maxxima
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Posts posted by maxxima
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Usually I catch a whiff now and then but on warm humid days I notice they smell stronger. It is also not always pleasant when many insects are trapped, there's a slight smell of decay mixed in with the honey.
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Bad news for the neighbourhood insects but my plan for a drosophyllum garden has been very successful. Amazing to see how the seedlings have progressed.
Every media type I have tried (with/without peat) has worked but I still feel like pure mineral media has worked better. The only problem with pure mineral media is that they need watering more often (especially in clay pots, almost daily) so they do waste more water. Something to consider as water becomes more valuable every day...
proud mom of all the seedlings seen here
seedlings in pure mineral media
pure mineral media again with mommy plant in the back
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The main plant has 10+ heads now and is catching many flies. It has finally stopped flowering but an odd flower or two will still pop up at times.
There was some space in the pot so I transferred a few seedlings here. Also 2 more seedlings apparently fallen from the mother plant popped up on their own.
Seedlings in pure mineral media.
Seedlings in different types of media. The ones in pure mineral dry out too fast (even in winter) so from now on I will be adding just a bit of peat so as not to waste so much water.
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Having great germination rate. Thinking of converting the bigger part of the balcony into a drosophyllum garden, let's see how it goes.
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I want to do a bigger update later but for now let me share some notes:
- I can confirm they will endure extreme heat. Mine endured 35 - 39C for 2+ months. I was almost certain they would die, I think they came close. No dew production at all, constantly limp and wilted. However, once the temps started going down in the middle of September, new shoots started appearing on the branches and they started growing again. I should note I moved them into the shade and watered every single day, too. In spite of this they looked terrible. I am keeping track of 5 drosophyllum locations in Portugal, apparently the temps there are 26-30C in summer. So, I don't think they appreciate 35+C at all...
Also they never stopped flowering. Started in late April and still flowering as of this moment. At some point it looked like they were flowering themselves to death due to extreme heat. But all seems to be well since September because they are also catching again.
Love seeing the new shoots, it looks like many branches are forming.
Working with fresh seeds is magic !
Can you believe these started germinating after only 6 days ? I couldn't believe my eyes because I remember how difficult it was in the past.
I hope I can keep them all alive because I want to experiment with substrate. But it looks like they are coming up strong.
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You will get seeds I am sure, congrats !
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On 7/4/2022 at 11:41 AM, Carnivor said:
@maxxima i am wondering what soil mix do you use?
This is a mix of about 6 units of inorganic material to 1 unit of peat. The inorganic materials are pumice and perlite. In addition to that I keep the top parts of the pots purely inorganic, so the main peaty mix starts from about 10-15cm below down to almost the bottom. The bottom part is again purely inorganic.
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As time passes I am dreading the upcoming peak summer month(s) when the night time temps will be consistently too high in this corner of the world. This is always the worst time for me, I much prefer the winter. I've never seen the cold kill a plant (even a D. Capensis) but the heat destroys everything and it gets worse every year...
At least it looks like I will be able to collect seed in case they don't make it through the heat. I sincerely hope they make it since I am very fond of them.
They both started flowering at the 1 year old mark. The bigger one (with the aluminum foil) is from another grower and even though it's a few months older, it's flowering later, almost a month of difference. Maybe it's from a higher elevation ? Also there seems to be minor differences in flower spikes but I can't say for sure until they have fully formed.
I was hoping to cross pollinate them but looks like they either won't overlap or they will but for only a few buds.
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So this summer I had 5 plants. At the peak of summer I was watering them every 2 days and apparently it wasn't enough because I lost 3 of them. The remaining two plants I watered every day and they survived. My media is mostly mineral so what worked for other growers (ie watering less) didn't work in my conditions.
It was interesting to observe that they shrank to almost half their size during the hottest months. Little dew (althought they kept catching) and they lost their upright claw-like form. Then we had a week when there was very strong morning dew (everything looked wet like it had just rained) and they almost doubled in size with big droplets of dew and went right back to their upright form.
It was amazing to see how they reacted so positively to morning dew.
Here they are now 3 months later.
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In my experience: keep them warm, lots of light, air current (no stagnant air or too much humidity), very wet (pot standing in water like sarracenia). Also almost all mineral media with or without just a bit of peat seems to work best.
This is until they grow about 6 leaves and then they don't need to sit in water, you can just keep them moist like a house plant, but don't let them dry out.
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This plant seems to be a magnet for little nocturnal moths, I have to admit I find it almost a little sad.
It also recently caught a big damselfly, must have been an accident ? What a horrible place to consider resting on...
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1 hour ago, Carnivor said:
I believe it is used to reflect sun rays in order to reduce pot heating. I do the same but using reflective scotch.
Yes exactly. The area I'm in right now is getting very hot. Aluminium foil makes a difference of about 10+ degrees in soil temperature and makes a more stable change.
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Totally forgot how successful this plant is...
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So happy to have this magnificent species once again after 8 years...Last time I had 5 adult flowering plants but all of them died when I had to go on a workshop for a month, the plant keeper had them too dry.
Once again I have about 5 young plants. This time I'm experimenting with media, temperatures; reading articles online and trying to have more control over their growth to find the perfect conditions.
I am also in a different region now (hotter) so things are already different.
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Found a picture of my plant when it was much younger, amazing how it has changed.
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Thanks Dicon. Would you share pictures if you ever get the chance ?
I've made some research online and found both squat and elongated plants. I do wish mine were squatter though. For me only the first few pitchers of the season (summer) are squat and the rest are taller. Maybe it has something to do with my windowsill conditions.
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Mine is in a quite windy location. Full sun (south) but behind a thin curtain in summer. I don't shade winter sun. Intermediate temps but low humidity. In higher humidity in summer it keeps 4-5 pitchers going though so I assume it would enjoy more humidity.
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Someone on another forum said the pitchers get more elongated as the plant get to the vining stage. I have no idea, any experts care to comment ?
This is the plant 2 summers ago
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Just sharing my love for this species.
Anyone else keeping this plant ? Please share your photos, I'd love to see the variations.
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Hahah ! So many details I hadn't even noticed like the pool game. "Hand sniffing" - lol!
By the way Smilesii has gone into some flowering frenzy. I have already cut off 2 stalks and now it's making 2 more. I also have to keep it submerged in water all the time or it wilts immediately. Among my nepenthes it's very different, I wish I had a female Smilesii as well.
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Awesome, I think I've never seen this one before.
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Not really a summer bloom but my Aeonium finally flowered this year !
Here it is dormant once again now that summer has arrived:
And this one is a spring bloom though I don't know the species - perhaps mammillaria ?:
By the way my Orbea Variegata is making seeds again so if you want some let me know. No signs of seeds from Hirsuta or Stapelia yet. I think I will give away my orbea this year so this is probably the last time.
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I will have a male veitchii in flower, we could try this weir hybrid if you wish.
Andrew
Andrew, Veitchii is one of my favorite nepenthes but I think mine is a male as well
Dave hehe, I feel the same way about Prometheus. At least the visuals are great as can be expected in a R Scott movie but that's about it. It's so difficult to watch those dorky "scientists" at work.
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Thanks much guys, I am happy it's a Smilesii indeed.
Drosophyllum again after 8 years
in Drosophyllum
Posted
Thank you, Turo ! I am happy you like them, I am very fond myself.
Important note to everyone living in (too) hot areas like myself; just use mineral media only. Mineral media + clay pots, water every day - that's all you need.
This summer was the worst - 40+c ! My plants in pure mineral media did excellent. I didn't even move them into the shade this time. I kept them in full sun, watered every day - no signs of heat stress, they were dewy the whole summer. Very easy.
However, my plants that were in peaty mixes wilted (even in clay pots) so I had to keep them in the shade and water every day.
I am sorry about the heat that we all have to face but I am happy that at least for Drosophyllum there is an easy solution.