Food for thought

[Lloyd Gordon]

I stopped solid feeding years ago, going with MaxSea.
The last month or so, I switched back to freeze dried bloodworms. My dews have really responded, looking better than ever. My auriculata is over a foot long and my D. oreopodion looks great. So back to bloodworms for dews/pings/VFT's. Also trying the orangy fish granules for the pitchers.

 

[Muckydoo]

I've had good luck with freeze dried grasshoppers on pings. Just put them through a cheap spice grinder that will only be used for bugs.

 

[Lloyd Gordon]

D. oreopodion.
Never had a pygmy doing this well.

 

[VFT2001]

Very nice!

 

[Lloyd Gordon]

It's hard to see but my auriculata goes from the pot to the right and winds over the cactus. Must be around 2' long.

 

[WillyCKH]

I like to use solid food whenever I can, however, it does take more time to feed if you have a lot of small plants. For large pitchers (like Sarracenia, and Nepenthes), I would use both liquid and solid food. It seems to be working well!

 

[Lloyd Gordon]

I'm retired so I can baby them

 

[Muckydoo]

I've had good luck with freeze dried grasshoppers on pings. Just put them through a cheap spice grinder that will only be used for bugs.

I'd add that my Drosera hate dried grasshopper. I think it's too nutritious for them?

 

[Lloyd Gordon]

Sometimes even the freeze dried blood worms get mouldy. No obvious damage to plants.

 

[Muckydoo]

Not moldy, the leaves just die!

 

[partisangardener]

Overfed?

 

[Muckydoo]

Overfed?

Even some fine dust, or if I use tweezers to place a small amount. They just hate grasshoppers lol. They might feed the grasshoppers some additional nutrients right before they freeze dry them to make them more nutritious for the lizards that eat them.

 

[Lloyd Gordon]

Perhaps the fat content is the problem?

 

[partisangardener]

In my Terra time I used to ad some vitamins and extra calcium-carbonate for the lizards. Thank you for the reminder, this could be a cause.

 

[Muckydoo]

What ever they do to the grasshoppers, the pings enjoy it. I get the biggest leaf movement from grasshopper versus blood worms.

 

[coconut]

My droseras adelae hate the freeze dry bloodworm ! They appreciate the spiders...but not at all the bloodworm. The leaves start to die right after the feeding.

 

[Lloyd Gordon]

Some do get moldy.

 

[Lloyd Gordon]

You can see the mould on the adelae and x Andromeda but it doesn't seem to hurt the plants.
The other dews are really responding to the bloodworms, growth spurts flowering or both. Same with the Pings. I'm not even sneezing much anymore. If the plants are tiny I use the dusty stuff in the b/w container.
The VFT's seem to be growing more.
I'm using the colour bits in the Heli's/Ceph's/Nep's. For the Sarr's, I'm still using MaxSea as the pitchers are dry.

 

[Trapper J]

I'd add that my Drosera hate dried grasshopper. I think it's too nutritious for them?

@Muckydoo - Have you tried the canned grasshoppers for your Nep's, Ceph's, Heli's, VFT's and maybe Sarr's? They're really nutritious. The only thing I don't like is the horrible "rotten fish" smell. No sneezing, just gagging LOL. The grasshoppers need to be snipped into tiny pieces for small plants, larger chunks for mature traps. The "juice" is excellent for traps too small for solid food. The tin requires refrigeration. This a treat for my CP's. every 3 - 5 weeks. Mostly they're fed a rotation of dried bloodworms, mealworms, fish pellets, and Betta flakes (for the Drosera and Pings). Very dilute Maxsea monthly. Everything is growing well. I try to locate any dropped food bits to avoid mold, maybe the springtails are helping with that.
Yum!!!

 

[Lloyd Gordon]

I'm getting peckish!