Drosera stratification, Nepenthes Soil, and flowering N. Rokko

From: Steve Klitzing (starbirdcom@hotmail.com)
Date: Wed Dec 13 2000 - 09:56:44 PST


Date: Wed, 13 Dec 2000 09:56:44 -0800
From: "Steve Klitzing" <starbirdcom@hotmail.com>
To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com
Message-Id: <aabcdefg3582$foo@default>
Subject: Drosera stratification, Nepenthes Soil, and flowering N. Rokko

Hi all:

I will be putting the D. Rotundifolia and Darlingtonia seeds in my
refrigerator tonight to provide stratification for 4-8 weeks. Thanks for
the info.

As for a good Nepenthes soil that won't wear out or clog up with water-borne
minerals? And, one that won't deplete out natural resources? Has anyone
tried to grow Nepenthes in wet, shredded, newspaper? I would think this
would be a good, neutral medium. If it breaks down, it is readily
replaceable at virtually no cost. And, you could easily dislodge it from
Nepenthes roots with no damage to the plant. On a similar vein, you could
grow African Kenaf plants as an annual, shred those up when mature at the
end of the growing season, and pot Nepenthes in it. Again, it would be a
neutral organic soil, very inexpensive, and easy to replace when it breaks
down. Another alternative would be to grow Nepenthes in a mix of shredded
corn stalks. Just chop up the corn stalks at the end of the growing season,
and it would probably provide a good growing medium for about a year. A
bizarre mix, that could simulate a swamp mix, would be lawn clippings,
pumice, perlite, and sand. The lawn clippings would be an organic element
and would probably rot and smell like jungle debris. The pumice, perlite,
and sand would provide a neutral growing base and a way for minerals to be
easily leached out of the pot by water flushing. Another interesting mix
would be dried leaves shed by redwood and cedar trees - definitely acidic,
and slow to break down. Another one, which would be very interesting, would
be planting a Nepenthes into a natural sponge inside a pot. It would
definitely hold water, and provide a harmless medium that wouldn't break
down. And, the sponge would insulate the plant from overheating even when
fairly dry. Stick a straw with a bunch of holes through the sponge, and you
have a channel for leaching minerals out when you water it. Another one
would be a styrofoam brick with a channel drilled into it. The plant grows
in the channel and floats on a bucket of water. Excess water goes into the
bucket, and there is a lot of humidity.

For some strange reason, my N. Rokko has decided to flower in the middle of
winter. I don't know if it's male or female yet. So, I will either be able
to provide pollen soon, or will need some. At this point, the flowers
haven't opened and the spathe is still growing, so I can't tell. But I
should know in a few days. If it's male, I would be willing to exchange
pollen for eventual seed. If it's female, I would be willing to share seed,
though it would produce hybrids.

---Steve Klitzing
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