Rupert: I don't use fungicides. Too much of a bother, and I rarely have
a plant that dies from a fungal infection. The closest I'd consider to
using them is on new _Pinguicula_ that I may get from other growers, since
they are prone to rotting out if roughly handled.
> than wait, or pay usurious prices, I urge people to try
> trading and/or giveaways via mail. Not just by email.
>IMHO, the only useful way to preserve threatened species is to propagate,
>propagate, propagate. No endangered species list or any other piece of paper
>has ever saved a single plant. If there is commercial interest, only increased
>supply of cultivated material can destroy the market for wild collected
>plants.
I agree with both Rob and Jan here, of course once steps have been taken
to protect the plants in the wild. But here's something I think about
often when I propagate my _Sarracenia_---when a species has not yet been
established in cultivation, it has a sort of mythical quality to it
and is not in extreme demand by growers. For example, who we never talk
about the plant from Sierra Leon named (Jan help me on the spelling here...)
_Triphyophyllum peltata_, which is a most interesting and rare carnivore.
But *no one* grows it and so the demand is not so high. In contrast, once
a few plants have made it to cultivation, and other envious growers
see or hear about the plants, the demand goes through the roof as in
the case of _Heliamphora_. Then people start buzzing around the Venezuelan
Tepuis in helicopters filling garbage bags with plants. It is only
until the plants get past this phase, and are common enough to be
exchanged freely in casual trade, does the extreme pressure exerted on
the wild populations of plants decrease. I often have doubts in my mind,
nagging me---by distributing plants am I contributing to, or alleviating,
the problems facing rare plants? Since I keep doing it, I've obviously
concluded the net result is good. But it is mixed.
>collected from nature. I hear the Saguaro cactus is in a similar position
>presently. There are reports that some collectors in Japan will pay big money
>for a Saguaro - something like $1000 per foot!
Yikes! I can run to a local tourist shop and pick up a young saguaro about
8" tall for about $10. 2m tall plants are regularly sold by nurseries.
You can even buy mature, multibranched plants and have them transplanted
to your property, but they almost always die. While the transplanted plants
are guaranteed to live for at least two years, it takes longer than that
for a Saguaro to die even if uprooted and never watered again, so the
guarantee is just a ruse. I guess the Japs just have to contend with
export permits etc.
B