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Bluedog0628

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Bluedog0628 last won the day on April 2 2022

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    South Yorkshire, UK
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    Gardening, CPs...

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  1. Hi, interesting idea but I must admit, I have never heard of anyone having a 'winter terrarium'. Normally terrarium is used to keep thing warm and humid, keeping them cold is a completely different situation. I does sound quite expensive to set up and run though. If you l look at Australian and Tropical forums, the majority of people use the fridge method. Maybe instead of getting a terrarium, you could get a small fridge. Something like the glass-fronted chillers they have in shops (to keep milk, meat etc in) would probably work but a normal fridge would be fine too. And in the summer you can use it for beer...
  2. @Guy, you need to select 'England'.
  3. Hello! I'm in a middle of a little crisis... I was recently given notice to leave by my landlord. I've been looking for new properties but the choice is limited. At the moment I have a eye on one suitable house but it's a terraced house (no front garden) and the back garden is quite small and North-facing... Is it possible to grow plants in those conditions? I have mostly temperate plants (VFT, Sarracenia, Darlingtonia, D. binata) that live outside all year round (plus some D. capensis that spend summer outside but winter indoors, plus two Nepenthes kept indoors all year round). Some of them could go on the South-facing windowsills indoors over summer but there is not enough room for all of them. I don't have any grow lights (never used them either so don't know how to use them correctly). I've spent the past 2 years expanding my collections so obviously want to keep all of my plants. Is anyone growing CP in less than ideal conditions and how do you make it work? I'll keep looking for a more CP-friendly house but time is running out and I need to make a decision soon. Thanks for all replies!
  4. Cephalotus is a tricky one to grow, in fact it's the only CP I haven't managed to keep alive yet... good luck! I'm growing mostly temperate plants though.
  5. I have contacted Evergreen. This is the response I got: Thank-you for your enquiry. Our Irish Moss Peat range is a 100% Natural/Pure Product with no additives. I hope this information has been of assistance to you. I've been using 'Evergreen Irish moss peat' for over a year and so far, none of my plants died as a result (I lost 1 D. binata over winter but that was weather-related, other plants in the same pot are growing well). I have VFTs, Drosera binata and capensis, Sarracenia and Darlingtonia growing in it. I will keep using this until my current supply runs out and then I'll be looking into peat-free options as I can't be bothered with all this uncertainty and trouble of sourcing uncontaminated peat (if the peat ban goes ahead, it will only get worse).
  6. Hi, I have a N. x Bloody Mary. When I got it all of the leaves were green, now about half of them turned red. Is this normal? The plant is on a bathroom windowsill, it's south-facing with frosted double glazing. It's a fairly small window (about 2 ft tall) shaded by the eaves of the house so the plant is not in direct sunlight. The pitchers are forming fine and there's new growth at the top. All of the red leaves are on the side closest to the window so I'm thinking maybe it's got too much light? Or maybe it's still adjusting (I got the plant a month ago). Should I be worried? Do I need to do anything? Thanks for replies.
  7. Hi, I'd leave the plants on the window. The photoperiod will be reduced naturally as days get shorter in the autumn. The plants will still be photosynthesising to some extend so will need light. My VFTs are growing new leaves even in winter and they're outside in a cold frame (even the Beast from the East didn't stop them). Also, windowsills are generally the coldest part of the room (if the heating is turned off). You really need to maintain the temperature below 10 C (preferably around 2-5 C) for the plants to have proper dormancy and reasonable humidity (that shouldn't be a problem if there's no heating and the window's opened). Ventilation is also important to prevent fungus problems. All you have to do is reduce the watering, keep the plants damp but not waterlogged. As a rule, for outdoor plants dormancy should start around Halloween and last till Valentine's Day (or longer depending on weather; dormancy shorter than 3 months will not be enough). If you're hand feeding your plants, stop by the end of September. I would also suggest you look up plants that don't need a dormancy. There are lots of CPs that can be grown indoors all year round, some may need a terrarium/artificial lights but not all. They may be more suitable for your growing conditions, unfortunately temperate plants don't do very well in flats in the long term.
  8. Ok. I'm adding Vitax peat to my black-list. I think the only way is a proper lab analysis. A TDS meter could help but unfortunately it won't tell you exactly what the dissolved stuff is (it could be just harmless stuff that comes from the peat itself), I'm guessing if the readings are unusually high, that could indicate a possible contamination (I have no idea what readings are considered normal though). I'm using Evergreen Irish moss peat (the only brand I could find locally, apart from Westland). Will have to contact them to find out what the situation is with that. So far, none of my plants died as a result so it should be ok but I can't be sure at the moment. I think it's time for me to seriously look into peat-free alternatives (once my current supply of peat runs out). I already have 2 VFTs growing peat-free and the're doing fine so it appears that is the way to go!
  9. Hi, the 42 C was in sun. The greenhouse is south facing. I did try to get some shading (well, it was a piece of cardboard wedged between the cover and the frame, it did not go quite to plan as it warped by next morning due to high humidity and it blocked out most of the light) and the temp dropped to 35 C. Will need to get something more suitable before the summer weather returns (would horticultural fleece work?). Today the temperature was 30 C in sun (without any shading).
  10. I have lost 1 Drosera binata... At the start of winter, there were 3 plant in the pot, 2 of them came back from the roots, the third one is still missing (I'm hoping it might still reappear but it seems unlikely now). They were in a cold frame with the rest of my temperate plants (Sarracenia, Darlingtonia, VFT). Apart from that, my plants are growing well.
  11. Richard, I had a problem earlier today, got an error message after pressing 'submit' on a new post. Don't remember what exactly is said but there was the word 'tapatalk' in it. I was using my laptop (google chrome) so not sure how that relates to the app problems... As it turned out, the post has been submitted despite the error message (I opened the forum in another tab and checked before trying to re-submit).
  12. Thanks manders, I don't have D. aliceae (and not thinking of getting one either)... What about D. regia (would like to have that one)?
  13. BBC has posted an article and a nice slow motion video of Aldrovanda in action. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-44041587
  14. Hi, your set up is ok (the root cooling problem mostly applies to hotter countries than UK - think Australia, southern parts of USA, Asia...). A lot of people in the UK keep their plants in the same way as Sarracenias, VFTs etc. - in a pot (light coloured one) and a water tray or in bog gardens. Can you put the plant outside? The light levels on a windowsill won't be ideal, and in winter it will be too warm/air too dry (cobras are temperate plants and need dormancy just like Sarracenias and VFTs). My cobra is standing in water at all times during the growing season (and just damp over winter in a cold frame), if it's a particularly hot day (like this weekend) I top water it (on a cooler day I just pour the water into the tray directly). It seems to work and the temps in my greenhouse reached 42 C yesterday. Some people also grow them in pure sphagnum and flooded (in pots with no drainage) and it works for them, too.
  15. Hi and thanks for all replies. Last year the Darlingtonia was grown in same conditions as the purp and did just fine (it sent out a few stolons so I guess it was happy). I was a bit worried at first (I've read all the stories of plants dying on the internet and the root cooling problems etc. so wasn't sure how it would work) but things worked out ok. I think the root temperature might be a problem in really hot countries but UK is not that warm (not for long anyway). I have pots arranged in two rows and the Darlingtonia is in the middle of the back row (the surrounding pots provide some sun protection and that seems to be enough to stop the roots overheating). The reason for keeping the plants in a greenhouse is this: I am surrounded by football mad kids (2 of 3 my neighbours have goal posts in their gardens and regularly have their kids' friends over). I have lost count of how many footballs came flying over the fence in the past year (just this weekend alone I had to retrieve a football - a real, heavy leather football - from my garden on 5 occasions). I dread to think what this football would do if it managed to land on top of my plants (remember, they're in 4"-5" plastic pots, so nothing particularly sturdy). The greenhouse isn't really there to keep the plants warm, it's there to keep them from getting squashed/broken (the open panel is facing my other neighbours, an elderly couple, so no risk of a stray football coming from that direction). The greenhouse itself has been hit by a ball in the past a few times but luckily it's anchored well enough to stop it falling over (there's about 100l of compost on the bottom shelf and a string going round the top and tied up to a waste pipe). I was planning on getting a bog planter last year (didn't get round to actually making one) but as it happened, the kids really stepped up their game since then and I don't think it will be possible now (not unless I can find a way to keep the balls out). Hopefully the weather will go back to more reasonable temperatures soon. For now plants are kept standing in water and fingers crossed, everything will be fine.
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