mobile Posted February 21, 2011 Report Share Posted February 21, 2011 There were some posts on another CP forum with regards to using bat guano as a possible CP pitcher feed. Being the 'experimental' type I decided to order some from http://cavemans.co.uk/ but they never sent my goods or replied to any of my emails. I raised it as a dispute via PayPal and they decided in my favour. Having taken a closer look, the last entry on their blog was May 2009, had I noticed that before ordering it would have raised my suspicions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dicon Posted February 21, 2011 Report Share Posted February 21, 2011 No Sh1t Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobile Posted February 22, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2011 No Sh1t Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myself Posted February 22, 2011 Report Share Posted February 22, 2011 No Sh1t Read the rules of this forum . You can't use vulgar words . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobile Posted February 22, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2011 If the forum moderators find something that they deem breaks the forum rules then it is up to them to action appropriately. However, I would apprecaite it if this thread is kept 'on subject', rather than used for debating rules. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vic2 Posted February 22, 2011 Report Share Posted February 22, 2011 (edited) If the forum moderators find something that they deem breaks the forum rules then it is up to them to action appropriately. However, I would apprecaite it if this thread is kept 'on subject', rather than used for debating rules. I had no idea you liked talking dirty in public, mobile, you ol' devil, you... Your poo Sellers name... it wasn't Sergeant Bat Guano, by any chance? Yours excrementally, Dr Strangelove of Letchworth Edited February 22, 2011 by Vic2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveC Posted February 22, 2011 Report Share Posted February 22, 2011 If the forum moderators find something that they deem breaks the forum rules then it is up to them to action appropriately. However, I would apprecaite it if this thread is kept 'on subject', rather than used for debating rules. I hadn't heard about using bat guano for feeding neps, how very intriguing! Time for some research me thinks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobile Posted February 22, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2011 I hadn't heard about using bat guano for feeding neps, how very intriguing! Time for some research me thinks. I think it eminated from here: http://www.livescience.com/11640-bats-carn...ing-toilet.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Green Posted February 22, 2011 Report Share Posted February 22, 2011 Read the rules of this forum . You can't use vulgar words . Perhaps someone should have read as far as rule 2. If the forum moderators find something that they deem breaks the forum rules then it is up to them to action appropriately. Sorry mobile - I couldn't resist temptation. I don't think Neps are particularly fussy about how they get there nutrients - like many people, they'll eat any old S??T ( opps, that's not another rude non-word is it ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vic2 Posted February 22, 2011 Report Share Posted February 22, 2011 (edited) Reading mobile's article, it seems to be evolution caught in the act - a carnivorous plant adapting to collect bat guano rather than insect prey: "The pitchers of N. rafflesiana elongata are actually poor insect traps, capturing up to seven times fewer insects than typical varieties and possessing relatively little in the way of insect-attracting scents and digestive fluid. As such, "maybe the pitchers are modified in a way that attracts bats," Grafe said. "Bat roosting may not be coincidental." ... [the] bats exclusively used pitchers of N. rafflesiana elongata as their daytime roosts. During the course of a roughly six-week period in 2009, they saw that 64 plants out of 223 they monitored harbored at least one bat in one of its pitchers. The pitchers lent ample space for the bats to roost above the digestive fluid — the pitchers of N. rafflesiana elongata are up to four times longer than typical varieties of pitcher plant." Is there any evidence that N. lowii catches insects in the wild, or does it rely on T. montana droppings? If N. lowii catches few insects, it would be worth feeding guano to this species as well. N.B. Worth mentioning that feeding poo - with its readily available nitrogen and phosphate - to Nepenthes species adapted to catching insects - which would release nitrogen and phosphate much more slowly - could easily overload the plant and burn the pitcher, if not the whole plant. I'm reminded of the problem Australians used to have with growing native plants in their suburban gardens: I've heard that there is a general scarcity of phosphate in Australian soils, so local plants have developed a strong affinity for the mineral, and take it up strongly. Australian gardeners were using standard NPK feeds and bone meal in their borders; native species were overloading themselves with all that available phosphate and dying. I feed dried bean weevils to my Nepenthes, and they love 'em. But I don't have N. lowii or N. rafflesiana elongata. Though I'd like them... Vic Edited February 22, 2011 by Vic2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobile Posted February 22, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2011 N.B. Worth mentioning that feeding poo - with its readily available nitrogen and phosphate - to Nepenthes species adapted to catching insects - which would release nitrogen and phosphate much more slowly - could easily overload the plant and burn the pitcher, if not the whole plant. That's why I chose the company linked above, as they had two varieties, 'Fresh' and 'Rock', with the fresh containing far less P2O5... just a shame that they appear to have gone out of business. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petesredtraps Posted February 22, 2011 Report Share Posted February 22, 2011 No excrement Seriously, glad Paypal sorted it for you Carl or you would have to consider yourself "dumped on" , Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobile Posted February 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 23, 2011 I've found another supplier and this time I have checked if they are still in business, so I might order some to try: http://biogrow.co.uk/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vic2 Posted February 23, 2011 Report Share Posted February 23, 2011 (edited) My lovely, caring daughter is feeding up a poor, lost hedgehog, which was (at 300g) too small to hibernate. (Aaaah...) It's now well over 800g. The insatiably greedy pig eats enough cat food to generate mountainous amounts of fresh guano. (We don't have a cat). I believe it has an insectivore's digestive system, rather like a bat. It even looks like a bl**dy bat when you look it in the eye and cover up its hideously sharp spines and ignore the fact that it is far too obese to fly. So I don't feel the need to spend what little remains of my cash on bat poo to try on the nep's... I'll try some of this 'readily available guano', and I'll look forward to the results of your expts, mobile. Vic P.S. It's snowdrop time and almost Spring, when hedgehogs arise from their slumbers and trundle off into the woods to do whatever hedgehogs do. My wallet, my nose and I will miss Hedgie, we really will... Edited February 23, 2011 by Vic2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petesredtraps Posted February 23, 2011 Report Share Posted February 23, 2011 I've found another supplier and this time I have checked if they are still in business, so I might order some to try: http://biogrow.co.uk/ Will you be trying it on any Cephs Carl? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobile Posted February 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 23, 2011 (edited) Will you be trying it on any Cephs Carl? Most likely, though I like to root feed Cephalotus, as I find them very tolerant of this. I'll probably try it in Heliamphora pitchers, as I grow these in live Sphagnum moss and root feeding tends to cause a slime algae on the surface. I currently use L-glutamine in Helimaphora pitchers and they seem to like it. Maybe somebody else would try it on Nepenthes, as I don't have many in my collection and none would be growing in what could be classed as optimum conditions. Edited February 23, 2011 by mobile Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobile Posted February 24, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 24, 2011 My wallet, my nose and I will miss Hedgie, we really will... 'Hedgie'... how on earth did you come up with that name! You got any nettles in your garden?: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2007/sep/14/b...y.lifeandhealth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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