Genlisia is flowering

Robert Allen (Robert.Allen@Eng.Sun.COM)
Mon, 28 Jun 93 13:05:21 PDT

My G. violecea `Diamantia' (sp?) which I grew from seed has
flowered for the first time. Cute lillle purplish flowers with
yellow centers. The plant still is pretty small, but I guess
maybe it doesn't get very big to start with. Are the flowers
self-pollinating? Can they be selfed manually? Is there an
easier way than seed to propagate the plant?

BTW, I've modified my indoor setup. It is a 35 gallon fishtank
full of Nepenthes under lights, on a wooden acquarium base of
standard design, with two swing open front doors. I had a spare
2 tube 2' flourescent unit, so I used some square puts to have
it about 6-8" from the ground and I have most of my
rarer/newer/smaller plants in there, about 2-3" from the lights.
I have mirrored mylar on both sides of the fixture, like
curtains, to reflect the light back onto the plants. With
something like a 14 hr. photoperiod I have all plants growing
more quickly than ever before. My sole D. falconeri seedling
now has bright red leaves, along with my 2 D. petiolaris
seedlings. Strangely D. villosa is still quite green, although
otherwise happy. D. schizandra is responding favorably to the
warmth and high light levels. I keep all the plants in baggies
or cup covered for high humidity. And I still have room for
another tiered light setup on top of the current one in the
wooden acquarium base. I hope to formalize the setup with
another tier and a more professional appearing method to hold
the lights and plants. With the doors on the base closed you
wouldn't even know there are plants down there.

I recommend using mirrored mylar to increase your growth. The
plants have only started coloring up really well with the
addition of the reflectors. Aluminum foil could be used as
well. The only downside to this is or course it probably looks
like you're growing recreational /medicianl "herbs" to the
uninitiated :-).

Robert