Substrate

[Colin D Wilson]

Hey that stuff sounds good to me! and I do use John Innes for my potted plants, of which I have hundreds-thought about using it for Ts too!

I think it's John innes number 1 (thats the first you use when you repot the seedlings in think, you'd know more than me there)
Don't think it has any detramental chemicals in it.


Dan...I gave it a click !!

[Ray Gabriel]

I ....... G,rosea you want it as dry as possible,mine's practically arid ...... They and B.smithi are desert species

Sorry about this but where does it say that G. rosea are desert sp? (i have seen many people on other forums come up with this "urban legend" and it is false).

G. rosea are found in a very large area of Chile, some are even found in areas where they are covered by a couple of feet of snow each year (why do you think they stop feeding for so long?) and when the snow melts it will be quite damp for a while. And like the climate for B. smithi they have rainy seasons (which is one way to get eggsacs from your Brachypelmas) sometimes 2 a long one and a short one.

Unless one catches there own G. rosea from a desert there is no real way as yet to say where any of the G. rosea are colelcted.

The best substrate is coir = coconut husk, try reyhdrating peat and you will know what i mean, it is virtually impossible for a spider to burrow into pure vermiculite, especially when it dries out.

If you get mushrooms in your coir then increase the ventilation or buy some of the tropical woodlice Richard Gallon has for sale.

RayG

[Barbara Gittings]

Substrate

Thanks for all your replies, very helpful. I will check out some of the ideas and see where I go from there. Liked your setups Neil.

Barbara

[Larry Shone]

Ray,i was under the impression that G.rosea come from the Atacama desert,one of the driest places on earth. When i first got my T everyone jumped in and told me it should be dry,practically arid in fact so i followed their advice and lo and behold she began feeding then molted. And even tho the sub is dry it feels humid in there when i take the lid off.

[Colin D Wilson]

Larry, Rosea's originate from the borders of the Atacama desert, primarily southern Peru and northern Chile which is mainly semi-desert to scrub forest areas, the environment is not nearly so harsh there as in the desert itself. The main rosea area suffers frosts, snow and quite adequate rainfall at some times of the year which is why they are so resilient to temperature fluctuations. I have also read in many basic T keeping books about them coming from the desert but i think this is just a generalisation.

[Larry Shone]

I wonder if anyone has actually visited prime G.rosea habitat, it would be neat to see them doing what they do in the wild.
I have to say either way mine is quite happy and since molting has become a bottomless food pit!
Very fast moving now too!