petmantis

When I saw the first photo, the N. alata, I thought this would be one of those boring pic threads. . . but then the next one was a gorgeous N. burbidgeae! Wow! Fantastic Nep collection, I also enjoyed the Masdevallias and Dracs. Thanks for sharing. . .

Some (terrible) pics of select plants... "The toilet Nep". N. jamban, 2nd pitcher in my care. Thanks to Jack & Jeanie at Hawaiian Bots! Seedgrown N. ampullaria, recovering... One of my favorite pitcherplants... backlit in evening sun. S. psittacina 'Green Rosette' x S. minor Anthocyanin-free Hamata! I like how the teeth become increasingly pronounced in each successive pitcher... Not the latest pitcher, but it's gaining color... Crap pic of the newest one. Opened just 2 days ago! You can see more defined teeth in this one... can't wait for it to color up. Sorry for the quality. Whole plant... Had it since October 2010. Very happy with its progression. Thanks for looking.

Thanks! That's exactly what I was going for with the first setup (in the link to the old OCPS forum). Only the bulbous heads of the pitchers were visible through the moss, but a few weeks later when new pitchers developed, they were thin and etiolated... So unfortunately, the health of the plant was sacrificed for seemingly good looks. Thanks! :) Given that I've only grown this species "successfully" for the past year, this is my second year with them actually being alive, I can't say that this is the optimal way of growing them. All the Montreal CP growers I know (including me) have their Darlingtonia from the Montreal Botanical Garden clone, which - when sold - look quite unhealthy. All of the plants are repotted from the thick, compacted moss they come in, into fresh and more airy mixtures - this probably leaves them to sulk for their first year growing in new homes. With this in mind, none of the plants are even close to established their first year, and most growers keep them indoors under lights for a more controlled environment. A friend of mine grew his in a large planter with other Sarracenia very successfully for his first year, in partial sun, outside during heatwaves too - which was all great at the time, but come the following year the plant simply died. Another case: my plants, their first year (last year): I think I managed to get one pitcher to grow from both plants. The single growth points they came with rotted away - but the plants didn't die. All the new, green pitchers from this year are from secondary growth points that emerged from around the old ones. They're a bit like very short stolons, that are gaining in size quickly from the mother plants... All this leads me to think that it must be the clone's fault; as far as I know the Garden has been selling this one clone for years, and it may have weakened. I've visited the private production greenhouses to see the garden's collection of other CPs (mostly Neps and Pinguicula), and noticed large Darlingtonia all growing in a climate-controlled greenhouse, not in full sun and certainly not in low humidity. Of course, I'd rather have my plants grow outdoors in full sun where they can attain at least some color, and if that means growing them in the water-recirculation setup, so be it... How does one get a well-established plant? How many years have you been growing that Cobra in the planter, with Sarrs? Looks very healthy indeed...

Haha, thanks. :) You might want to be careful with immersing them in deep trays of water... Make sure to change it or topwater regularly, as they don't seem to appreciate stagnant water too much...

I improved the "setup" that I used last year, seen here. My plants are now growing in a large square net pot, that fits perfectly into one of the sides of the thermos cooler/water reservoir. Picked up the net-pot for $3.99 ;) Some of this year's pitchers... And finally, a flower! Pointing towards the sun. The cooler + aquarium pump seems to work well - the temperature of the media is at least around 18*C, but after a fresh change of the ice-packs it goes down to 14*C. So far, so good. . . Now to see how they survive in midsummer heat waves of Montreal . . . Probably will have to bring them inside a couple weeks.

Hehe, thanks Martin.

Hi CPUK! I've been lurking this forum since early 2011, never really posted anything. Thought it was time I dropped a "hello" here. :) I'm a high-school student in Montreal, I've been growing CPs since 2008-ish. Not as long as most on here, but I'm very happy with all the plants, info and friends I've made from having this hobby! I enjoy growing Sarracenia varieties, not so much cultivars, and have very recently found a new interest in highland Nepenthes. I'll be posting my growlist shortly. I'm mostly active on the Ontario CP society forums, Terraforums.com, and I lurk the ICPS forums as well. I'm a member & seedbank manager for a Canadian CP society based at the Montreal Botanical Garden, the SCAPI-CCPS. Very happy to be here, petmantis