VFT Hydroponics Experiment

[Peabody]

I have used weed control membrane to make discs to go in the bottom of plantpots to stop the compost escaping through the holes. You could try this material (or hydroponics spreader mat material) to line the sides and bottom of your mesh pot to stop perlite escaping. I have also got a small 12volt peristaltic pump which supplies 36ml per minute. It could be used on a timer to dribble water down the sides of the pot and drain down into the container containing the pick up tube. This would mean that the level of water in the container would be unimportant for nice long holidays. You could use a aquarium air pump to breathe air into the growing pot if you felt that it might be beneficial.

I am using a small aquarium water pump running continuously to force water through 6" lengths of leaky hose on tee pieces off a run of tubing to keep my onion and pumpkin containers watered. The pump is in a container with a Greenhouse Sensation mini lavatory cistern type valve to keep the container topped up. It is working a treat !

Good luck

[mobile]

Definitely a mystery - the media shouldnt be the problem so it must be down to your conditions! I've got my fingers crossed for your experiements, it will be good if you can find atleast one way to suit you...

To be honest I am starting to suspect the media as I've tried growing them in various locations around the house with little success. I've had various brands and grades of sand and perlite over the years but the one constant is the peat that I use which is from a local source. Perhaps if I decide to give VFTs another go in the future then I'll try a different peat source.

Is there any advantage to growing in the maner compared to the norm?

I don't know at the moment, hence the experiment. As you can see above, I don't have much success in growing them the conventional way.

[andyoliver]

I don't know at the moment, hence the experiment. As you can see above, I don't have much success in growing them the conventional way.

There have been some suspect peats around recenlty, I've noticed that and Mike says the same. The batch I've got now from a national farm shop is quite good.

Edited July 2, 2009 by andyoliver

[mobile]

Here's an update:

Plant on 29th June:

Plant on 6th September:

Growth had started to slow a few weeks ago. I put this down to the fact that the plant was tissue cultured and was likely still full of growth hormones when I initially placed it into hydroponics. To speed up growth again I have added 10ml of Lewatit HD50 ion exchange resin fertilizer to the water reservoir. Being an ion exchange, there needs to be ions in the water for this to work. As I live in a soft water area, there are few ions so the available nutrients from the resin are low. Since adding these I have seen a boost in growth.

[toimeme]

one years now i have one vft passive hydroponic system, it look good like yours

[Peabody]

There are some nice Peristaltic pumps on eBay at the moment for less than £20.

[andyoliver]

Here's an update:

Plant on 29th June:

Plant on 6th September:

Growth had started to slow a few weeks ago. I put this down to the fact that the plant was tissue cultured and was likely still full of growth hormones when I initially placed it into hydroponics. To speed up growth again I have added 10ml of Lewatit HD50 ion exchange resin fertilizer to the water reservoir. Being an ion exchange, there needs to be ions in the water for this to work. As I live in a soft water area, there are few ions so the available nutrients from the resin are low. Since adding these I have seen a boost in growth.

Looking very good!

[mobile]

Just a quick update. This is a recent picture of my hydroponic VFT.

[andyoliver]

Wow! Doing very well then!!

[Amar]

If a plant can thrive in such a medium, it means that it needs absolutely nothing else but water, not even a fraction of nutrients from the soil. Interesting.

[LJ]

Amar - I thought Carl had been feeding a small amount of nutrients in through the water unless I remember wrong.

Looks like its still doing well

[mobile]

If a plant can thrive in such a medium, it means that it needs absolutely nothing else but water, not even a fraction of nutrients from the soil. Interesting.

Amar,

I've been using Lewatit HD50, which is an ion exchange nutrient. I had to used tapwater so that it had something to exchange with and I'm not comfortable with this as it's too variable, so I've changed the nutrients to 5ml/l Orchid Ultra (humic and fulvic acids) and 0.75EC Ionic nutrients in deionised water. The plant did initially well with no nutrients but then growth slowed right down.

I find it quite interesting that this plant does not seem to mind being given nutrients as they are generally said to be intolerant of them. Some roots have grown out of the bottom of the pot, into the nutrient solution!

[mobile]

The VFT is now going into dormancy but I was asked elsewhere to summarise the technique, so thought I'd post here to.

• Pre-soak rockwool cubes in a slightly acidic (5.5 pH) water. I use fulvic acid to acidify deionised water to 5.5 pH. I then rinse with deionised water. This ensures that any alkalinity in the rockwool is fixed.
  
• Place a layer of rockwool cubes in the bottom of a mesh (aquatic plant) pot.
  
• Suspend VFT in the mesh pot while adding rockwool cubes around the roots, surrounding all sub-surface parts of the plant.
  
• Obtain a watertight container (referred to as reservoir hereafter) which is approximately twice as deep, or more, as the mesh pot.
  
• Place an airstone in the bottom of the reservoir and run an air line from it, attaching to an air pump, with check valve, at the other end.
  
• Suspend the mesh pot into the reservoir.
  
• Make up a nutrient solution. I use Growth Technology Ionic nutrients diluted at a rate of 0.75EC in deioinised water. I also add 5ml/litre of Growth Technology Orchid Ultra.
  
• Add the nutrient solution to the reservoir, pouring it through the rockwool cubes in the mesh pot. The nutrient solution should be in contact with the layer of rockwool cubes at the bottom of the mesh pot, but no more than that. You don't want the roots of the VFT sitting in the nutrient solution at this point, they may grow into it at a later date but that's ok. The rockwool cubes, in the base of the mesh pot, in contact with the nutrient solution, will deliver it to the VFT roots via capillary action.
  
• Switch on the air pump. This will need to run 24/7. If the nutrient solution is not aerated then the roots will probably rot.
  
• Keep a regular check on the nutrient solution level and ensure that it is always in contact with the rockwool cubes at the base of the mesh pot. Top up with nutrient solution when necessary.
  
• The reservoir will need to lightight or algae will start to grow in the nutrient solution This is bad for various reasons and must be avoided.
  

Notes:

I dump all the nutrient solution from the reservoir approximately once a month and add fresh.

Orchid Ultra is not a nutrient solution. It is humic and fulvic acid and I add it as VFTs are likely to receive these from the surrounding bogs in their natural environment.

I use a good quality hydroponics nutrient solution. Normal plant food will not be sufficient and may actually be detrimental.

A EC meter is necessary to measure the nutrient solution concentration.

Edited November 22, 2009 by mobile

[mantrid]

The VFT is now going into dormancy but I was asked elsewhere to summarise the technique, so thought I'd post here to.

• Pre-soak rockwool cubes in a slightly acidic (5.5 pH) water. I use fulvic acid to acidify deionised water to 5.5 pH. I then rinse with deionised water. This ensures that any alkalinity in the rockwool is fixed.
  
• Place a layer of rockwool cubes in the bottom of a mesh (aquatic plant) pot.
  
• Suspend VFT in the mesh pot while adding rockwool cubes around the roots, surrounding all sub-surface parts of the plant.
  
• Obtain a watertight container (referred to as reservoir hereafter) which is approximately twice as deep, or more, as the mesh pot.
  
• Place an airstone in the bottom of the reservoir and run an air line from it, attaching to an air pump, with check valve, at the other end.
  
• Suspend the mesh pot into the reservoir.
  
• Make up a nutrient solution. I use Growth Technology Ionic nutrients diluted at a rate of 0.75EC in deioinised water. I also add 5ml/litre of Growth Technology Orchid Ultra.
  
• Add the nutrient solution to the reservoir, pouring it through the rockwool cubes in the mesh pot. The nutrient solution should be in contact with the layer of rockwool cubes at the bottom of the mesh pot, but no more than that. You don't want the roots of the VFT sitting in the nutrient solution at this point, they may grow into it at a later date but that's ok. The rockwool cubes, in the base of the mesh pot, in contact with the nutrient solution, will deliver it to the VFT roots via capillary action.
  
• Switch on the air pump. This will need to run 24/7. If the nutrient solution is not aerated then the roots will probably rot.
  
• Keep a regular check on the nutrient solution level and ensure that it is always in contact with the rockwool cubes at the base of the mesh pot. Top up with nutrient solution when necessary.
  
• The reservoir will need to lightight or algae will start to grow in the nutrient solution This is bad for various reasons and must be avoided.
  

Notes:

I dump all the nutrient solution from the reservoir approximately once a month and add fresh.

Orchid Utra is not a nutrient solution. It is humic and fulvic acid and I add it as VFTs are likely to receive these from the surrounding bogs in their natural environment.

I use a good quality hydroponics nutrient solution. Normal plant food will not be sufficient and may actually be detrimental.

A EC meter is necessary to measure the nutrient solution concentration.

Where can you get 'Orchid Utra' from?

[mobile]

Where can you get 'Orchid Utra' from?

Oops... that as a typo, it should read Orchid Ultra. It's quite common to find it in garden centres now. Failing that just perform a Google search and you should find plenty of suppliers.

[mobile]

My hydroponics VFT has been in dormancy over winter. The plant is on my kitchen windowsill so has been at room temperature (albeit a cool room temperature) all of the winter but the reduced day length was sufficient to stop most growth and many of the traps died back. I carried on topping up the reservoir as normal, so basically it's been kept as wet in winter as it was during the summer, but I stopped feeding it nutrients and only occasionally gave it a small amount of humic and fulvic acid (Orchid Ultra). Day lengths are extending now and new growth is visible...

As you can see, the rockwool cubes are sustaining moss growth...

And roots are growing out of the bottom of the mesh pot...

[Peabody]

If you want to divide the plant do you think the roots will have grown through the Rockwool cubes or around them ?

I also wondered if soaking Sphagnum peat in rainwater and then draining the water off will provide some suitably acidified water for a hydroponics VFT experiment.

I bought a bag of 1cm Rockwool cubes and I am going to make up a mixture of them with peat as an experiment to grow VFT's in a more conventional way.

[mobile]

If you want to divide the plant do you think the roots will have grown through the Rockwool cubes or around them ?

I also wondered if soaking Sphagnum peat in rainwater and then draining the water off will provide some suitably acidified water for a hydroponics VFT experiment.

I bought a bag of 1cm Rockwool cubes and I am going to make up a mixture of them with peat as an experiment to grow VFT's in a more conventional way.

I don't know if the roots are growing into the rockwool but I have seen this happen with other plants in hydroponics. It's not a problem though as rockwool doesn't really break down do the cubes that remain attached can be transferred when splitting/repotting.

Peat tea probably would be suitable for hydroponics but commercially available products such as Orchid Ultra are more convenient for me. To be honest, I don't even know if it is required, I just have some available as I grow some orchids so I decided to add it.

I think combining rockwool cubes with peat should work. They should provide good aeration to the mix. Please keep us updated o the progress of your experiment.

Edited March 3, 2010 by mobile

[Macro]

Love your posts...

Any updated pictures on this? You seem like quite an explorer. Noticed you tried this on a ceph, how did that go?

[mobile]

Love your posts...

Any updated pictures on this? You seem like quite an explorer. Noticed you tried this on a ceph, how did that go?

The hydroponics VFT grew well last growing season but did not fair well through the winter. I think that it was too wet during dormancy. I was going to set up another one this season but other things took priority unfortunately. I honestly think that this method could be used successfully for VFT but requires some refining. The Cephalotus hydroponics experiment never really took off, due to an algae outbreak in the nutrient reservoir. This was due to the tub being slightly opaque, thus letting in light; water + light + nutrients = algae!

I like to experiment and challenge the norm

[Macro]

Got some Ceph's coming and would like to give it a shot. Any advice? I be adding Trichoderma to mix and see what happens. Let you know of any amazing successes or dreadful failures.

Edited September 20, 2010 by Macro

[James O'Neill]

This was due to the tub being slightly opaque

??? surely that is 'slightly transparent'

[Davion]

"I"-Simply Adore Triers-&-Tinkerers ... My-Door Will-Always Be-Open to-You Fellas. >(*U^)<

I'll-Be Looking-Forward to-Seeing Just How-'Thick' You-Managed to Get The-Trap Walls, in The-Near-Future.

[mobile]

"I"-Simply Adore Triers-&-Tinkerers ... My-Door Will-Always Be-Open to-You Fellas. >(*U^)<

I'll-Be Looking-Forward to-Seeing Just How-'Thick' You-Managed to Get The-Trap Walls, in The-Near-Future.

I love to tinker... I simply don't accept that carnivorous can only grow in mixes of peat/sand/perlite etc and cannot tolerate soil nutrients.

I have another experiment running, with a non-conventional growing media, in a passive hydroponics setup... details and results will be posted on the forums at a later date if successful.

Edited October 3, 2010 by mobile

[johns]

I have another experiment running, with a non-conventional growing media, in a passive hydroponics setup... details and results will be posted on the forums at a later date if successful.

In other words, publication bias. :) Surely reporting a negative result is useful as well, as others may learn from it (i.e. what not to do).