I think that some of Allen's seeds germinate better than others. I've
had great success with many species, like _D.regia_, _Byblis_, some
_Utricularia_, etc etc. But perhaps only 20% of all the species I've
gotten from Allen have ever germinated. Something important to consider here
is the following selection effect---when you get seed of plants that are
established in cultivation, you are getting plants that have been selected
because they germinate readily, reliably, and grow well in cultivation. When
you get seed from Allen, from plants that are either wild or perhaps only
first generation, you do not benefit from this effect. You have to live more
on the plant's terms. And those terms may be that the seeds will lie dormant
for a long time. I noticed this weekend my _U.volubilis_ germinated. This
Lowrie seed had been sitting in the pot for 18 months. Finally, one seed
germinated. I have ordered a lot from Lowrie but haven't for a while. This
is mostly because I am thinking about shifting more of my collection towards
_Sarracenia_.
>Just to bore everyone with a scientific point...
>I think I can safely say without contradiction that a halide lamp
>using 1000 Watts of electrical power will give out 1000 Watts of
>heat (so like 1 bar of an electric fire, if you have that sort
of fire). Some of this heat is due to the inefficiency of the lamp,
With a 1000 Watt bulb, is that "1000" the Watts available as photons?
Or is 1000W the total power consumption, so if the things are 40%
efficient (say), you have 400W of useful energy and 600W of IR?
No matter how you slice it, 1000W is a big energy source, so cooling
should be important.
Barzai