Guest mhvft Posted October 2, 2003 Report Share Posted October 2, 2003 Hi everyone i recently aquired u alpina and was wondering what was the best way to over winter it, as in savage garden it say's to dry it out im new to utrics so any help would be appreciated thanks mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pyro Posted October 2, 2003 Report Share Posted October 2, 2003 I find that alpina does not have to be totally dried out but it is best to cut back on watering whenever you notice growth has slowed. I usually just top water mine whenever the live sphag on top starts to look a little dry. I let the water drain through into a tray and leave it there till next time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tim. Posted October 3, 2003 Report Share Posted October 3, 2003 I agree. I keep it moist year round. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mhvft Posted October 3, 2003 Report Share Posted October 3, 2003 thanks everyone i will keep it moist as advised mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vic brown Posted October 3, 2003 Report Share Posted October 3, 2003 Whilst on the subject of U. alpina, there is a fascinating report on the French forum, by Patrice Charpentier, about this species in the Antilles http://forumpc.webheberg.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=235. Even if you don't speak much French, the pictures are worth a look and the climatic data should be comprehensible. It certainly seems to be a fairly epiphytic species, at least at the location where the photographs were taken. Vic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob-Rah Posted October 3, 2003 Report Share Posted October 3, 2003 Darwin's puvlications on the web include an essay on U. alpina (which he called U. montana - it's the same plant). He exmined the tubers and found that a plant can go for around 30 days without water before the leaves are affected. He examined the surprising water-holding capacity of the tubers and concluded that these allow the plant to survive drought. I too neever dry my plants out, but it seems that it would not be a problem if you did..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tim. Posted October 4, 2003 Report Share Posted October 4, 2003 And perhaps even more interesting, is that Darwin concluded that water retention was their *only* function, rather than energy/nutrient storage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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