RobH

You have some really nice and big Sarracenia there, some with beautiful colouration and veining Kind regards, Rob

Gentlemen, sorry to interrupt your very interesting discussion. Just a thought however. This is an 'open' public forum, you don't need to be a member of CPUK or anything else to access information on here. May I respectfully suggest any sharing of locations of rare CPs is done by private messaging rather than an open post. None of us want to see natural CP habitats destroyed by unscrupulous individuals accessing information available on this forum. Not suggesting for one moment any of the participants in this thread would contemplate such a thing, but I would suggest we do need to be very careful about inadvertently openly disclosing such location information. Kind regards, Rob

Looking very nice and what a lovely blue colour! What is the difference between the original deep blue flowered plant and the secondary much paler blue flowered plant? Just a different clone? Kind regards, Rob

D. aliciae does not need stratification so go ahead and sow now. I really don't think you need to put the Sarracenia seeds in the fridge now as it means they will have a very short growing season when you eventually sow them and that will not be very good for them as they will likely be small going in to the winter months. If you want to hedge your bets and be extra safe, consider splitting the seeds into two portions, sow them both now in separate pots, put one of the pots in normal growing conditions and put the other pot in the fridge for a few weeks first. Good luck! Rob

Sarracenia seeds normally need stratification. They were presumably harvested last autumn so have probably had some form of cold conditions over the winter months which hopefully will be sufficient. Drosera seeds do not normally need stratification, but to be sure what species/variety are they? I would suggest sowing both types of seed now, it is certainly not too late but do not leave it any longer. Be prepared for them to take 4 -8 weeks to germinate although it could be quicker. Rob

I like the dendrobium in the background ! Seriously, that is a nice looking darlingtonia. Hope my seeds from you will be as good as this little plant. Rob

Hi Ian Amazon.co.uk: Just enter Osmocote into "Garden and Outdoors" search and you can buy Amazon's Choice of Osmocote for £5.90 - Osmocote Contolled Release Plant Food 750g by Greenfingers Kind regards, Rob

it's very light, it blows everywhere Rob

You may like to try member miso here on this forum. His website is http://plants.plantae.sk/carnivorous-plants.htm . He sells lots of Pings and maybe he will sell you some seed or flasks. I suggest you PM him to ask. Rob

No, that soil will be fine, it is almost new! Many people mix up a large batch of compost for their plants, put the mix in a bin of some kind or bag and then use from it throughout the season and it can last many months without problems even when it is kept damp. So go ahead and use your compost, you should not have any problems. Rob

I would try to fill that gap if you can. Can you not pour the old compost you have around the edge of the pot to fill the gap or push some peat into the gap? If it is too damp or wet to do this, mix some dry silicate sand with it to make it lighter and "pourable". I don't see any reason why you cannot use your old compost for this so long as it doesn't look mouldy or smell bad. Since you won't have had any fertiliser in it, the compost cannot go off as maybe regular potting compost may do. But do try to fill that gap with something even if it is just plain dry peat and/or sand which will soon moisten up once in place. Rob

I am 'red' with envy. Beautiful Rob

Refresh your browser page or do a force refresh, usually done by holding Ctrl and clicking the reload button, often F5. Alternatively, try another browser. Rob

If you are at all concerned about the water quality, buy a TDS meter from Amazon. They cost less than £10 and will give you peace of mind. Moss should not be a problem. The only concern may be if you live in an industrial area where the rainwater may pick up contaminants in the atmosphere. Otherwise you should be fine. Rob

That's a lot of flies and midges for this time of year ! Oh, and by the way, very nice flower, nicely grown Rob

Love those dark red clones , really super colouration Rob

Thanks, those articles are really useful Rob

It has been cold so they may not have started full germination yet. If that is so, lucky you, and they should still germinate, or at least some of them should still germinate. Otherwise they will have dried out and are dead. Just keep them moist for a month or so and see if anything comes up. If nothing has appeared in say 6 - 8 weeks, then you have lost them. I'll wager something will come up for you, though perhaps not all the seeds. Keep them moist and at least wait until we get some warmer weather to promote germination before deciding to discard the trays. Rob

Hi Fly trap It depends on your situation and also on the plants themselves. Where are they going? In a frost free greenhouse, a heated greenhouse, a windowsill or an indoor terrarium? Are the plants hardy or tender? If you buy them now, they may not be sent out until the weather improves and gets a little warmer anyway. In any event they will probably all be dormant at present and you are not going to see any growth until the weather warms up a little so they could be difficult to keep healthy as you may try to inadvertently "coddle" them into growth by giving them too much attention which they don't want at this stage ! If you are a beginner, which I assume you are from your question and difficult as it may be to curb your enthusiasm, I would suggest waiting until the Spring when the plants will be in active growth and you will be able to literally see them grow almost on a daily basis. They will also be easier to manage and they should all stand in about 2-5 cm of rainwater in a tray. If you bought them now, they should only be kept damp and there is always the danger of rot by over watering since they will not be in active growth. The choice is yours and I am sure others will add their comments. Overall, I think you will find it better to wait until the Spring , but probably that will be a lot more difficult for you! The plants will adjust quicker to your conditions when in active growth since they are quite resilient to environmental conditions provided they have adequate light, reasonable temperatures and most importantly rainwater, not tap water. Hope this helps, Rob

Hi Jasper You could try here: http://www.bromeliads.info/troubleshooting-bromeliad-problems/ or try the Bromeliad Society: http://www.bsi.org/new/ or http://www.bsi.org/new/frequently-asked-questions/ Hope this helps you, Rob Edit: Or you could try these sites: 1. https://shop.pistilsnursery.com/blogs/the-care-blog/18673779-air-plant-care-how-to-care-for-air-plants-aeriums-and-tillandsia-mounts 2. https://www.airplantcity.com/pages/air-plant-care

Really enjoying your travelogue and your superb pictures of Drosera species in their natural habitat. So nice to see these plants growing wild. Many thanks, Rob

I just took a look at my plants which are outside. We can get down to about -5 Celsius, occasionally lower, but snow is rare. Many of the leaves are blackened from the frost which is to be expected. Those that are not blackened are not showing any dew because the plant is essentially resting in the colder weather. Based on previous experience, they will revive quickly in the Spring, so it may simply be your plant is resting for the winter. Looking at your photo, your plant looks healthier than mine because of my blackened leaves! I don't think you have anything to worry about at present. Just keep it ticking over, not too wet but humid, and move it back outside as soon as is practical to take advantage of the lengthening daylight and temperatures. Rob

I don't know how cold winter is with you, but D. capensis is frost hardy although it will get knocked back by frost and then regrow in the Spring. Only thing is I would not trust it in really cold weather outside. Rob

It is Drosera capensis and normally easy to grow. I agree with Nepenthesman it looks like it needs more light but otherwise it does not look too bad. Any chance of putting it on a windowsill in good light? Rob

What species of sundew or what does the label say? Any chance of a photo? These would help us give you a good answer as some species take a winter dormancy period. Rob