>favoring an acidic mix is P. colimensis. His mixes are 1:1 peat/vermiculite
>with 1 tablespoon of limestone (CaCO3) per 700 mL of mix and pure milled
>Sphagnum. I noted that the substrates for his Pings. are just barely moist.
>I think that the most important variable in his growing success is the cool
>temperatures afforded by his basement (ca. 55-75 F).
Rob, this is good data (the laser printer is churning out a hard copy).
So he uses pure milled Sphagnum for the ones that like acidic, and the
peat/vermiculite with a smudgmo of CaCO3 for the others. Does he add any
CaCO3 via water occasionally? I suppose not too much since the solubility
of CaCO3 is none too high, if I remember those nasty chemistry tables
right. Also, does he make any effort to keep the acidic and basic pots in
separate trays? I'd love to see a first rate Mex Ping collection some time.
(at least our Australian comrades don't file reports about irritatingly
successful Ping field trips!) The only Non-USA/CANADA pings I've got are
lusitanica, moranensis, cyclosecta, ehlersa, and gysicola---the cuttings
you sent me some time ago were demolished in the mail.
>couldn't figure out why I was getting less sun in my backyard
>spot than I used to. I thought about it, and figure it must
>because the Sun is enscribing (?) a different path this time
>of the year, rather than the local trees having gotten bigger.
>My backyard gets a few hours of sun as the sun crosses east
>to weast, but I'm boardered on all sides by trees and condos,
>so right now I'm not getting much sun. Does this sound reasonable,
>or have the trees really grown that much?
Astro lesson 1: Take your latitude (I haven't the slightest idea of
where Palo Alto Cal is, so I'll guess 35 degrees N), and subtract it
from 90. That's the angular distance of the sun from the horizon at
noon on the Equinoxes (around Sept 22, March 22). At that time the
sun rises due east, sets due west.
On the longest day of summer, the sun reaches an elevation 23.5
degrees higher than this. It rises NE, sets NW.
The shortest day of winter, subtract 23.5 degrees, sun rises SE, sets SW.
The long/shortest days are on about June 22, Dec 22., not necessarily in
this order.
So anyway, the sun changes in max elevation by 47 degrees---that means a
big change in light and heating. So we get seasons. Voila!
>- Using my trusty old Crystal Light greenhouse w/ integral
> 24" (2) flourescents.
I'd try to get a little more light. I use 4 bulbs and stash my Nepenthes
in a 10G terrarium at work. It used to work fine until the X superba
humongus monster from Don B. started growing. Help!
BAMR