15 replies to this topic

[BLUENOWZ1878]

Any Ideas both are growing in the same compost ,water tray system, but one seems to be drying out despite having water flushed through twice a day.
The plants were purchased about 6 weeks ago ,can anyone throw some light on the subject?......Thanks in Advance ....Jim

[MarcelvW]

Are you keeping them inside?
What is the compost?

[Loakesy]

BLUENOWZ1878, on 30th July 2009 - 10:31 AM, said:

...can anyone throw some light on the subject?...

It looks like you could do with throwing some light on the them! It seems to be a little dark in the photo. They probably need more light!

[BLUENOWZ1878]

Hi, Thanks for the quick reply,They are in a Sunroom inside ,compost is I part Orchid bark ,I part Moss Peat,& 1 part Horticultural Perlite as recommened in A Slacks book, the thing I don't understand is I grew them when I lived in England with no problems, infact I gave several mature plants to friends .........Jim

[ada]

Where are you getting your water from?It looks like they've been poisoned too me with all those dead shrivelled pitchers.

[BLUENOWZ1878]

Loakesy, on 30th July 2009 - 10:59 AM, said:

It looks like you could do with throwing some light on the them! It seems to be a little dark in the photo. They probably need more light!

Loaksey, it's just that I did not use a flash

Again no Flash
This is the area of the sunroom they are in.

[BLUENOWZ1878]

ada, on 30th July 2009 - 11:02 AM, said:

Where are you getting your water from?It looks like they've been poisoned too me with all those dead shrivelled pitchers.

I have been using boiled water that has been left to stand overnight, it does not seem to be effecting any of my other plants, to be honest the plants did not appear to be in the best of condition when I received them 6 weeks ago! ..........Jim

[Loakesy]

BLUENOWZ1878, on 30th July 2009 - 11:23 AM, said:

I have been using boiled water that has been left to stand overnight, it does not seem to be effecting any of my other plants, to be honest the plants did not appear to be in the best of condition when I received them 6 weeks ago! ..........Jim

There could be your problem. If you are using boiled water, rather than rain or distilled water, you are actually concentrating the disolved solids, rather than eliminating them. The only constituent of tap water you will remove by boiling is chlorine. But the sodium, potassium and calcium compounds are still there, only in a stronger concentration.

Really, distilled, or rain water are the very best for your plants if you want them to survive!

BTW - Light looks OK now I see the bigger picture!

[Bobsa]

Hi,

Your plants (if it is not too late) need to be outside at all times, standing in rainwater, in a freely draining compost (I use pure sphagnum moss).

They like to have water flowing around the roots, so water regularly and let the water flow through the compost.

I have avoided the obvious Viagra joke.

Bobsa

[gardenofeden]

what are your temperatures? I've cooked a few Darlingtonia in my time and they go just like that.

[BLUENOWZ1878]

Bobsa, on 30th July 2009 - 11:48 AM, said:

Hi,

Your plants (if it is not too late) need to be outside at all times, standing in rainwater, in a freely draining compost (I use pure sphagnum moss).



Bobsa

Is that the stuff they sell in Garden Centres for hanging baskets produced by Gardman qute from their website "Ours is harvested from renewable sources, and we believe it to be of the finest quality". As for the boiling water I cannot understand why using the Soft water here in N.Ireland would kill them, I used this method when I first moved over here 20 years ago and in  Henley-on Thames where the water is Hard without any problems .It was when I moved the plants to anIsland bog in my pond that I lost them ,because I did not realise the surrouding rocks contained limestone.
The Plants are now outside waiting for it to rain  

[BLUENOWZ1878]

gardenofeden, on 30th July 2009 - 11:54 AM, said:

what are your temperatures? I've cooked a few Darlingtonia in my time and they go just like that.

I don't think temerature is out of the ordinary ,the windowsill the plants are on faces West, the Sunroom 2 windows that open &  has a mezzanine floor above with 4 large Velux windows so the place is well ventilated when it gets too warm......Jim

The only other thing I can think of as a contributing factor is that the windows have smoke tint on the outside???

One more thing in the second pic the small plant towards the edge of the pot has been like that since it arrived

Edited by BLUENOWZ1878, 30 July 2009 - 13:08 PM.

[jimscott]

I think this sort of approach would work better:

Edited by jimscott, 29 July 2010 - 14:25 PM.

[elgecko]

I've noticed over the years too much water on Darlingtonia can rot them.
I thought my soil was well drained. I used lava rock, perlite, and peat moss mix in equal quantities.... but still rotted in ceramic glazed pots with the bottom drainage hole.
I'm using the same soil mix, but I have switched to ceramic orchid pots that have the holes in the side of the pot as well as the bottom.

[Carnivorous Beast]

Just make sure it gets tons of sunlight, a well draining soil mix and warm, not hot temeratures. Flushing it with chilly water is also very helpful.
  Hope its looking better!

[dchasselblad74]

Carnivorous Beast, on 13th January 2010 - 01:14 AM, said:

Just make sure it gets tons of sunlight, a well draining soil mix and warm, not hot temeratures. Flushing it with chilly water is also very helpful.
  Hope its looking better!

I totally agree with the flushing with coldwater. I grow my Darlingtonia outdoors potted in a cat litter pan(drilled holes on all 4 sides, not the bottom) in a sarracenia bog, in mostly direct sunlight. I use 1 part long fiber sphagnum, 1 part perlite, 1 part finely chopped orchid bark mix and some regular sphagnum peat. On top of this mix, I put a 1/2 inch layer of perlite all over the whole cat litter pan to reflect the heat of the sunlight keeping the  roots cool. The  shallowness of the plastic cat litter pan with the combination of the airy mixture allows for the evaporation of the moisture which cools the plants roots and prevents from rot. I freeze RO water in 4 large Mcdonalds soda cups then I place these frozen cups upside down of water on the roots, when I know The temp at night will only go down to mid 70s, cause the key is keeping the roots cool and even cooler at night for the plant to not become exhausted. Then in the morning I water the plant with refridgerated RO water when I collect the Mcds cups to refill and refreeze.And the water from the melting  ice goes right into my sarracenias.First off the Darlingtonia on the left of the photo looks like it wasnt healthy when he obtained it, second the one on the right looks like its suffering from root burn or mineral burn. Darlingtonias dont like stagnant tray method water, they need cold, pure seep water. Try repotting and growing in shade outdoors with simulation of seepage..Oh also there are two variety of Darlingtonia; Coastal(DIFFICULT) and Mountain(Not so Difficult) , try to stick to the Mountain Variety....

                                                                                      Good luck DexFC(dchasselblad74)

Edited by dchasselblad74, 29 July 2010 - 07:08 AM.