andyinsuffolk

You can get hold of tuning forks pretty easily on Flea-bay. I bought a "set" for £11 only. It contained 5 or 6 different frequencies. I started using the 250Hz fork but this didnt seem to work very well at all so I then switched to the 510Hz fork and the pollen flew out in huge quantities!! I have put the spare pollen in small open tubes, standing in a bed of dessicant beads, and then in a sealed tub, in the fridge. Stored like this the pollen remains viable for up to 12 months. Good luck all. Andy

Hello, I have had both in cultivation for many years now. I treat both of them the same, which involves growing them in an unheated greenhouse, which regularly gets frost bound each year, using the tray method as per Cephalotus. I think S. caespitosum is one of the easiest sps to grow in our UK conditions. Frost hardy. flowers every year. Robust. Hope this helps? Andy

Yeah, those N.lowii were quick to germinate and with a high % germination rate. Same for the N.vielliardii seeds. But alas nowt from the rajahs yet!! I am awaiting some fresh .N.lavicola seeds right now so that might be a nice one to try. 15 years is nothing!! Isn't it???!! Only 14 years and 10 months to go then! Andy

Surely its worth having a go yourself??!! Thats half the fun...hoping for success but half expecting failure!! There is no shame in failure. How can you win or lose if you don't run the race?? I have just had masses off N.lowii germinate...but none of my N.rajah!! If it was easy everybody would be doing it!! Besides, how are you going to keep your surrogate seedlings alive and well if you don't already have the right cultivation conditions in place for Nepenthes?? I am now using a mix of supersphag and vermiculite having moved away from using finely chopped live green sphagnum moss which ultimately over grows the seeds/seedlings. Fortune favours the brave Party Gecko!!

Hello Girls!! Whats been going on here then??!! Apologies for not getting involved sooner but have been away on business to the Seafood Expo in Brussels - part of the "day job". Firstly, many, many thanks to so many CPUK Forum Members who tipped me off that things were getting heated - its been frustrating not being able to respond or even to find out what the problem was!! So...Ledge Bay doesnt exist (according to the Thead title)??!! Thanks to those who have pointed out in this thread that it does! So I guess thats that cleared up then??!! Special Well done to Marcus B for recalling that Allen Lowrie once sold these seeds!! I can confirm he did....and I bought some! I reckon it was back in sometime around 2003-2005??? I remember phoning him up and having a long chat with him about these seeds ....and a very interesting chat it was as ever with Allen! Ceph seeds werent that frequent on his Lists so when I saw them on there, I just had to have a go. The name on the seed packet and in the catalogue at the time was.......drum roll.......Ledge Bay, WA. And I am pretty sure that the word "Giant" was on the pack too...which is why I then transcribed all this info onto my seed pot label over a decade ago. I then sowed the seed....nature then grew the seed.....and I now have a healthy, mature plant that I only know as "Ledge Bay, Giant"....so thats what I called it! No intention to mislead....apologies to anyone who feels they have been, or is still offended in any way. I certainly trust Allens labelling descriptors 100% and have no resason to doubt anything he told me, then or since. A couple of years ago I took some leaf pulls from my mother plant grown from this seed and one of them is for sale on ebay now. Its called C.follicularis "Triffid Ledge Bay Giant" and I think thats as good and as accurate a descriptor as I can give. In terms of the use of the word "Giant", well thats what I had originally labelled it up as over a decade ago, but in reality the pitchers of my mother plant are indeed bigger than most of my other other ceph clones including my Slacks Giant, Hummers Giant and German Giant!! So, I think I am entitled to call it, or continue to call it, "Giant", arent I?? Hope that this brief explanation is acceptable? Cheers Andy

Hi All, I have been following this thread with interest. Just so you are all aware, all the traceable Triffid Albany Blacks that I have sold/parted with since they were first released have been supplied with a Unique Number which is known to the owners of genuine clones only. If therefore, you have any doubts about the heritage of your Triffid Albany Blacks, go back to the vendor and ask what this unique ID number is. If you then email me via my Triffid Nurseries email address, I will be able to check through my records and hopefully, validate the fact that you have a descendant leaf pull from a genuine TAB clone. Hope this helps. Cheers Andy

Hello Ian, I am sorry that you feel mislead. Richard is correct, in that you can only get the true clone by division or leaf cutting. The seed you have bought is taken from a genuine Akai ryu clone which I have pollinated using pollen from another genuine Akai Ryu clone. However, in botanical circles this is NOT an acceptable way of propagating the true clone. For example, although I did the pollination by hand, with a brush, perhaps a Bumble bee flew into the polytunnel the day before (when I wasn't looking) and pollinated that same flower....with pollen from another VFT clone? You just cant be 100% sure, and so you cant be sure that the seed offspring will therefore be 100% pure. People on this Forum know I have never any intention of misleading anyone, but the rules for Botanical nomenclature and propagation are what they are. So glad that the seeds have germinated well for you, but your seedlings are indeed Akai Ryu X Akai Ryu... most probably....but perhaps Akai Ryu X Wacky traps, or Dracula, if a pollinating insect got to that particular flower before my paint brush!! Hoppe this explains things a bit better. Good Luck and Kind Regards Andy

Hi Daniel, No offence taken I assure you. Thanks for your kind words. Stay handsome! Andy

Hi Daniel, Thats fair enough. I have been growing Cephs for just over 28 years now and I can confirm that this is no "fake". Its a very real, living, very dark coloured Cephalotus clone that I have been growing for a number of years now and is a plant that I am particularly proud of. You certainly won't have seen this particular plant around before (unless you have visited Triffid Nurseries in recent years) since I have never sold one, nor given one away before. Alot of growers guard their favourite plants with a passion!! I am no exception. Finally, I have no wish to mislead anyone. Never have done. Never will. Kind Regards Andy

I too am interested to see what this sells for. Daniel G. Why are "alarm bells" ringing? Please explain. Andy