Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2000 11:12:45 -0700 From: chamb@u.arizona.edu To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg2807$foo@default> Subject: Re: Drosera and Utricularia intermedia
At 09:00 AM 9/18/2000 -0700, you wrote:
>>Questions about Utricularia intermedia:
>>
>>First of all, is anyone else growing this? I ask because it seems to
>>be a fairly obscure plant.
>
> I was growing it for a while. Depending on where you are,
>it's not that obscure. At certain places around here, it's a
>common pond weed.
In Michigan it is very common, perhaps the most common Utric in the state,
and easily found on the margins of sphagnum bogs, Typha marshes, and most
large still bodies of water. It is very difficult (near impossible I'd
say) to get this one to last in cultivation. Unless of course you are
growing it outdoors in an artificial (or real) bog/pond or just maybe in a
simulated habitat in an unheated greenhouse. Try this one in a mayonnaise
jar under lights and it will croak faster than a VFT planted in a cow pie.
Michael
>>
>>Barry suggested growing these as affixed aquatics, but mine don't
>>seem to be very motivated to affix themselves. The few stalks that
>>did affix themselves didn't stay affixed through Friday's
>>thunderstorm. Is it worthwhile to poke one end of each stalk down
>>into the muck, or should I just leave them be?
>
> I'd just leave them. I've never found any aquatic utrics, in
>the wild or in cultivation, that really like to be "stuck in the
>mud" so to speak. Most of the time, Utrics are found along the
>shorelines intertwined with cattails and Equisetum sp., as they're
>blown into this area.
>
>>have a layer of peat on top of the sand. Is it worth burying the peat
>>under the sand, or is it okay as-is?
>
> I grew mine using just peat. Barry's suggestion may be to avoid
>the annoying habit that peat has to float bits and pieces to the
>top. Not all at once, that would be too easy to scoop out, but
>rather over the course of several weeks!
>
>>
>>Dormancy: the plan is to leave them out over the Winter, as I know
>>they spend a lot of time under snow in their native habitat. Should I
>>drain most of the water out of the pot, or just let it freeze? I put
>>
>
> I left mine outside in the winter, and they survived just fine,
>forming turions that sank into the peat. I just let the water
>evaporate, but didn't let the peat go dry. I didn't let the water
>actually freeze. In the wild, the turions generally drop into the
>sediment which stays unfrozen for the entire winter (this includes
>Utrics in arctic locations). I personally wouldn't let the entire
>container freeze over winter, this may be a little too hard on them.
>
>Good luck!
>
>Chris
>
>--
>Chris Teichreb
>
>http://www.geocities.com/cteichreb ("Coastal Carnivores",
>my homepage)
>
>http://www.nurserysite.com/clubs/pnwcarnivorous (Pacific
>Northwest Carnivorous Plant Club)
>
>
>Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at
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>
>
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