Guest GazCez Posted March 12, 2011 Report Share Posted March 12, 2011 Just a quick update on the dionaea after the paraffin fire. All bad news really. The plants look terrible and this is a lesson that paraffin does not belong in the greenhouse. I am going to invest in a nice proper heater this year - gas maybe. No doubt, knowing my luck if I get one of those I will blow up the plants instead of poisoning them. Some of the plants look really sick so I don't hold much hope really. I will sit and wait. No selling, swapping or giving away anything ever again me thinks.... I cleaned down every surface, boiled every pot, washed down every tray with hot water, scrubbed the trays and finally repotted everything. My bad back was not happy and is screwed completely and quite frankly I feel like giving up on the dionaea. If the paraffin accident wasn't enough I now have an even bigger problem. Due to the moisture created from using the paraffin heater and the duration of the winter I now have quite a few plants with rot. I ony discovered the problem while repotting the plants in the fire greenhouse. This is a new experience to myself and I have only seen half a dozen with the problem in 10 years. I have stripped back the plants to a bare nothing in some cases - so again it is time to sit and wait. I am thoroughly depressed by all of this, not quite suicidal but I have been comfort eating (hubby says I am like this anyway - cheeky devil). Also a bloomin' koi died in the pond and it was very decomposed and disintegrated when I got it out of the pond today. There was mucous, scales and digestive whatnot eveywhere - all very CSI. Is anyone else experiencing any dionaea rot problems? I would be interested to know if anyone else has been experiencing problems due to the hard UK winter we have just had. C. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rsivertsen Posted March 12, 2011 Report Share Posted March 12, 2011 I've used an unvented propane heater for years without any problems; I had a kerosene heater once, but that did cause some problems with soot and smoke when I got some bad kerosene. The extra CO2 seems to do the plants well, plus it's immune from power failuers! You just have to make sure that you have enough propane in the external tanks outside the greenhouse. - Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ada Posted March 12, 2011 Report Share Posted March 12, 2011 Hi Ceri, same here,did you read my post "just when you thought it was safe" I'm over it now.I was going to downsize the collection,but what do you get rid of? problem solved now! anything that cant stand the cold has gone. I do have some "bits" of various plants stuck in pots,but i'm not hopeful they'll grow. I lost more this winter than all the time i've grown cp's put together. chin up, btw is fred still alive? ada Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexa Posted March 12, 2011 Report Share Posted March 12, 2011 Like Ada I've lost many VFTs this winter, in fact I'm not really too sure how many are still alive. From the outside all looks normal, but pull a trap and it will come away from a rotten crown inside. I've repotted all the good ones and hopefully they will be fine, but time will tell on the rest of the VFTs. Alex. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest GazCez Posted March 12, 2011 Report Share Posted March 12, 2011 Hi Adrian. Yes I saw your post about the sarracenia and it is awful that you have been forced to downsize rather than by choice. If it's any comfort we lost an absolute shed load of sarracenia. They were ok one week and OMG the next. I couldn't believe what we were seeing. Just like you whole selections of plants with brown rhizomes and no chance of survival. I did the best I could with the plants we had few of and hoped for the best. I noticed botrytis in an S' Leuco Schnells ghost today which was beyond help. Luckily the other side of the pot was unaffected so I think it is salvageable. It was so good of you to remember Fred. Well she didn't make it but at 19 we are consoled with the fact she had a good innings. Survived cancer twice as well. We were a bit down about her passing but one day just 'happened' to go past the shelter and bob's your uncle we got a lovely little boy kitten. We felt guilty that we had become one of those pet owners who can't wait for the corpse to be cold before doing the Poltergeist 'can I have another goldfish now', but that passed. He has been a great addition but bonked one of the dogs 4 times a day (I'll have what he's having - to paraphrase When Harry met Sally har, har) so he had say goodbye 'to his little friends' (any more film ref's?). His op was 99% successful but he still has time for loving the dog. Gross. The other half is burying the koi up the allotment as I type. It was just like in Robocop when the car hits the guy who has been doused with nuclear waste. The horror, the horror - yep another film ref. On a roll I think. I feel a bit better now that I am not alone. Still p****d off about the vft's. How can the rot leave Cudo, Louchpates, Triton, wacky traps and all the fussy plants alone? Heterdoxa and basic vft's suffered very badly indeed. Strange how vft's like Red Dragon and the like are all ok. Anything very green or yellow literally collapsed. I now have nil yellow fused tooth except a few scabby bits I have put aside. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petesredtraps Posted March 12, 2011 Report Share Posted March 12, 2011 How can the rot leave Cudo, Louchpates, Triton, wacky traps and all the fussy plants alone? Heterdoxa and basic vft's suffered very badly indeed. Strange how vft's like Red Dragon and the like are all ok. I've noticed this also ( I'm very thankfull that the rare clones are safe ) not that my losses have been as bad as others, I've lost about six VFTs, nothing that can't be easily replaced. I'd say Triton is the real trooper, it's lost no top growth at all and looks much the same as it did at the end of last season, It's starting to grow again now of course. Anyway there seems to be an enigma here, has anyone else noticed that the rarer clones seem to be tougher? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dode Posted March 13, 2011 Report Share Posted March 13, 2011 Yes I have lost a few plants too but less than last year. Some clones seem more susceptible than others. I never replaced all of the plants I lost last year and most of the ones I lost this year were the ones I replaced! Maybe we should start a list( if there is not one already) of the clones that seem to be hardier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petesredtraps Posted March 13, 2011 Report Share Posted March 13, 2011 Yes I have lost a few plants too but less than last year. Some clones seem more susceptible than others. I never replaced all of the plants I lost last year and most of the ones I lost this year were the ones I replaced! Maybe we should start a list( if there is not one already) of the clones that seem to be hardier. I agree, let's gather opinions on this, interesting. Food for thaught. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest GazCez Posted March 14, 2011 Report Share Posted March 14, 2011 Just of the top of my head the plants most badly affected were DMO8 all green, heterodoxa, yellow fused tooth (possible total loss), South West Giant (can't understand this one as it is really tough), Adrian Slack's Giant (again ditto for SWG), and H25 (ditto again). The ones less affected were indeed things like Cudo, microdent, Wacky traps, red sawtooth (what a trooper - looks lovely and fresh), cuptrap, Triton, Louchaptes (although looks a little sad today) spider, and all the neotenic pygmies I have made it. Pretty much everything else looks miserable due to the repotting. Although I am not too worried as they always look a little rough after this has been done. I have decided not to mope about and brood over the losses. I suppose I have been very lucky and over ten years collecting seen very little problems - just pests really nothing else. I am not one to be beaten and I will just start again and replace plants over time. I also have a huge stack of vft seeds that I have meant to put in, so maybe I can find new impetous in growing them and looking for something new there. I am hoping that the warm weather will bring them on now and urge them into growing. Thanks for everyone's help as I don't feel as bad and the chocolate consumption has diminished. The other half says 'by what' - cheeky beggar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3Star Posted March 14, 2011 Report Share Posted March 14, 2011 Hi Ceri Sorry to hear about your ongoing Dionaea problems. I took the decision to move mine into an unheated room fairly early on in the winter, although I realise this was alot easier to do with my miserly collection compared with your collection, and I'm glad I did as they appear to be ok. However I have lost a few of the Sarracenia I got from you last year to botrytis including 'Schnells Ghost'. I must admit that at the time I was abit disheartened but to be honest my losses are nothing compared to yours and Ada's. Anyway I hope things start to show signs of improvement, as the weather gets better, and it turns out not to be as bad as you first thought. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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