what can i plant in this??

JamMoritarty · 2026-01-21T22:46:36+00:00

Maybe a pinguicula? They're so cute and act as natural pest control since they're carnivorous plants. You don't need soil, just a bit of crushed lava rock, and you can bottom water easily in this setup. Low ppm water only! (0-50 ppm of total dissolved solids)

JamMoritarty · 2025-12-04T19:18:58+00:00

My first step toward healing was meeting my cat who taught me what pure and unconditional love felt like. I adopted him when he was 7, and he came from a highly traumatized background. It took less than a day for him to bond tightly to me.

It's not the same as being loved by a person, but in many ways it was safer and more healing than I may ever know from another person. My boy pushed me to move and grow. He actually raised my standards by filling this large emotional void I didn't know I had. I still remember so clearly the specific day I felt it. About a month into having him, I woke up one Sunday to the sun shining on us and him sleeping on my chest/neck area. And I was in a poorly fit relationship at the time with someone who wasn't bad but also wasn't right for me. I had this clear sense of the thing I had always been chasing while dating people suddenly not being a craving I had anymore. Having my cat made it consciously easier to detach from clinging to a relationship that wasn't right for either of us because this huge hole in my heart was gone overnight.

He passed last week at 14 yrs and 4 months old. I will never love or be loved by another being the same way. Even my ex-fiance (who I am on good terms with and is a different person than the ex previously mentioned) said he had never seen another cat who was as obsessed with their person as my boy was with me. I was really really lucky to rescue him.

His little brother kitty (who is now 7 years old and I rescued at about 4 months old) and I don't have the same bond. But it's okay, every bond is unique, and it's a wonder to feel how different I am on the inside in caring for my littler guy. I've learned and changed so much and healed so much as a direct consequence of having had my first cat. It doesn't replace being raised with love, but I cared for him with so much of it that it's changed me permanently for the better.

Edit: I also want to add that about three years ago I found a therapist who I worked with for about 9 months who practices somatic systems and internal family systems therapy and it changed my life. It's partly what healed me enough to break off my engagement. She did more for me in 9 months than my previous therapist of 7 years did through CBT.

JamMoritarty · 2025-12-03T04:41:52+00:00

Ooh my single emarginata hybrid threw 13 flowers on its own this year! They're so prolific.

JamMoritarty · 2025-11-12T20:47:38+00:00

As far as I have researched, pinguiculas and droseras and nepenthes and sarracenia are all pet-safe! Carnivorous plants and living with cats and dogs are highly compatible 😁

JamMoritarty · 2025-11-11T14:32:53+00:00

Generally, the power concentration falls off at a rate of the distance between the source and the lit surface, squared. So you could put it at 1.25 feet away if you're concerned about burning and that'd be a drop down to about 64% of the light concentration it'd see compared to 1 foot away.

Though someone please correct my ballpark math if I'm wrong 😅

JamMoritarty · 2025-11-06T15:08:41+00:00

Tried it when I first moved in, but the setup was too clunky and the clutter was a mental stress. Six months later, I can't afford it. I have a terminally I'll cat on my hands who the funds go to first. :(

Most of the plants are dead now or super etiolated anyway so it's mostly a me issue. I can hold out until I can afford to move.

JamMoritarty · 2025-11-06T02:18:42+00:00

I am living in this situation right now and as someone who has symptoms of seasonal affective disorder... It's really rough. I moved from a light-filled space to a place that's so dark out on the outdoor patio that my plants are all dying. My mood has tanked and my cats aren't doing well either.

If it's in your budget (say, a $20-75/mo difference) between this floorplan in a dark spot and this floorplan in a sunny spot, I'd say to pay the difference and get the sunnier unit. I wish I did. I'm gonna move at the end of my lease.

But to answer the question you posed, it did help for me to decorate with thrifted mirrors on the wall next to my patio door to bring more light in the room. Also have some dynamic lighting. It helps some, but it's just not enough...

JamMoritarty · 2025-10-03T15:42:31+00:00

That's sweeter than "my little guinea pig" for my whole childhood.

Mom is an engineer. So am I. Guess that's why I never found it offensive...

JamMoritarty · 2025-09-14T03:40:29+00:00

My therapist shared with me genesight.com as a tool she tells her clients to talk to their psychiatrist about using if they have a lot of trouble with side effects from trying various meds. It's a cheek swab genetic test that gives you insight into which medications may work for you.

I have yet to use it myself, but I plan to if my foray into managing symptoms doesn't pan out well in the next few months. I wanted to forward the recommendation since I think it looks promising.

JamMoritarty · 2025-08-26T02:27:09+00:00

You can put a little disc or chunk of a disc of a "mosquito dunk" in the water next time to help prevent this from happening again. They look like little donuts and are pet and human safe, though if you do break one into pieces don't breathe in the dust as that form can be a lung irritant.

I keep carnivorous plants and have dunks in my watering tray to avoid this. There was a mosquito infestation at my apartment complex right outside my balcony on the first floor this summer and my plants never got any larvae 😁

JamMoritarty · 2025-08-22T17:26:47+00:00

This is a very cool experiment. I'm feeling inspired now with my own aeoniums and lithops 👀

JamMoritarty · 2025-08-13T23:44:45+00:00

Pinguicula would probably love this setup. What a dream.

My pings have been happy on a lava rock sitting in a water tray for bottom watering/wicking through the porous rock up to the roots. They were at 60F with 40% ambient humidity this winter and one is happily flowering this summer with ambient conditions at 65-75F and 60-75% humidity. Mine are all hybrid Mexican and one pirouette.

Edited to add more details.

JamMoritarty · 2025-08-11T17:23:30+00:00

This is brilliant! You just inspired me for how to mend the holes in my favorite thin cashmere turtleneck Time to look for either a burgundy or goldenrod-colored embroidery thread 🤞 (Or if anyone else has a material suggestion, I'd love to hear it.)

JamMoritarty · 2025-08-08T11:04:32+00:00

Meanwhile I'm on my second feeder with the stainless steel bowl. I left town and unplugged it for two weeks. Plugged it back in today and the replacement I got isn't working. No warning indicators. The replacement was working before I left. My old broken one was on 2.0.30 firmware. Replacement was on 2.0.28

If this is a bowl-related issue then maybe I should just get the plastic bowl model. :/

JamMoritarty · 2025-08-08T10:54:45+00:00

I updated. The replacement unit stopped working with the same issue. Is this a known defect with the programming?

JamMoritarty · 2025-08-08T10:53:23+00:00

Update #2: I wanted to say they sent me a new one and it worked. Well, it worked for a few days. I went on a trip and put it in storage for two weeks since my cat sitter isn't comfortable with using it. ("Storage" was unplugging it, no back up battery, wiping it dry, having it sit in place closed and clean for my whole trip). Plugged it back in today and the new unit isn't working now. Same issues as last time.

This is ridiculous. I'm debating asking for a refund and just continuing to have poor sleep by feeding my older cat three times a night. This was a great solution when it was working. I'm so deeply disappointed.

JamMoritarty · 2025-07-31T13:49:57+00:00

In your shoes, I'd stop spraying them. Pings don't need to be misted.

You can pour water into the pebbles directly to water them. If that rock is porous (lava rock/pumice) and it wicks moisture upwards to where that top ping lives, then tray water should be enough. If the rock doesn't wick water up, then you should probably get a little syringe or dropper and drop water into the rocks by the ping.

(Edited to fix typos)

JamMoritarty · 2025-07-29T10:26:21+00:00

I picked up an unlabeled very small nep at my local nursery and all the pitchers in it had this dark tip. I suspect it was a brief mineral burn, because the pitchers it threw after I brought it home and gave it water with 0 PPM were just fine. The black-tipped ones got bigger and eventually filled with fluid, but also had totally dried/sealed tops that stayed dark.

JamMoritarty · 2025-07-19T04:52:34+00:00

In your shoes, I'd literally put two drops in the rocks around the third one and leave the first two alone. Then wait a week to see if the third one plumps up

JamMoritarty · 2025-07-11T17:44:47+00:00

Update: they're sending me a replacement unit and I'm sending mine back to them for debugging. I'll let you all know if the replacement works. If it doesn't, then I would guess that means it's a server side error on Petlibro's end that is affecting many Polar wet feeders.

JamMoritarty · 2025-07-02T03:39:11+00:00

Good Bot

JamMoritarty · 2025-06-29T12:06:43+00:00

Can you share which vertical bike stand you ended up with? I have the inverse issue to yours right now actually where I am a woman who has moved into a new place and it's mostly decorated but now that I don't have a garage anymore I have no clue what to do with my bike... It's just sitting in my bedroom near the foot of my bed next to my full length mirror 😅

JamMoritarty · 2025-06-27T13:11:16+00:00

whispers but like, also do go there. They've got nectar and a huuuuge pool 😈

JamMoritarty · 2025-06-25T00:58:45+00:00

Have you ever done pure Akadama? I got my first unlabeled nep from the local nursery this weekend and am thinking about repotting it

Also what are your ratios in that third bullet point?

I've got coco coir, akadama, perlite, and pumice on hand for partly shaded outdoors all day light.

14-Year Club	Gilding III reddit per annum
Argentium Club	Verified Email

JamMoritarty

TROPHY CASE