Feed me, Seymour!
I got this cool carnivorous plant kit on my San Francisco trip:
There are lots of parts to the kit:
I was a little bit skeptical about their need to trademark "Bog Buddies" (the little plastic lizards) and "Swamp Rocks" (the blue gravel), but according to this video, both of these are pretty important components:
"Included with the Flytrap Fiends is the blue gravel as well as some decorative Bog BuddiesTM, just to create the natural environment that it's used to."
Thus converted, I carefully located and set aside my Bog BuddiesTM, only to find out that my kit only has two instead of the promised three. If my plants' well-being and contentment suffers because of this, someone is going to hear about it!
Step One: "Massage the bag of planting mixture in order to remove any clumps that may have formed during shipping."
Step Two: "Carefully empty the bag's contents into the base of the terrarium. Remove and dispose of any large clumps that remain, leaving only fine peat moss."
Step Three: "Add 2 cups of distilled or rain water and mix with soil."
Step Four: "Press and smooth soil gently so there are no clumps on the surface of the soil."
Step Five: "The seeds are extremely small. Use great care when handling them. Fold a piece of paper once and carefully empty the packet's contents onto the paper. Tap the pack gently to release all the seeds of the envelope and collect them in the crease of the paper. Scatter the seeds directly onto the surface of the soil."
Step Six: "Place terrarium in the refrigerator and leave for 8 weeks before continuing the planting procedure. This is known as stratification."
The directions don't say anything about putting the lid on the terrarium before stratification, but the FAQ section on the website has "check to make sure the lid is on" under "Why aren't my plants sprouting?" so I decided to take a chance.
And hey, isn't our fridge sort of bare and bachelor-y? Weird.
So, stay tuned for the next phase of the carnivorous plant project. Three days down, 53 to go!
You'd better keep an eye on that thing. It sounds scary.
ReplyDeleteyour fridge isn't bachlor-y. you have things like milk and eggs, and the stuff in tupperware can still be identified. and i don't see a single beer anywhere, let alone any random things that used to be takeout.
ReplyDeleteI WANT ONE. That is mighty cool.
ReplyDelete(I am such a nerd.)
So, when this thing sprouts. Will refrigerated meat be at risk?
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to say, RaJ...there's a demo video on YouTube from the company that says you can feed raw hamburger to the Venus flytraps when they grow up, but the online FAQs say they only should eat "very tiny" pieces of cooked steak or ground beef, and that they won't need any until they're about 2 years old.
ReplyDeleteIt is sort of fun to imagine them lifting the lid of the terrarium with tiny tentacles and helping themselves to the lunchmeat though, isn't it?
Dude, I bet your fridge could be compleetey bare (only like a dried up apple and some catsup or something) and you'd still have a jug of milk. VBGirl LOVES her milk. :)
ReplyDeleteDude, this thing is so cool!!! These are the types of posts I really ejoy. :)
Musselman's is the only applesauce worth buying. The end.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I hope things go well with Mr. Kitters today. And I'm glad your leg is getting better.
That picture of Bones a few posts back might be the cutest picture of all time. I love him, and I've never met him.
Ironically, that milk jug in the photo is MB's.
ReplyDelete(Mine's twice as big, and it's in the door!)