
Hi, Im pretty new to planted tanks, so I dont have many specific plants im looking for, just a few. if you have something I dont name feel free to mention it and I'll google the plant and let you know if I'm interested.
Id be willing to buy OR for those interested in carnivorous plants ( insect eating plants aka CP's) I have quite a few Drosera species for trade. See the bottom of this post if you are interested in carnivorous plants and I will explain what you need to do to care for them, aswell as the cheapest way to do it.
Here is a link to a list of all my plants as well as some pictures of them if you just want to see what some look like.
http://www.flytrapcare.com/phpBB3/another-growlist-pics-lots-of-pics-t14790.html
if not interested just post or pm a price with the name of the plant you have
as for the plants I am looking for
African water fern (Bolbitus Heudelotii)
Pearl moss (Plagionium)
any other type of low maintenance moss.
4Leaf Clovers (marsilea)
Tiger Lily (nymphaea lotus)
Dwarf Baby Tears(Hemianthus callitrichoides)
crystalwart (riccia fluitans)
Marimo or Nano Marimo (Aegagropila linnaei)
Pink Hippo Grass (Limnophilia hippuroides)
remember you can pm me or post if you have something I didnt mention that you think is cool and i might want it
and to anyone who has plants over flowing and is throwing away plant clippings, or has excess plants they don't want or need, or just wants to be a nice guy then let me know and Ill pay for shipping to take any aquatic plant of your hands that you don't want >:)
thanks for looking
CP's FOR TRADE
(D= Drosera, S = Sarracenia)
(tropical, not cold resistant, best grown indoors under light)[/B]
D. Burmannii "Giant Red", from Hann River, Kimberly AUS
D. Burmannii Green, with red tentacles
D. Sessifolia, (Chapada dos Guimaraes, Brazil)
D. Intermedia "Cuba"
D. intermedia "Mount Roraima"
(sub-tropical ---can be grown year round--- Perfect for beginners--- can handle temps as low as 45f and will form a dormant winter bud with no trouble, though dormancy for these plants is not required)
D. Spatulata "queensland"
D. Spatulata ''friaser Island''
D. Dielsiana
D.Capensis
D. XSnyderi (DielsianaX Nidiformis hybrid, gorgeous plant)
D. Nidiformis
D. "Lantau Island"
(temperate ---- requires a cold winter dormancy period ---- can handle light frosts and temps as high as 90f with little to no humidity, temps higher than 90f may require 'the tray method' (see bottom) or extra wet soil for added local humidity, seeds require cold stratification. Best grown outdoors or brought outdoors for cold periods )
D. Binita Dichtoma "Giant"
D. Binita
D. Binita Dichtoma
D. Binita Multidifa Extrema
S. Purpea - still babies
S. purpea - seeds
Once given the right conditions these plants are the easiest plants to care for that I've ever owned, the only downside is you will need follow a few simple requirements. You may even have all the stuff you need due to your aquarium .
1)Soil.
Dead/Live sphagnum moss OR Peatmoss made from sphagnum moss. I recommend peatmoss. You can find all three at walmart, lowes, homedepot and most garden stores for under 10$ a bag, adding silica sand or unfertilized perlite is optional( it helps keep the water in the soil evenly distributed and protects from root rot). remember only use peatmoss/ perlite that has NO fertilizers. nutrients and fertilizers are BAD for CP's. This is why they catch insects and eat them. By doing this they fertilize themselves through the leaves making them able to live in such acidic and poor soil. On the flip side of that, most root fertilization will kill them.
2) Water
Pure water, a gallon cost 1$ or less, it will last longer than you think, for me it can last weeks, and most stores carry it. Water from an RO machine, distilled water or collected rain water will be fine as well, assuming your rain isn't polluted. Keep soil moist at all times, this is not hard to do at all if using peatmoss as soil. I recommend watering using the "Tray method"( see bottom).
3)Light
Fluorescent Light. depending on where you live and the species of plant its possible to grow outdoors with sunlight. For everyone else a sunny windowsill(usually south facing), or a 2-5$ CFL(compact fluorescent bulb from walmart will do the trick, I have grown amazingly healthy plants with just cfl's. here is a pic of my fullgrown albino capensis under 2 cfl's(most drosera species are small enough to only need one cfl)http://oi44.tinypic.com/11lu8ty.jpg
any type of fluorescent light will do(t5, t6, t8, etc are generally better but not needed) as long as it is between 3000k-7000k in color temperature. 3000k and similar bulbs will set most plants into a blooming state. Around 6400k bulbs set the plants into a 'grow state'. higher wattage/lumens gives better coloration as well as faster movement . Although as you can see from the pic above, high wattage and tube bulbs aren't always necessary for a perfectly healthy plant.
Just remember with dimer bulbs you may have to move the light closer to the leaves.
4) Food aka nutrients
they will catch their own food with their leaves, some growers like to hand feed them for optimal growth. during the winter months when there aren't many bugs some growers hand feed tropical species to keep them looking great, some species even get extra benefits from being fed, for example D. Burmanni is an annual, usually dieing after it flowers. But if fed heavily during flowering it will live for 5+ years. D intermedia "cuba" is usually a very tiny plant, leaves around the size of a pencil eraser..... if fed regularly it can double or triple in size in a matter of weeks. Once that regular heavy feeding stops Intermedia cuba will shrink back down to its normal size. Most if not all the plants I listed need no help with feeding when grown outdoors. When indoors they catch houseflies and nats. If you have no insects that occasionally sneak into your house there is an alternative... Fish food, basically imitation bugs but with more nutrients
all you need to do is drop a bit of fish food on the leaf pad( for a sarracenia you would drop the food down its hole), and BAM, you just took care of your plants fertilization for weeks, even months. in some cases certain species, (mostly sub tropical. D. spatulata, D. Capensis, D Dielsiana, and so on) can survive years without food, making them great for beginners who are prone to mistakes and or neglect.
Just always remember they get nutrients from their leaves, not roots
The Tray Method
Simply put your potted plants into a tray,
http://www.growsundews.com/sundews/sundew_tray_method/sterilite_trays.JPG
anything works really. You generally want the tray to be taller or as tall as your pot(s).
http://www.growsundews.com/sundews/sundew_tray_method/light_fixtures.JPG
This is used so you can water the plants without getting the leaves wet, by pouring water into the tray rather than the pots. Letting the water soak into the pots through the drainage holes in the bottom leaves you with beautiful untouched dewy plants. This method also adds to local humidity which gives larger dew drops.
so in summary,
sphagnum/sphagnum peatmoss+pure water+light= http://oi49.tinypic.com/zm1cty.jpg
easy right?