D. Granti Breeding Substrate

K

kkeane

L1
I'm getting setup to breed the D. Granti that I collected in AZ and I have a few questions based on reading several sources and posts in this forum:

1. Will females lay eggs in/will larvae eat a substrate made of ONLY Miracle Grow organic potting soil?

2. How long should I soak dead wood and oak leaves rid it of harmful mites/insects?

3. Is freezing the wood/leaves after I soak them absolutely necessary?

Thanks!

 
1. I used Miracle Grow potting soil as the egg laying substrate for my D. Granti before. It was relatively successful, as the female laid 20+ eggs. The larvae can survive just on the potting soil (one of my larvae reached L3 just with Miracle Grow), but you should put other wood in it as well. (Also dog food)

2. I usually soak mine for about 1.5 weeks.

3. No, but it ensures complete (or near complete) death of all harmful organisms.

 
I would think that depends on the amount of boiling you want to do Richard, their substrate should have at least 10" depth in my opinion, well compressed at the bottom 2-3". Depending on the width and length of the substrate I would imagine that might be a lot of boiling. I have also heard that boiling kills off *all* organisms, whereas freezing gets rid only of harmful organisms, where the idea comes from beats me since freezing any living animal (harmful or not) would kill them off; unless they are extremophiles of course ;-)

 
All I do is pour water from a coffe pot after it heats and repeat twice... Then I pour water out... Then I strain with metal strainer... THEN I strain with an old sheet (wring substrate out).

 
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