15 replies to this topic

[agreendream]

Hello, my name is Chris.
I did live for some years in Buckinghamshire where I had a large greenhouse in which I grew a range of orchids and CP's.

I recently moved to south London and have had to start from a fresh.

I now have two heated orchid houses which are coming on very well!

I have just built a table 62cm x 177cm with 10cm depth. It has a down pipe from the roof feeding it fresh rain water.
I have ordered lots of washed sands and small grade gravel and just need to order peat now.

My interset is mainly Utric's. The above table has been built to grow them in.

The table sits in front of an east facing window.

I would really appriaciate some suggestions of terrestrial Utric's BUT my main need of help is one I faced last time I grew CP's, which is,
I really like my plants to grow with typical companion plants, essentially the weeds to be found around the Utrics, I would REALLY like any help with sourcing there seeds and or plants.

I am more then happy to either pay or make swaps for orchids or trade help with growing orchids.

Many thanks,

Chris

[Blocky71]

Hi Chris
I'm Chris too, also in the south east (rochester,kent), also new here and also just getting back into my cp's but am more into Dionaea.
Unfortunately i know nothing about your questions but am sure someone here will be able to point you in the right direction.
just thought i'd say hi and welcome

[Richard Bunn]

Welcome Chris.

[nadja77]

Hi Chris,

Welcome to the forum! I am sure one of our Utric buffs will answer your questions!

Edited by nadja77, 17 June 2012 - 01:21 AM.

[Loakesy]

Hi Chris! Welcome aboard from another South Londoner! I don't have any Utrics though...

[Darkrai283]

Welcome! I live in Croydon but I don't grow any utrics, sorry!  

Edited by Darkrai283, 17 June 2012 - 16:03 PM.

[gardenofeden]

well you could grow some South African Utrisc like sandersonii and bisquamata 'Betty's Bay', and grow them with South African Drosera like capensis, trinervia, cuneifolia as they often grow together

[Trish]

Welcome., but afraid I cant help you, but wish you luck
Trish

[ewjlamb]

Very interesting project. If you are looking for fellow carnivores, then sundews as thrive in medium light conditions may be a good bet, as Stephen from gardenofeden says above regarding various S. African species.

In fact I may have some Drosera venusta seedlings that may interest you.

My feeling is that you may need to consider 'fudging' the geographical boundaries somewhat in order to make this a little more feasible, but I am only saying this because I believe (rightly or wrongly), that most of the Orchid-flowering Utrics are from Latin America, whereas most of the commonly cultivated Latin American sundews require higher light levels then one may typically get on an east-facing window.

Here is another suggestion:

(A) Geographically overlapping distributions:
Utricularia multifida
Utriculaira tenella
(Previously carried generic epithet Polypompholyx)

with

Cephalotus follicularis

(source of information: The Journal of the Carnivorous Plant Society no. 31, 2009 pp 53 - 73)

All the best!

[agreendream]

Thanks all, very welcoming and some good tips too.

This is it "built" I now need it to settle and grow in.
I am not the kind of grower who has things in pots on shelves, no criticism of that style but it will make my methods and ideas make a tiny bit more sense I hope :)



I have two tropical greenhouses which are completely wild, things growing on one another all over the place. I like to see the competition and the development.

SO my next question is, could any one provide me with weed species from the above suggested region, ie South Africa, as that seems to be the area I focus on.
So if you have weeds pop up that might have originated there, having been sent a plant or some thing I would be very happy to give those weeds a good home.

I will enjoy showing you all the development of this bed as time go's on!

Thanks!

Chris

[Richard Bunn]

Chris that is absobloodylutely incredible.  Can you please post a few close up photos?

Good luck on your search for companion plants.  An idea would be to contact whatever the botanical gardens are in S. Africa as they would no doubt be able to help you find out the species you need.

[jimscott]

Welcome to CPUK! We usually have a plethora of Andy's, here, very few Chris's.

[Daniel G]

Welcome to the forums, and great table!

[bugmuncher]

welcome to the forum chris , i love your table it is a fantastic idea , i have utricularia bisquamata 'Betty's Bay' which is a lovely little plant
dave

[agreendream]

Thanks all!

Hey Richard, sorry took so long but computer had a virus.




To be honest I think I will take out the Drosera that I have, I bought these on impulse and they dont really fit my plan.

My order of about 7 different Utrics arrived and have been added so look forward to seeing which like it.

What I liked is that when it rains, the table fill's with water, and only slowly drains down to a level after hours :)

One very BIG PROBLEM I have thought of with this is! In the winter here I will not be able to keep them drier as they should be, since there fed by down pipes, if it rains, and it does here in the winter then they will be wet..... Problem to fix in time :)

[Richard Bunn]

Looking nice although I see what you mean regarding your sundews not properly representing your South African biotope.  I'd been pondering for ages about the water thing.  That's gonna take some tricky work.