Tag: trays

Posted on

New Developments.

I have been under the weather as of late, and this resulted in some of my plants being compromised. However, for the ones that were not, I have some very interesting news.

When it comes to my existing plants, the cape sundews especially, they began pushing flower stalks, and they were quite big. For the ones I had, they grew and showed some nice white flowers at the tops of the stalks. I left them there for nearly a month, and they did their thing. After that, I cut them, because I needed the rest of the plant to recover, and grow properly. Before I knew it, another flower stalk appeared, in both my capes. I didn’t hesitate to cut them this time.

There’s also a smaller pitcher plant that had some issues, due to my neglect, in not allowing the plant to breathe. This led to one of the main pitchers somewhat “foaming” at the top of the main pitcher. I chose to allow the rest of the plant to breathe, and before I knew it, I discovered a bigger pitcher, not yet opened up, yet it was much bigger than the previous pitcher. It looks great.

I also had some issues with some of my butterworts, and I have three of them. The main one took very long to root, before I saw anything happen. The other two, I’m starting to see some leaves begin to push more leaf growth. One of those two, also pushed a nice purple flower.

For the one that took longer to root, I’m starting to see some of the leaves lift up, which is a sign that it’s going in the same direction as the others; and may begin to either flower, or have bigger leaves added to it.

When looking at these plants, it does take time for certain things to occur. It’s not just the plants pushing flowers, but for the plants to settle into their pots and go from there. It’s very satisfying to see plants flower, because if you’re not used to it, it may seem like a surprise, and a welcome one at that.

Of course this also means I had to refill the trays, to make certain they don’t dry out. Using sphagnum moss, it does dry out, but not as fast. I think this is why most of my plants didn’t dry out, after not watering them for a while.

One thing I try not to do, is let my plants dry out. If it happens, that’s unfortunate. It’s not always avoidable when you are injured, or incapacitated in some form. This will mean I will have to replace some plants, or heavily rehydrate those that may still be able to survive this drought.

Posted on

Trays.

I cannot say much about this topic just yet, because I’ve only used trays for one application, so far. It’s not to say I cannot discuss my experience with using them, because I will.
I’ve used trays for easier hydration for my plants, but just know I use this method for a handful of plant varieties, not just carnivorous plants.

I know that the humidity tray method is often used, especially when the humidity is somewhat low around the plants. This involves trays filled with water and little rocks, pebbles, or gravel. Some are quite similar to aquarium pebbles or gravel; but it’s not to say that they cannot be used in place of these little rocks, pebbles, or gravel, because that’s what I’m using currently.

Trays can be used for a multitude of uses. Some are used for propagation, and some are used for long periods of hydration so that it’s not needed to constantly or frequently watering the plants.

In using these trays for watering plants, they obviously water from the bottom, which means that the top won’t be included in this process. This means, that it will require a top watering, or a spraying, to get the tops of the plants watered, which is fine, because whatever doesn’t touch the plants, will end up in the trays instead.

Some trays are meant for more than just holding water. Some may be used for other purposes, such as propagation, seeding, and just for keeping plants organized in a neat setup.

This is what you see with trays where people are seeding, and use them to space out their seeds for them to grow without being clustered and the roots potentially wrapping around other roots of other seeds beginning to root in that area. If it’s one or two, it’s not that big of a deal, but if it’s maybe five or more, then it can be an issue, if they are growing into separate plants. Which is why this can be a good solution to prevent that.

Some trays can be used for propagations, and growing moss. When looking at the process of growing microgreens, it’s not much different on the surface as growing live moss. (There may be more to this, so when I do find out, I’ll discuss it later.) Just have them in water, and have the tray covered. The tray can be one that has some partition between the outer tray and the plants intended for growth, where the water will go to the bottom of the tray, and hydrate and nourish the plants from the bottom. The top will be receiving any air and while covered, it will get the water evaporating and rising to the lid, and comes down on the tops of the plants. This way everything gets hydrated, but also humidity to accelerate that growth, which you see happen with plants in terrariums. For those that have holes in the lids, that’s for some of the air to escape, and eventually some of that moisture will also escape. Now, this will result in needing to refill the trays more often, but it’s good for preventing algae growth.

This isn’t a topic that I know much about. I’m still learning about topics like microgreens, and even growing live moss. The latter, I’ve tried, and it’s still in progress.

There are various uses for trays, besides organizing. When it comes to plants, you know of some, and other creative ways to make things better. Over time, I’ll find out more, to show you what I find.