Date: Wed, 21 Jan 1998 18:36:54 -0800 From: Denis Daly <dalymob@bigpond.com> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg267$foo@default> Subject: Feeding Carnivorous Plants
Hellow All.
Feeding Carnivorous Plants:-
I have noted the discussions on feeding carnivorous plants.
Some of you are noting improvements in your plants growth. I have
been advocating fertilising carnivorous plants for some time now.
In the case of Nepenthes most people apply reasonable amounts of
fertiliser already. Nepenthes are not evaluated in the references
referred to below.
Being lucky enough to live in Sydney, Australia, my plants are
outdoors all year and catch their own prey.
The real significance of that fact became apparent only last week
when I obtained a copy of a review of Mineral Nutrition of
Carnivorous Plants (reference 1).There are two other related
articles that were published in CPN in 1992 and 1996. (references
2 & 3)
I must say that after reading reference 1 I learnt a lot from them
on how I might improve my mineral fertilisation of Carnivorous
Plants.
Feeding of carnivorous plants is not simply a matter of either
either ensuring that plants trap prey or of using very dilute
fertilisers. While either helps BOTH together work wonders. Unless
you grow hydroponically using distilled water you are fertilising
the plants.
Not all carnivorous plants have been investigated (references 1,
2, 3) as the scientific community has not assigned a high priority
to the study of mineral nutrition of carnivorous plants. The
articles are a valable starting point that we laymen (as most of
us are) should be gratefully for to improve our techniques for the
cultivation of carnivorous plants.
References:-
1) "Mineral Nutrition of Carnivorous Plants: A Review." by Lubomir
Adamec, of the Institute of Botany, Academy of Sciences of the
Czech Republic, Section of Plant Ecology, Dukelska 145, CZ-379 82
Trebon, Czech Republic.
PUBLISHED in The Botanical Review Vol. 63 No 3, July to September
1997 pages 273 to 299 inclusive.
COPIES may be obtained from the Scientific Publications
Department, The New York Botanic Garden, Bronx, NY 10458-5125 USA.
(There is a large list of references that would also be worth
studying.)
2) "Growth Effects of Mineral Nutrients Applied to the Substrate
or onto the Leaves in Four Carnivorous Plant Species" by Lubomir
Adamec et al. PUBLISHED on page 18 to 24 of the Carnivorous Plant
NewsLetter, Vol. 21 No 1 & 2, March and June 1992.
3) "The Growth of Carnivorous Plants on an Acidified Fen Soil" by
Lubomir Adamec. PUBLISHED on page 7 to 10 of the Carnivorous Plant
NewsLetter, Vol. 25 No 1, March 1996.
Regards
Denis Daly
dalymob@bigpond.com
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