- Tue Jun 01, 2021 5:09 pm
#382433
Hello everyone,
My name is Marcin, I work in a laboratory of environmental chemistry in one of universities in Poland. I have a Ph.D degree in plant ecology. It is my first post in this forum
Typically carnivorous plants are grown in pure sphagnum peat or in mixture of peat and some other media, however extraction of peat damages natural, fragile wetland ecosystems. About 2 years ago I have decided to make an experiment and check if it is possible to grow carnivorous plants in pure silica sand. Carnivorous plants are adapted to nutrient poor habitats so I was optimistic. After some fails and improvements in pot design now I grow almost all of my plants in simple passive hydroponics with pure sand as a medium. I use sand for aquariums, according to the seller the sand was washed and is chemically inert. I have checked that indeed it does not increase water EC or amount of phosphates or nitrates in water. The sand has grains with diameter from 0,5 mm to 1,2 mm. In Poland it costs about 12$ for 30 kg bag, including delivery. Sand with such grain size has quite good water retention capacity and ability to transport water upwards with capillary action to more than 10 cm high. I made pots from plastic cups (70 mm diameter): On the top there is layer of sand, then a fabric that does not allow grains to go down, but roots can easily grow through it. There is also a tube filled with sand or a string that transport water upwards and keeps sand wet. On the side of overy pot there is a hole that releases excess of water. I use RO or demineralised water. I did not observe any root rot.
I grow some of my plants like this for more than a year and I do not see major disadvantages of such grow type. Because sand is pure plant require a lot of foliar feeding but they grow really well. There is also a unique opportunity to see how roots look like. All pants in these pictures were grown like that for at least a few months, some like roridulas were grown like this from seed germination or vegetative reproduction.
Every pot can be opened and water may be repleaced if necessary.
Greetings,
Marcin
My name is Marcin, I work in a laboratory of environmental chemistry in one of universities in Poland. I have a Ph.D degree in plant ecology. It is my first post in this forum
Typically carnivorous plants are grown in pure sphagnum peat or in mixture of peat and some other media, however extraction of peat damages natural, fragile wetland ecosystems. About 2 years ago I have decided to make an experiment and check if it is possible to grow carnivorous plants in pure silica sand. Carnivorous plants are adapted to nutrient poor habitats so I was optimistic. After some fails and improvements in pot design now I grow almost all of my plants in simple passive hydroponics with pure sand as a medium. I use sand for aquariums, according to the seller the sand was washed and is chemically inert. I have checked that indeed it does not increase water EC or amount of phosphates or nitrates in water. The sand has grains with diameter from 0,5 mm to 1,2 mm. In Poland it costs about 12$ for 30 kg bag, including delivery. Sand with such grain size has quite good water retention capacity and ability to transport water upwards with capillary action to more than 10 cm high. I made pots from plastic cups (70 mm diameter): On the top there is layer of sand, then a fabric that does not allow grains to go down, but roots can easily grow through it. There is also a tube filled with sand or a string that transport water upwards and keeps sand wet. On the side of overy pot there is a hole that releases excess of water. I use RO or demineralised water. I did not observe any root rot.
I grow some of my plants like this for more than a year and I do not see major disadvantages of such grow type. Because sand is pure plant require a lot of foliar feeding but they grow really well. There is also a unique opportunity to see how roots look like. All pants in these pictures were grown like that for at least a few months, some like roridulas were grown like this from seed germination or vegetative reproduction.
Every pot can be opened and water may be repleaced if necessary.
Greetings,
Marcin
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