Odysseus

A lot of hard work to setup! Curious how much work it continues to be as it overgrows over the next year. Please keep us posted with pics over that time!

I should add about my setup: You will notice that I have mirrors setup to really help the light too. Whether the light above is enough without the mirrors I can't say as I have been growing with mirrors for years now as I just frankly LIKE THE LOOK better when I have tanks. Even the tankless plants growing in just open trays got 4-foot long mirrors added behind them that aren't in the picture back in 2018. So LOTS OF LIGHT and MIRRORS to help KEEP that light where you want it helps a ton. Hope your setup allows for something similar! Good luck!

Heya Vic and welcome to the forums, btw! It isn't a humidity problem most likely. An easy to grow hybrid like the x ventrata has got to be just the LIGHT. MORE LIGHT and you will have pitchering immediately! You DO need good humidity too but still my bet is on the light. You say six months without it, so long as the plant leaves itself are healthy and not suffering from any other maladies, providing more light will do the trick. QUESTION: How is the growing space? Natural or Artificial Lighting? If natural lighting only right now and you don't have an option for MORE natural light without burning it, I would add loads of Artificial Light with something in the UK that is similar to the US 4-Foot Shop lights. I have grown Nepenthes TOO successfully in a terrarium setup with these 4-foot shop light over shelves setup for years and pitching too much was more of the problem than not enough. (More pitchering means more leaves, means growing more height and outgrowing the space/pot even quicker.) Here is a VERY EARLY ON image of my setup back in 2018 showing the SHELVES plus tanks with some Neps growing pitchers: Here is another pic of the same plants ONE YEAR LATER:

Welcome to the forums, Carnigirl! You sound like your enthusiasm level is at the right level for CPs! 11 out of 10! You are going to make a great addition! I am in the US as well but growing indoors exclusively right now. Can't wait to pass ya in the forums in the future! Happy growing!

Here is a video of me cleaning the plants for anyone interested in seeing how easy it was!

I don’t know how often if at all you guys have experienced the problem of Humic Acid buildup on your plants. I searched the forums and didn’t find anything here about it in a cursory search. Maybe your peat is different enough there that you don’t get it wicking humic acid as much. The problem is unique and new to me so I didn’t know what it was when it first showed up on plants. But quickly I found the problem and with some help from others on the terraforums so I wanted to share my experience here if it helps at all. NOTE: Quote box messed things up and put everything in one square. First part is a quote from Joseph Clemens explaining the problem and then the rest is my text and me talking about my plants that had the issue and how I went ahead with the recommended treatments and shared the pictures. The quote box covered the rest of the post for some reason and made everything look like a quote and not from me.

I have heard In Defense of Plants too but I haven't found his videos yet! Thanks for the link. I am actually already a YouTuber for Photography so not only can I do some videos, I plan on it. And I have some decent gear to do it. So I really look forward to being able to provide content like that and it would be BLAST to do! Lots of good topics to go over and I am not worried about running out of things to say for at least two solid years of podcasting! As my plan is to ease into this depending on demand and audience, it will be even easier to maintain subjects to talk about.

Haha fair enough. I am certainly the one most disappointed I haven't been able to start it yet. But hopefully you will give it a listen when it goes live and I hope you can find interest in it. There will be segments intended to pump up complete newbs to the topic. Which will likely bore you. But the podcast is not going to be a guide or an almanac to people. It won't be that alarm that says "Time to repot your Sarries." While I am sure it will get mentioned of course. I am hoping my approach will be interesting to both longtime CP enthusiasts even though it IS directed at complete newbs to the topic. Educating the newbs and exciting those just discovering the amazing world of CPs. When I first found out there were many many types of CPs out there I drank like a man stranded in the desert every single book and website I could find on the topic. I loved reading about them. So I am hoping that our podcast can be water to those thirsty to hear more about CPs. Despite your sarcasm, David, since you know as well as I do that a thread that is merely two pages long is far from going "on and on" I do appreciate that you are aware of the podcast and hope you will give it a try when it comes out! -Aaron

Scuipici, just showed my wife the options too and she liked the VFT one more too! That seals it, I am going to have the artist work on the one you guys liked more as well. AND it really is the most instantly recognizable option and I might as well give this podcast everything it needs to succeed! Thanks for your feedback! Here comes a little less cartoony but still stylized silhouette of a Dionaea muscipula logo!

The board software is nuts lately...I don't think I like it but I am ever grateful for this place remaining in tact! I have been a member since 2003 and would miss it VERY much if it was gone. So I am grateful to all the Admins whose countless hours on this has maintained the database, all forum posts and the memberships running all this time! And I agree with you about the leucophylla! I told my artist that the Sarracenia I wanted was a flava because of it's simple coloring. But I would have loved to have a leuco on it because even though I have never grown one I am in love with their look.

Bummer. Sorry I like the other one more. But my artist buddy liked yours more too which is why he colored it. AND it is very recognizable. Immediately recognizable too. Let's see what this artist I am working with now comes up with for the version I like and go from there.

Thanks Keith and DeansGreenArmy! Really excited to have the platform of talking Carnivorous Plants with the world and hanging out with well known CP enthusiasts and hearing their stories and the fun things they are working on related to CPs to spread the word as much as possible!

Hey man! Yeah, I can say that I have lost my artist buddy for the logo art for sure and then fired 3 designers from online freelance resources like UpWork and Fiverr. They just didn't work out. I used to work in the Game Industry and so I tried another talented artist friend of mine from Costa Rica and she has agreed recently to go for it and we are working off a mockup that looks like this: She is working on a version of the BOTTOM mock up. I like the look of that and the chance to have 5-7 CPs featured in the logo. Frankly, I am not going to hold back for the perfect logo at this point. I have been busy on my other work, but I am very excited to get this podcast rolling and don't want it to keep sitting on the back burner. Thanks for still showing interest...all year long too, Scuipici!

Hey those of you as excited as I am for the upcoming CP podcast, I wanted to give you an update since it is late July and I claimed I would have the first two episodes out in July and get things rolling. Two things are making me later than expected, but I wanted to assure you it isn't because this project isn't interesting me enough to take priority. FIRST The Logo. I have an artist working on the logo and I am wanting that logo polished and professional looking before I approach my first guest for the show. I want to instill in them confidence in me as a host and in the podcast as a reality in order to convince them it would be worth giving me 20-30 mins of their time on a call about CPs. Yes, this is definitely a perfectionist requirement and not necessary....most likely. But celebrate that perfectionism because it will help me produce a show with quality that you will enjoy listening to. :) SECOND I have recorded an Episode "00" offering up who I am as a host, why I want to do the podcast, a little back story on my love of CPs and explaining the goals of the show and the soft launch approach this podcast is taking and what will change when we get that 1000th email and go Live! But I am not going to host the "00" episode on the website without finished branding and the logo as well as my plan to host TWO episodes on the site, record a THIRD episode for July and then once a month going forward add a fourth, fifth, sixth episode as the months go by until we have 1000 interested CP Enthusiasts signed up to receive the podcast. So I am going to be late on my July goal but like I said, that means when this goes live you will have THREE episodes to listen to and hopefully enjoy enough to sign up for the Podcast emails that will send you the next episodes once a month on the 1st of every month going forward. I am VERY excited to do this for you guys and for myself. I LOVE CPs and I haven't been talking them as much lately as I haven't scaled up from my initial growing chambers and methods and so haven't had burning questions from the experienced growers to ask and don't check the forums enough lately to keep up on the questions I could help answer. Man I can't wait! As soon as I get that logo ready and the 2nd episode, I will go live for you guys. But once I have the third up I will start publicizing the show to the American forums over at Terraforums and all the CP forums and plant communities I can find who might share an interest in the show! Thanks all! -Aaron

Awesome! Thanks, Scuipici! I am excited for this. I have an artist buddy from my time working in the Game Industry on the logo for the Podcast. As soon as that is ready to go, I will get the site up and running so we can start going with this! I am very excited about it. I have a few email drafts out there to my first guests on the podcast that I am just waiting on making sure I look more legit and serious by having the Logo in the email. :) Keep you posted! -Aaron