Fernando Rivadavia

Considering how robust the inflorescences are (see pic below), I assume they produce tons of seeds. Unfortunately we were there a bit too early for seed. But when we returned 7 months later we searched extensively and couldn't find a single seedling, only plantlets budding from roots and stems. Maybe that's why they produce so much seed, because hardly any survive long after germination? Or maybe the seeds lie dormant waiting for a fire? Don't know... Fernando Rivadavia

Here's the proof: me with a few plants, including one that has a stem 1.2m in length. The black stuff you see are mostly old leaves hanging on to the stems, not roots. My colleague Paulo Gonella is the one to the side, getting ready to make paratypes of these specimens. Best wishes, Fernando Rivadavia

I think you're right: U.trichophylla and U.subulata.

Amazingly different! And I've seen others different from the above. Awesome species!

Dani: although I lost a lot of plants, I probably didn't lose any species/ hybrids. Carlos: It took 8h for the first panel and 7h for the second panel, but I've spent at least a few more hours planting all the baby Pings from those leaf cuttings - and I've still got 3 tupperwares full of leaves! Mantas: show us your wall! :) Here are two pics of the first part of the wall where I planted the leaf cuttings, they're coming in nicely: All the best, Fernando Rivadavia

During the week, I began working on the left side of the wall, slowly removing all the remaining PIngs. Here's a view of when it was about 1/2 done: And here with all the Pings removed, but still with lots of Utrics (which were under the mesh): Here's a view of some of the plants removed from the wall as well as a tray with leaves (which I hope will make many new babies to repopulate the new walls): I proceeded to pick the Pings clean of their leaves, not only to use them as leaf cuttings, but also because it's easier to replant the Pings when they are reduced to just their center-most leaves: All those leaves filled several trays and tupperwares: This past weekend I began working on the second (left) panel. Here's a picture of the panel on my floor, about to start the work (Ping leaves piled high on the bottom left): Here's a view of the wall after removal of the second panel: Here's the panel on the floor, the beginning of another 7h of work: Here's me trying to slowly peel back the mesh, while cutting the fishing line holding it in place, and trying not to damage the U.asplundii: Half the panel clean of soil: And here completely clean (notice on the background the package of dried Sphagnum, bag with cubes of rock wool, and roll of bird netting): The U.asplundii were separated from the mesh, seen here together with some Pings: But the smaller Utrics like U.sandersonii were placed into a strainerm for later separation from the soil using strong jets of water (a technique I developed many years ago for making nice clean herbarium specimens back in Brazil): Flipping the eggcrate over, it was suprising to see that the Sphagnum on the backside looked pretty good and not decomposed (as with the other panel removed a few days earlier). There was even some etiolated U.asplundii growing there: From there I did the same as with the previous panel: cut it in two smaller pieces, cover with a layer of rock wool, then a thick(er?) layer of Sphagnum, cover with bird netting, tie it all together with zip ties, then back on the wall where it is tied to nails using fishing line, and finally the porous hose is sewed along the top edge. Here are some pics of the panels going back on the walll: And the finishing touch was to replant all the Pings and Utrics: I also added some sundews I got from friends Dana Gardner and Josh Brown (owner of Predatory Plants). I did not add that D.hamiltonii you see in a pot in some pics because it is about to flower and I don't want to bother it -- I've never seen live D.hamiltonii flowers, but hope to see some soon! :) Anyway, I hope you al enjoyed! I will continue updating regularly, wish me luck! Best wishes, Fernando Rivadavia

OK, so last weekend I took down the first of the two panels. It was pretty dry, thus manageable for a single person to carry. Here's the empty wall after I removed the panel. I was happy to see there was no mold and it seemed in perfect condition - probably thanks to the hard plastic sheet we placed behind the sphagnum panel. Here you can see the empty space with just the porous hose irrigation sticking out: I covered my floor with a big plastic sheet and placed the panel flat on the ground, then removed all the remaining Pings, then with scissors started cutting the bird netting and nylon fishing line we'd used to sew everything together. Peeling back the bird netting, removed the old soil and threw it away in a garbage back, saving any remaining Utrics - while collecting any worms and pill bugs (there were a lot!!) to feed my aquarium fish. Finally I was able to remove the "top" layer of soil and thus separate the eggcrate from the 'back" layer: As mentioned above, I cut the eggcrate into two pieces, to make it easier to move the panels in the future. And this time I decided to do only one side of the eggcrate, leaving the back exposed. It was really not necessary to have the back side anymore, because I had decided not to fill it with a soil mix like we had before. I recently got my hands on a bunch of rockwool from my friend Mike Chinn (thanks Mike!) and decided to try using this as the first layer on top of the eggcrate. And for the second and last layer I chose just pure sphagnum moss. Here they are soaking before being applied: So here I am spreading the rock wool onto the eggcrate: And then spreading the sphagnum on top of the rockwool: I then grabbed one of the two new panels and placed it on top of a bucket for support, proceeding to then place a large piece of bird netting on top of it: Then I started attaching the zip ties, smaller ones all around the edges and larger ones in the middle: I did the same for the second half, and about 8h later both panels were done and up on the wall again! The new panel was is held in place by strong fishing line, sewed through the panel and tied to nails on either side drilled into the wall. The porous hose was then sewed along the top of the panel using a very thin fishing line. Here's a view of my work space right before the second panel went up. You can see my bucket stool with a set cushion, as well as 2 garbage bags of old soil:

Hello everyone, It's been several months since my last update. A lot has happened this year. Most importantly, I accidently killed halfthe plants on the wall by using the wrong insecticide... :-P This is the last full picture I took of the wall back in October 2014: And this is what it looked like in January 2015 after the stupid accident: I was quite bummed and lost several species/ hybrids. But it was probably good timing since the wall needed a make-over sooner rather than later. The Sphangum had decomposed very quickly (due to the salt build up issue), resulting in numerous holes and sagging bird netting. Plus, Steve and I had devised several improvements when we built the wall at California Carnivores. And we're always discussing new things to implement next time around. Best of all, it's the perfect time of year to replant Pings! So I made plans, bought the necessary materials, and gathered my courage to rebuild the wall after almost 3 years that it's been up! This was done over the past week and I will post pictures here later, describing the changes and improvements. Best wishes, Fernando Rivadavia

Yes, small U.reniformis. U.nephrophylla has flimsier leaves with "pustules".

Yes, you have D.kaieteurensis. I love the contrast between the white hairs on the scapes and the wine red color plants acquire in the wild. See below a scan of a bad pic I took years ago on the Gran Sabana of D.kaieteurensis (left) and D.felix (right):

After both G.aurea and U.gibba had their genomes sequenced, the latest advance is that we've got a new record for smallest plant genome: the recently described Genlisea tuberosa! See a summary here: http://www.en.uni-muenchen.de/news/newsarchiv/2014/heubl_botanik.html And the full paper here: http://aob.oxfordjournals.org/content/114/8/1651.abstract Enjoy!, Fernando Rivadavia

LOL, yes long overdue and this one has definitely been on my list! ;)

As far as I know it hasn't been seen since the collections mentioned in Taylor. So it would be awesome if someone has re-discovered it. But I'll believe it when I see it. ;) Fernando

Beautiful, congrats!!

Wow, congrats on all the beautiful plants!! I especially liked the sundews and Utrics of course. :) Would love to see close-ups of those vertical panels you have in the back.