Jerry Copeland Posted March 10, 2010 Report Share Posted March 10, 2010 I ran across a stuggling Darlingtonia back in 2005 at the local Home Depot. At the time all the info on the web that I read discouraged spending money on these kinds of plants as most seem to simply fade away. But because I went to Humboldt State College, major in Botany, I was privileged to encounter an outstanding population of Darlingtonia at the HSC Greenhouse. They used a constant flow of water over the growing medium which did not collect but was drained off. When I saw the little bagged plant I already knew what I could do to give it a good chance at surviving. The link is to an updated page on the plant and the original two pages about my drip system. http://s152.photobucket.com/albums/s184/jw...s/Darlingtonia/ What is next in store for my plant is repotting which I hope to do sometime later this month or in April. Move it up into a larger pot using a sphagnum peat moss and granitic gravel mix and possibly some cypress mulch added in to help stabilize the peat moss so that it does not entirely wash out. I may try a little Nitrohumus on the bottom of the pot as I did with the Sarrencia but ?? I will be making images with the aim of developing another journal page that will give me, and one and all, a view of what was to compare any subsequent growth or nongrowth to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimscott Posted March 11, 2010 Report Share Posted March 11, 2010 Very impressive! Don't laugh but I once tried saving a struggling Lowes cube of death Darlingtonia by having it in direct line of AC discharge water. That didn't save it, unfortunately. Neither did having the pot in a floating raft in a streamlet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dchasselblad74 Posted July 29, 2010 Report Share Posted July 29, 2010 Very impressive! Don't laugh but I once tried saving a struggling Lowes cube of death Darlingtonia by having it in direct line of AC discharge water. That didn't save it, unfortunately. Neither did having the pot in a floating raft in a streamlet. Man, how come the Lowes here in Chicago area dont carry Darlingtonias? My friend and I hunt for this elusive unicorn of a plant just about every week and nothing. Maybe here in Chicago, the Darlingtonia is just a mythological creature like the unicorn. Instead I had to special order this plant....Cmon Darlingtonia at Lowes or Home Depot, show yourself and I promise well take good care of you...... "Lifes a garden....dig it" dchasselblad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerry Copeland Posted August 23, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 23, 2010 Bad news. I finally did get around to repotting but think it was too overdue. The plant had started to die back though the rhizome looked good. In any event it just did not seem too happy with being repotted. I believe it was on its way out. BUT it got destroyed last week by a raccoon who has moved into my backyard. Will have to build a cage to house my drip system if I want to get another Darlingtonia! I really do not mind the raccoon in the yard as I have it heavily planted-probably has no place else left to go-I am about in the middle of town! Still can't believe how destructive the beast can be even though it is funny watching it try to catch small fish in a kiddie pool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James O'Neill Posted August 23, 2010 Report Share Posted August 23, 2010 These coons sound like right nuisances. I'm glad we don't have 'em here. Please don't introduce them here - we never meant to bring the gypsy moth over to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimscott Posted August 23, 2010 Report Share Posted August 23, 2010 Lowes hasn't been very reliable this year. I haven't seen a cobra lily in a long time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dchasselblad74 Posted August 23, 2010 Report Share Posted August 23, 2010 (edited) Man.....in my backyard, where I have three bogs, Ive had my fair share of devastation from racoons...or so I thought...until I stayed up late one night and discovered the lumbering pest responsible for uprooting my Sarrs, VFTS, and knocking over pots and chewing pitchers of my Leah Wilkerson...it was a huge sewer rat! So went to buy rat poison blocks to put by garbage cans for the next two consecutive weeks, and the destruction suddenly came to a halt....pesky rats. Now that autumn is coming, the squirrels are digging up my bogs...arghhhhhh! DexFC Edited August 24, 2010 by dchasselblad74 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevan Posted August 24, 2010 Report Share Posted August 24, 2010 I repotted my stongest growing Darlingtonia, pitchers about 20-25cm, because the rhizome with baby plants was popping out of the pot. Mix was 1:1 live spagnum and Perlite, large terracotta pot. Since then it has only produced 2 tiny, tiny pitchers only about 5 cm long. Maybe they don't like being upgraded to large, or is there something you should do to them straight after potting up? Kevan Bad news. I finally did get around to repotting but think it was too overdue. The plant had started to die backthough the rhizome looked good. In any event it just did not seem too happy with being repotted. I believe it was on its way out. BUT it got destroyed last week by a raccoon who has moved into my backyard. Will have to build a cage to house my drip system if I want to get another Darlingtonia! I really do not mind the raccoon in the yard as I have it heavily planted-probably has no place else left to go-I am about in the middle of town! Still can't believe how destructive the beast can be even though it is funny watching it try to catch small fish in a kiddie pool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keefy Posted August 30, 2010 Report Share Posted August 30, 2010 I too have had bad luck with my Cobra this year, and why don't you send some Raccoons over to England, they could play with our squirrels, lol! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James O'Neill Posted August 30, 2010 Report Share Posted August 30, 2010 Last thing we need is another American pest over here. The grey squirrels are bad enough, imagine what coons would do! They'd start making badgers rare or something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerry Copeland Posted August 31, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2010 I repotted my stongest growing Darlingtonia, pitchers about 20-25cm, because the rhizome with baby plants was popping out of the pot. Mix was 1:1 live spagnum and Perlite, large terracotta pot. Since then it has only produced 2 tiny, tiny pitchers only about 5 cm long.Maybe they don't like being upgraded to large, or is there something you should do to them straight after potting up? Kevan Been pondering this and what I think is that the species just does not like having its roots disturbed at all. Next time, sometime next year, I will try again with another plant and just depot and then pot into a larger pot WITHOUT messing with the roots at all. I had cleaned off the sphagnum and debris and think I may have damaged the roots and allowed fungus to get into them. I will use the same mix I am using for the Heliamphora which is a gravel base mix. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerry Copeland Posted August 31, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2010 Last thing we need is another American pest over here. The grey squirrels are bad enough, imagine what coons would do! They'd start making badgers rare or something. Maybe they might make themselves right at home. Check the link! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dchasselblad74 Posted August 31, 2010 Report Share Posted August 31, 2010 I agree James, you guys dont want this distant cousin of the Panda..Racoons are viscious man, theyll bite right through a cats skull and can have a squirell for dessert with tea...or without tea.. DexFC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keefy Posted September 1, 2010 Report Share Posted September 1, 2010 Panda's now your talking! i'll have one of those! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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