Date: Wed, 31 May 2000 09:51:07 -0400 From: Davin Stewart <dstewart@xcelerate.com> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg1671$foo@default> Subject: Re: U. humboldtii cultivation/populations?
>When my plant stalled, I initially thought, that it was suffering from
>the warmth in my terrarium (22-28 dc), since it originally is a resident
I've got my U. humboltii in an enclosed aquarium growing in live sphagnum in
one place and peat/perlite 1:2 in another. The humidity stays in the range
70-90% and the temps fluctuate between 68-82 F. The live sphagnum is
constantly wet and the peat/perlite stands in up to an inch of water. Both
seem to be doing equally well, although I think the live sphagnum will win
in the end because it's got a much larger root run (the live spagnum is
growing in the watering tray).
I've noticed my U. humboltii will go through resting periods of up to 2
months while it appears to concentrate on root growth and then will usually
put out a runner and leaf at the same time. A good opportunity to propagate
the plant!
It sounds like you're on the right track with the plant. Keep being patient
with the plant. It'll pay off.
On a related note, for anyone growing U. longifolia, I'd reccommend giving
it as large a root run as possible. I've got mine growing in another live
sphagnum watering tray and it's doing very well. Recently, it sent up a
flower stalk (which aborted due to user error) and it consistantly puts out
beautiful dark green leaves up to 12" long and 3" wide. The flower stalk
came from a section of the plant that is VERY crowded, so it sounds like
resource contention is a factor in flowering for this species, although
there may also be a minimum plant (biomass?) size to be able to support the
flower.
Davin
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