CP

Don (dngess01@vlsi.louisville.edu)
Sat, 9 Oct 93 23:32:58 -0400

> Does anyone know why my D. villosa stays green, seemingly regardless
> of how much light it gets? My plants are also rather recumbant, and
> minimally dewey. They grow in the same terrarium as I grow
> Heliamphora and the Queensland sundews successfully. Day temps are no
> more than 80 F, and night is probably down to 70-75.
>
My D. villosa plants go into and out of growth cycles periodically. I have
two 10" pots filled with about 10 plants each, with an additional 20 4" pots
with one plant each. These were grown from seed bank seeds. They were all
growing outside until a few weeks ago. Most are actively growing now in the
cooler weather. Some older leaves are red, but most are green, and the
stalked glands are dark red. The plants were growing in full sun. The
newer leaves are semi-erect. Soil is 2 parts peat moss with one part perlite
The plants don't like to sit in water. The photos of the all-red D. villosa
from the CPN a few issues back may be a special red-leaf clone, or may
be from environmental factors. Red color in plants is usually produced by
anthocyanins. Factors that contribute to producing anthocyanins are soils low
in nitrogen, bright sunlight, dry soils, and low temperatures. This is
according to my old Botany book. Anthocyanin production is influenced by
environmental conditions that favor a high concentration of sugars.

>The Nepenthes I am growing (and should have available this spring) are:
> Nepenthes Maxima (Lowland form), N Rafflesiana, N Mirabilis (Thailand), N x
>Trichocarpa, N x Hookeriana (probably mislabeled and really N Dominii
>Intermedia), N Gracilis, N x Boissense Rubra, N Mixta x Mirabilis, N x
>Wrigleyana (Kosobe), N Mixta x Superba, and N Veitchii x Ampullaria. And N.
>Khasiana.

Davin, the N. x (mixta x mirabilis) I think you got from me. This has green
pitchers with an "inverted" peristome like N. ampullaria (peristome flares
vertically down into the pitcher rather than flaring horizonally out as in
most other species). The leaves are fuzzy like N. ampullaria too. Thomas
Johnson has N. x (ampullaria x mirabilis) that appears identical to this plant
I have, and this is what I'm calling this plant too.

I still have your N. x (veitchii x ampullaria) (???) that you said you bought
from Bruce Lee Bednar. I thought this might be N. x 'dwarf peacock' but I'm
not sure now. Do you have the Nepenthes issue of the magazine "Nature
Malaysiana"? This plant's pitchers look very much like "N. macrovulgaris from
Mt. Silam" on p. 17, the bottom left photo. I'm not saying this is what it
is, but the similarity is striking ... and confusing.

---------------
1000 watt metal halide plant lights:
I received the lamp Tuesday and got around to setting it up today. VERY
INTENSE! You should certainly minimize the time spent in the same room when
it's on. The fixture is fairly small and light. Probably the same weight as
a flourescent light fixture. The seperate ballast box is 30 pounds+ and sits
on the floor. There's a 19 foot cord from the box to the light, and another 6
foot cord from the box to the plug. The ballast box doesn't put out much heat
compared to the lamp. The light was on for the first time today. After a
three hour test, I turned it off and checked the temperature and humidity.
Both were ok. The temperature went up only 5 degrees F to 75, the humidity
even increased when I expected it to decrease. I'll start off with an 8 hour
photoperiod and increase to 12 hours over a few weeks. Water splashes onto a
hot bulb will cause the bulb to break. If this happens, dire warnings on the
box say light from the bare filiment will be MORE intense and eye and skin
damage may result.