The October meeting of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club was held on Saturday October 10, 2017 at Steve M’s new home. Those in attendance were: Khanh T., Jason T., Gavin and Sheila, Jerry S., Hock N., Darek K., and our host Steve M. Steve has just recently moved into this home and is still settling in. A few of us took a walk around his spacious back yard before the meeting started and discovered that he has a small greenhouse in need of some repair which he thought was a shed!! What a find. We are hoping he gets it back up and running soon. Steve also gave us a tour of his soon-to-be fishroom in the basement. We hope to see it in operation when we have another meeting here!
We all enjoyed a lunch and snacks provided by Steve and the club members. It was great.
Khanh opened the meeting with a little talk about a mini light he brought along. It is a Zetlight.
Khanh showing off his light. Hock and Jerry reading the box to answer some questions about the light.
Jerry brought along a North American pitcher plant, Sarracenia leucophylla, for Sheila. Some of us in the club have an interest in Carnivorous Plants! Jason looks like he may be the next enthusiast. These plants are really very interesting and can grow outdoors in an artificial bog in your backyard, or even just in saucers of rain water.
A Venus Fly Trap that is at least 8 years old. Don’t pay attention to the pot. It has seen better days. VFT are native to southern North Carolina. With some special care, they can be overwintered here in NJ. Jerry stores his rhizomes in plastic bags of moist peat moss in the refrigerator over winter. They get potted up in towards the middle of March.
Nice job Steve. The Dragon Stone looks nice.
Celestial pearl danios
I think this is Leroy.
This is a 20 gallon long that sits in the living room
Nice group of pencil fish
Some plants for our usual Plant Swap.
Jerry brought along a very large bag of living Sphagnum Moss. It was given to the club by the owner of a wholesale Carnivorous Plant Greenhouse in PA. Hock took some and put it in a tank of emersed Cryptocorynes. Jerry grows it on the surface of his Pitcher Plant pots to keep the nuisance moss growth down.
This is a Sarracenia purpurea pitcher plant. These plants are found from Florida all the way up into Nova Scotia. Very hardy in our area. Don’t be afraid to try these plants.