Question
QUESTION: Hey guys, its me again. Your SD question asking maching. ha ha.  in between rainfalls, i water my nep's,VFT's and sarracenia's with water taken from my freshwater aquariums. i take the water from the top of the tank, careful not to include any fish waste, its always clear water because i keep my tanks very clean.  i'd like to get your thoughts on this.

also, i seem to have a difficult time taking small spoonleaf sundews from the mother plant, and successfully raising them.  any best practices on this?  thanks!

ANSWER: Hi Darren,

Oh, that's not a good idea!  While the aquarium water might be clear and void of solid waste products, it is still loaded with dissolved nitrogen.  The water is just like fertilizer, so you will be doing more harm than good.  You will also set your plants up for bacteria infection in the soil, which will cause the soil to get smelly.  

When separating out smaller sundews from the clump, you'll need to be very patient and thorough.  If you disturb the roots too much, the young sundews will have difficulty recovering from the transplant.  

To separate the clump, shake off the soil by dunking the roots in a bowl of water.  When you have the majority of the soil removed, carefully untangle the roots.  You'll also find it's a lot easier to do this while the roots are under water.

Another option is to just break the clump into two or three smaller clumps rather than separating out individual plants.  

Good growing!
Jacob Farin

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: water follow up,  so what would be better?  tap water that sits out a few days so the chloramine or chlorine dissappates (pardon the misspell).

Answer
Oh, oh!  Somebody didn't read his e-book! ;-)

For brevity sake, I'm going to refer you to the section on water in the e-book.  It discusses on how to determine if your tap water is safe for your carnivorous plants.  It also provides instructions on a technique for watering your plants with hard water.

Good growing!
Jacob Farin