|
|
Post by Rymah on Jan 6, 2009 19:37:24 GMT -5
Just wondering what mix you guys use as your media for the plants and where i can buy the stuff, i priced out the pre made stuff and its just WAY to expensive..
i need a good media for VFt and a Ping.
|
|
|
|
Post by tael on Jan 6, 2009 20:01:16 GMT -5
I know you can buy the Chilean sphagnum at Sheridan Nurseries for 9.99, that's about the only source in my town.  But you might wanna check out Home Depot and Canadian tire (or other hardware stores) because it's probably cheaper there. I hear they sometimes have big bales of it.  I got my sphagnum moss online at www.gardeningwarehousedirect.com/cat_potting.cfm (by the referall of Lloyd!), because it was a bigger bag from the one at Sheridan Nurseries and I hadn't the means to get there! All I use for my plants (other than my nepenthes) is perlite (I wash it first) and NZ sphagnum. I feel dumb answering this thread because I know there's a lot more people on here that know more than me... |
|
|
|
Post by mabudon on Jan 6, 2009 20:41:18 GMT -5
absolute cheapest and pretty effective- get some plain old peat moss (Canadian sphagnum peat, comes in "cubes") and some perlite. Wash the perlite (and watch the dust, you don't want to inhale it) and mix it down with the wetted peat in a roughly 1:1 ratio Make sure to use R/O or distilled water in the process, tap water is not usually the best for CPs. For the VFT, a 1:1 peat:perlite or even a 2 part peat to 1 perlite would be fine For pings I would go 1 part peat to 2 parts perlite. Hope this helps, and what Tael said works too  |
|
|
|
Post by tael on Jan 6, 2009 20:58:59 GMT -5
Hehe, whoops. I forgot to give the ratios! That's okay, Mabudon's got it under control . Me smart newbie, har har.  |
|
|
|
Post by Rymah on Jan 7, 2009 8:51:22 GMT -5
lol @ (HAr har) my co workers think im nuts...
where do u buy perlite? what is it sand??
|
|
|
|
Post by hal on Jan 7, 2009 12:12:10 GMT -5
where do u buy perlite? what is it sand?? It's a very light white mineral - looks like broken styrofoam pieces. You can buy it at a garden centre or Home Depot. |
|
|
|
Post by Flytrap on Jan 7, 2009 12:51:35 GMT -5
Mab's right...
the best stuff is Canadian milled peat moss. Although perlite is often used, I actually prefer sharp sand (builder's sand is okay). My beef with perlite is that it takes a long while for the buggers to "settle" in place. Newly mixed peat/perlite get a lot of floaters when you water it.
My peat sand mix ratio 70:30 (actually I use the "handful of this , and small handful of that" mixing formula)
|
|
|
|
Post by Rymah on Jan 7, 2009 12:58:43 GMT -5
i made a cake liek that once.... i threw it out...
can all this be bought during winter and at crappy tire??
|
|
|
|
Post by mabudon on Jan 7, 2009 13:03:23 GMT -5
the big bales of peat are usually more of a gardening-season thing but it can't help to look. Being in the same town, Rick Hillier should know the most likely sources I would imagine
|
|
|
|
Post by Rick Hillier on Jan 7, 2009 13:48:52 GMT -5
I got my peat moss at Belgian Nursery out Hwy 7 and a huge bag of Perlite at Homegrown Hydroponics out in Breslau.
I don't know how much you need, but I have a fair amount of material on hand right now, so if you're looking for a smaller quantity to a point where getting a big bale of peat moss isn't worthwhile, we can make up a batch and get you started when you come over and see my humble collection.
Of course, once the CP addiction takes a firm hold of you (rest assured - it will), then it becomes more worthwhile to get the peat in larger quantities.
>>> Rick <<<
|
|
|
|
Post by Flytrap on Jan 7, 2009 13:57:41 GMT -5
Oh... make sure that the peat moss has no added fertilizers. Some of the smaller packages of peat available (here in BC) has chemicals added to it. You probably know this already, that fertilizer to CPs = death. (exception of weak foliar applications to Neps)
|
|
|
|
Post by Rick Hillier on Jan 7, 2009 15:23:44 GMT -5
Flytrap: I almost forgot about that one... it cost me a ceph that I had gotten from an Australian distributor that I had for my software back in the '80's. I grew it successfully for a very long time and the single colony got to fill a 12" diameter pot. It needed repotting and I bought a bag of peat moss at Ontario Seed of all places, and I never knew at the time that it had fertilizer in it. This stuff even killed off most of my D. capensis, in addition to that large ceph. All I have left are some photographs (just prints from film) of a plant with well over 200 large pitchers on it  Oh well, maybe in ten years, the ones I currently have will get there again if I don't knock 'em off by then. >>> Rick <<< |
|
|
|
Post by hackerberry on Jan 7, 2009 15:31:05 GMT -5
Wow Rick, over 200 pitchers? Is that a pre-historic Ceph? That's just awesome!
hb
|
|
|
|
Post by Rymah on Jan 7, 2009 15:53:37 GMT -5
wow rick that musta hurt, if i had spent that long on a single plant and i did that id prolyl cry a little...
|
|
|
|
Post by mabudon on Jan 7, 2009 16:03:47 GMT -5
Not to stray too far off topic but Rick has a couple of DOOZY stories about "plant tragedies" unfortunately
And yes AVOID the small bags of peat if at all possible- Varun almost slew a bunch of plants with stuff that obviously had fertilizer pellets in it, he had already planted stuff up and if it weren't for him being properly suspicious and seeking confirmation, it could have been a disaster right off the hop
In most instances there's very little mention of certain types of additives in the "bad" peat, so if you get some and it has ANYTHING that doesn't look like plain brown dust and chunks (which you can get rid of, chunks of wood and stuff can impede roots and also break down releasing butrients and making the medium go "sour" faster) it is probably fertilizer pellets or something.
If you get a little bit of starter media from Rick H you do NOT have to inspect it (tho it might have D.capensis seeds in it... OR D.madagascariensis, he has those magically appear from time to time)
|
|
But you might wanna check out Home Depot and Canadian tire (or other hardware stores) because it's probably cheaper there. I hear they sometimes have big bales of it. 
