Hidden Valley Hibiscus Forum

Meet my ultimatum in terms of insect  control. This is  my Mexican  Butterwort. Carnivorous  plant. Extremely easy care, so far since I have had it starting 2 months ago, roughly  60 gnats.  It looks like a hasta in a sense. But it is fly paper to small insects. I'll get better pictures some time down the  road,  but this should  be  a  good start. P s  google the flower. It looks  like an orchid 

I like this idea.Let us know how well it works!

Charlie

Excuse  me  Charlie, I hope  you  get this  message. Don't want to  make  another  post. Regarding  your  watering  recommendation based on the winter coming. Do you still prefer watering  until you see some draining? Or do you just wait till the pot is dry to the touch, and saturate it, for the lack of  a  better  term. Thank you.

Hmm, not quite sure what is being asked. I say that because to "saturate" the pot would require watering at least until some comes out the drainage holes. If none comes out that means that some of the soil is not wet. Even with some water coming out of the drainage holes it might not be quite enough water, but it is getting close to being enough. I have seen cases where people try to avoid overwatering and end up underwatering instead. Watering until some comes out of the drain holes comes close to providing enough water but may still result in slightly underwatering. Watering this way has the extra benefit of leaching excess mineral salts out of the soil with each watering.

Another strategy that is very good is to place the pot in a saucer and then fill the saucer with water up to about an inch of water. If the soil quickly soaks up all the water out of the saucer then add more water to the saucer. Keep doing that until no more water is being drawn up into the pot. Then, and very importantly, pour off all excess water from the saucer.

Watering in this way uses the wicking principle instead of the flooding approach. Water is wicked up by every individual particle of absorbent soil but does not fill in the air spaces between particles of soil. You get a perfectly saturated soil but do not force any air out of the spaces between soil particles. This air is very important for healthy roots and plants. Also, if you try this do not use a deep saucer as water will flood the soil up to the depth of the water added to the saucer. An inch of water in the saucer should be fine, just refill as necessary until the water level stops going down and then pour off all excess.

Remember, plants like hibiscus that do not lose all their leaves and go dormant need both water and fertilizer all year long, just less during winter. They will naturally get less since water is not used up as fast so the time between waterings will be longer.

Charlie

Okie Doke. Understood. And you don't need to reply to this one. Just wanted to say thank you for everything you do. Sincerely. The fact that you are the grand "Designist" of these beauties and you STILL actively converse with the regular joe's on the site, really sets you apart my friend. And you writing PARAGRAPHS of information, is so sincerely compassionate regarding your "Customers". When I am old and gray, and the rest of my hairs start falling away. Your composure and attitude will always remain in this vault of mine. You have no idea how much I respect you,  thank you again Charlie


P.S.  When you wake up the following day after reading this, look in the mirror, and smile, knowing you help so many people out.

this is a common tactic with AV growers - they usually have one or two carniverous (okay i can't spell that) plants in the mix.   I happened to get a set of carniverous plants for my bday - i had awful gnats in my av's  -they were gone very quickly after that - love it!

Haha yea it's ridiculous  how much it has helped, I'm currently doing leaf pulling of my butterwort . Well see what happens!