Rob-Rah
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Posts posted by Rob-Rah
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I have had mixed results with seramis (similar). Sarracenia, Dionaea, Drosera seem to hate it - for no real reason I can fathom. Some Nepenthes are thriving with it (N. nothrthiana in a pure mineral soil is doing well), whereas others don't seem to like it. I think it must have something to do with root and root hair structure. Clay - as it dries out - will pull water out of nearby roots as well.
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Do you know what variety it is?
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Hi,
Can anyone who grows B. gigantea (in the UK maybe) tell me what I am aiming for during dormancy? The plant died back a couple of months ago, leaving the stem above ground, and I took it out from the water trays around then time ago. Am I aiming for completely dry conditions, or just moist ones? Do the roots rot if kept too moist? Min temps I am dealing with is around 2C.
Thanks.
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I can recommend growing Mexican pings on tufa rock standing in water. Works a treat. Tufa is easily available in most aqaurium shops.
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What language are you trying to speak?
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Well, I have repotted into a mix of seive-washed peat ( to remove the fine silts in it and just leave the chunkier bits), perlite, sand and grit. Will see how it does now the moisture can move through the soil way better....
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Hi,
My D. ordensis has gone through tough year for no obvious reason. I am guessing the soil is the problem, as this is the only thing that has changed. I have noticed the soil is not terribly well drained or aerated.
What is the recommended soil type for this? D. paradoxa is thriving in the standard peat/sand mix next to it.
Does D. ordensis want a much more open soil? I fear I have lost my rather treasured D. falconeri to the same dislike of the peat and sand mix (dormancy is not meant to last quite this long...)
Thanks for any suggestions.
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How do you know when they need replacing though? Mine look bright, and the plants are seeming to do ok.
Do you just throw away lights that appear to be working fine just on the offchance that the spectrum is not what it used to be?
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I don't know what you mean by "better"? Bigger? More colourful? More varied? Or do you mean more successful in cultivation?
Highlanders are easier, tend to be smaller plants with a good pitcher-to-plant-size ratio, and pitcher well when small. They perform well in cultivation.
Lowlanders generally need a lot more effort. Not just the heat. Most of them form very large plants. To get your 20" raff pitchers needs more than a terrarium or steamy windowsil. A bical with leaves three feet long is hard to accommodate. Add the dimension of getting the wet but not stagnant conditions at the high heat and another hurdle arrives.
I don't think any one sort of nep is "better" than others, but I doubt that many people have had the chance to actually properly see lowland neps really doing well ;-)
Best wishes,
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Is lego plastic UV stabilised? If not, excessive exposure to sunlight and the elements may may it brittle, leading to it cracking and falling apart in time.
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A dab of methylated spirits on a tissue should take it off. If you have none handy, use a spray of eau-de-cologne - works just as well. Or even vodka might do.
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Three of the small fans from computers should suffice, running them at approx 7V from a variable transformer. Space them equally along the tank and angled appropriately for maximum variety.
If the tank is very crammed with plants in every spare bit of airspace that will hinder air movement though.
What sort of fan are you using at the moment?
Cheers.
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Umm. For fools like me, can you say the dimensions of the tank rather than te gallonage? I can't visualise how big it is....
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A rich but fairly sandy soil. Lots of light and warmth. The more light and warmth, the better the flavour.
Don't expect much in the way of root ginger from it - it tends to go stringy and not nice and bulbous like farmed ginger. Though if you get it growing well, you can get a load of nice stem ginger to preserve in syrup :-)
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Mine in rather bright lowland conditions, but it still grows slowly!
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In my "old" books, Sauromatum Guttatum is referred to as "Monarch of the East" only (eg. in the Sanders Encyclopedia of Gardening 1964). I can find the term Voodoo Lily being used in books in the 1980s (I don't have any between these dates) for Sauromatum, but not for anything else. Using it to encompass all large-flowered smelly, dark coloured aroids seems to be a compartively new thing (last 10-20 years or so), and to come from the US. Dracunculus has always been known as "Dragon Arum" as far as I know, and "voodoo lily" applied to this is still not the norm (though is being done more and more).
The derivtaion of "voodoo lily" comes from the practice in the 1970s (at least) of buying the bulb of Sauromatum and placing it dry on a saucer, and letting it flower out of the soil. Sort of "magical" and like a dead thing coming to life. A kind of marketing gimmick. I think this originated in Europe.
This would only really apply to Sauromatum: mature Amorphophallus konjac bulbs are really rather too large and expensive to have as a novelty houseplant in this way, and were certainly never found in garden centres 20-30 years ago - I remember seeing great boxes full of Sauromatum corms though for a couple of pounds each in the 1980s; and I do not think that Dracunculus can be flowered in this way - as it produces roots and leaves before it flowers.
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However, with the daylight fading now and winter coming on you will be extremely lucky to see any fruit ripening! I start my chillis and peppers off from seed in late Feb and they are fruiting by mid summer. They need warmth and decent light
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Mine has self-seeded into other utric pots nearby in the greenhouse. I only just noticed this as the first genlisea flower spikes are now opening in a pot of U. dichotoma.
It doesn't need much heat. Winter min has been 2-3C for the last few years and it flowers like a trooper.
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Check it's not mite infestation first. If not, spray with a fungicide. Place somewhere bright-ish but out of ny direct sun, keep coolish, place a plastic bag over the pot to maintain humidity. Hope.
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I heard someone ring...... :-) Yes, we keep a full list of EU internet dealers over on the UK Orchid Forum. Some of these stock hardy terrestrials from Britain and beyond - they're clearly marked.
The link is in my signature.
Best wishes.
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And I am very keen to get my paws on A. cathcartii, but the only option available seems to be via the Oxford Botanic Garden and jumping through all manner of official hoops concerning the Convention on Biological Diversity with it. Looks rather complex to me, and they don't seem to want to go through the process unless it is for some sort of scientific benefit. Mere hobbyists wanting to grow a plant might not be enough :-(
But google the plant and you'll be stunned. It's a higher-altitude species.
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Pop a vigorous bunch of some aquatic utric in there for a few days to feed up!
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No, this was sold as S. 'Burgundy' (not "red burgundy"). To be honest I have waited a few years for it to colour up and haven't really given it much thought.
Advice on soil for U. Calycifida required
in Utricularia
Posted
I have grown this in pots before. A year ago I discovered it seeded into the water tray in a terrarium of petiolaris drosera. It is thriving and flowering abundantly in there in high light with no soil. Much better than it ever did in soil for me.