Re: CaCO3 problem

Barry Meyers-Rice (barry@as.arizona.edu)
Fri, 15 Nov 91 00:14:11 MST

Don, your questions about trichocarpa and superba are the very things
that irritate me about Nepenthes so much---you never really know what you
have. I call X trichocarpa a hybrid because that what Rob M called it when
he sent me some. My verifying source for this is Jan Schlauer's new CP list.
He says that both trichocarpa and trichocarpa var. erythrostricta were
published as hybrid gracilisXampullaria, first published in
MIQ.,FL.IND.BATAN 1:1072, 1855. Whatever that means. Take it or leave it.
As for your qualifiers regarding the X `superba', this is even worse. OK,
the breakdown on this plant is....there are plants called N. maxima, N.
maxima-superba, and N. curtisii. All these plants are actually N. maxima.
One would think, then, that the N. curtisii cv. superba mentioned in Veitch's
article is then N. maxima. But then there's also N. X superba and N. X
superba-mixta. I hate this stuff. Bottom line is it's a nice plant. These
damn Nepenthes have been hybridized for 100 years, and the state of confusion
is atrocious.

>There is a close-out sale at a local garden supply center. I get get
>pH soil meters for $7.50. These were marked down from around $18. I can
>also get a nutrient meter for $6.50.

I was going to get one of those meters too, with the long metal probes
you poke in the ground. I was told by some people at the Agricultual
department, and the guy I get my Sphagnum bales from, that these things
only measure the electrical conductivity of soil, I guess something to
do with these weird ions Rob and Mike are on about. It was suggested to
me that while they work fine for normal (garden variety!) soils, the
conversion of conductivity to pH may not be good for our weird potting
mixes. I ended up going to a science supply store and buying a couple
of types of indicator paper, pHydrion its called I think. This has the
advantage of being easily tucked in the backpack for trips out in the
field (OR OVER TO GRANT HALLCHURCHS PLACE, NUDGE NUDGE ROB!)

>What's the X hookerae like? Is this the micro-hookeriana?

In my eyes it just another sort of eh Nepenthes hybrid. Mine is too light
starved to pitcher well. I looked up it's geneology and it wasn't something
that sounded interesting.

>I think the large leaved utric may have bitten the big one, but I'm

Sorry Rob. I think this may have been my fault. I recall accidentally
leaving the baggie open overnight. Tell me if it doesn't come through.

>you are looking to get rid of. I can't believe you
>don't like these plants. By small I mean short

Scott, my frustration about them is described above with the
superba/trichocarpa stuff. Also, and this is a major factor, a lot of
these plants look alike to me.
They're mostly (ampullariaXrafflesiana)X(gracilisXmirabilis) or (ampXraff)X
(gracXraff) or (ampXthorellii)X(gracXmirabilis) and so on and so on. I'm just
picking out the ones I want to grow, since I don't have room for them all.

While we're talking Sarrs, I just noticed that while all my Sarrs are
dying back rapidly for the winter (except rubra rubra which always just
sits there), my minor `Okee Giant' is finally reaching its peak! Funny.

This is crazy---I have a D. anglica `Yukon Giant' from Rob M. This thing
has just been out of the refridgerator for 6 weeks, maybe 8, and it's
thinking about going back into a hibernaculum. Sheesh.

BAMR