The long wait over at Pixil is over, our Makerbot 3D Printer has arrived!
It took three months to build and deliver but we finally have some really cool garden planters to show off! Checkout the Etsy store to buy
Green, brown, silver, black, white and the clear biodegradable PLA are the colors we ordered so far. Can’t wait to test PLA as planter material for seedlings, and tags.
The boo was design by our web developer and creative lead behind Turn Table Customs, Dingo. He designed it in the browser based CAD site Tinkercad! A tiny Red Bug Pitcher is used to test out the planter. All planters have drainage holes built in
You can see more designs by checking out the planter tag we started on tinkercad.com
Here’s a time-lapse of the tiki print. A Nepenthes Alta is used in the pic.
These take quite a while to print. The Boo took 18 hours to print! Our current print will about take about 25 hours to complete, so we’ll definitely need more makerbots!
This year, these Nepenthes have bloomed a little later then last year. The small flowers do not have any scent that I can detect. Flowers open in order from the bottom of the stem to the top.
Many new nodes have sprouted, perfect for cloning. Being the only species that has flowered so far, I have not been able to produce any seeds. Although I have saved some pollen for later use.
Minor flowers have begun to bloom again. Scapes are about the size of the pitcher itself. Pedals are a lovely shade of yellow.
The pitcher’s hood almost completely cover the opening, leaving a small slit for insects to become trapped. They catch plenty of flies and ants. Very hardly in hot and cold temperatures, these species keep their foliage throughout the winter.
While repotting the red Ampullaria, I noticed a tiny white pitcher protruding from underneath the moss.
I carefully dug out the the rest of the stem to reveal a nice batch of albino pitchers! The most easiest way to inhibit node growth is to bury the stem in a couple of inches of moss. Not the fastest but it has worked on a couple of my nepenthes. Unfortunately these pitchers will soon turn to shades of red with the exposure of sun. Interesting way to uncover albino pitchers!
Carnivorous Plants can grow in different mixtures of live or dead sphagnum moss, peat moss, pumice, sand, vermiculite or perlite. Nepenthes seem to favor a mix of long-fiber sphagnum moss, perlite and orchid bark.
Drosera like peat moss and perlite. Pinguiculas have grown great in sand, vermiculite, perlite, peat and pumice. Cobra plants and Sun Pitchers do well in long-fiber sphagnum moss and perlite. I have both Flytraps and Sarracenias growing in a mix of sphagnum moss and perlite.
Todays will be repotting a Nepenthes Khasiana into a bigger pot. I use a 50/50 Mix of sphagnum moss and perlite, with a topping of orchid bark to keep in moisture. Make sure pots have a way to drain excess water.
