Gday from Australia

16 years ago

Hi, how you going from sub tropical Brisbane Queensland.

I've just started growing carnivirous plants. But have done lots of reading regarding how.

I have in my collection at present mainly VFTs i love the shape, I don't intend totry and feed them I just enjoy the "alienness" also I have a few differnt nepenthes maxima variations and some drosera .

I have a question for evryone.

water?

My water his very hard and the ph is high abou 8.7

I have kept south american cichlids before. Basically when I amout of Rain water should I set a barrell witrh a bubblerand some peat and get the ph down to say 5.5 6?

I've played around with Hydroponics so I can work it out.

Also Bottled water thast dosn'tcontain Fluride? can I substitute this for rain water?

Water seems like the most important thing to me I have a good blend of dried spaghnam, peat and sand for my vft and plenty of good natural sun but water makes me nervious.

Any advice is much appreciated.

Cheers and hello to all

Mick

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Comments (10)

stillmanz
Original Author
16 years ago
also I heard freezer ice is ok?
Iown a cafe we have many freezers if this is true its great.

Mick
petiolaris
16 years ago
Bottle water may contain salts that are bad for CP'd Freezer ice is an unknown. Is it frozen tap water? Can you buy distilled water, from the grocery store?
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stillmanz
Original Author
16 years ago
No I've never seen distilled water but I bet its there if I look.lol
when I say "Freezer ice" I mean that icey build up in your freezer?
..its just condensed air and misture frozen i guess, isn't it? I read it some were.
I'm pretty sure that bottled water in Oz has no added salt just worried about the calcium and magnesium and ph hardness?
I'll have to do some research.
Mick
agentrdy
16 years ago
I'd just go ahead and buy a reverse osmosis unit if your pH is 8.7--that's crazy salinization you guys have over there!
stillmanz
Original Author
16 years ago
Brisbane water is particuliarly hard and ph really high as we are in drought and tjhe water is treated more (from what we are told) Plenty of water tanks though, and its a pretty clean as far as air pollution?
Whats your take on the ice that freezes in your freezer or coolers or what ever you call them ?lol.

Mick
corymbosa
16 years ago
Mick,
I assume you mean the tap water is hard, not your rainwater. If so, your rainwater should be fine. No need to lower the pH with peat. Rainwater has little buffering capacity so the peat/sphagnum sphagnum mixes will retain their acidity. I don't know how full your will be by spring but if necessary buy use buy bottled distilled water. Avoid spring water. A lot of bottled drinking water contains a fair bit of salt so check the label before buying. R/O systems waste excessive amounts of water so, given that you're on stage 6 water restrictions, R/O probably isn't a good choice. If you're concerned about how much salt is in whatever water you're planning on using, buy a TDS meter.
stillmanz
Original Author
16 years ago
yep I ment tap water, I should have enough rain water but have gone and bought some distilled water from woolies until everything looks nice a healthy. What varieties do you have?
I have a few drosera D. capensis, D coccicaulis, D rotundifolia

My VFT
Dionaea muscipula
Fang
low Giant
Big Mouth
Pink Venus
Triffid Traps
Crested Petioles
Red Piranha
Royal Red

Doyou knowof any good Oz Sites to visit for our Environmental conditions?
Cheers

Mick
mutant_hybrid
16 years ago
Freezer ice can contain all kinds of other impurities leaked out of foods. I would be suspect of it. Anything that might contain impurities should be used with caution or not used at all. I know of plenty of times I have spilled tap water in the freezer when replacing ice cube trays and plenty of times I have seen red tinged ice from blood leaking out of packs of meat in the freezer.
stillmanz
Original Author
16 years ago
Yeh I hear you I've just decided to stick with distilled and rainwater.
corymbosa
16 years ago
Hi Mick there is some good info on the following carnivorous plant society pages:
Victorian Carnivorous Plant Society - http://www.vcps.au.com
Australasian Carnivorous Plant Society (formerly NSW CPS) -
http://www.auscps.com
Australian Carnivorous Plant Society (formerly SA CPS) -
http://www.acps.org.au
There are several Australian carnivorous plant suppliers that provide good info on there websites. Gardenweb has a problem with listing commercial sites but you should be able to find them by following going to the links pages on the above sites.