vanishing Drosera
SDIGBY@TIGGER.STCLOUD.MSUS.EDU
Sun, 26 Feb 1995 21:24:15 -0600 (CST)
I sympathize with Brian. I suspect there is a slug somewhere around?
At least this is what happened to all my Droseras this summer. A couple
of slugs can eat a large Drosera over night. I ended up putting slug
bait in a moist petri plates inside the "bog". It seems to have reduced
the numbers. I should introduce myself, joined about a week ago. I
teach plant biology courses, and insectivorous plants are great for
showing diversity in plant structure - leaf modifications, nutrient
uptake, etc. besides which I have always been fond of CP's and teaching
is a great excuse to develop a collection. Besides, I have memories of
a boss, many years ago, when I was in the business world, who was phobic
(literally) about plants, and I would bring in my cp's whenever I was
annoyed with him. Since I am not very expert about growing CP's the
newsgroup is helping me. By the way - as long as the yeasts don't
bubble out of the container, they should do no damage, although I am
curious as to what would happen if they go into the bog - maybe they
would process some of the dead material although the pH may be too low
for the yeast to grow. I would appreciate recommendations on catalogs
for buying CP's - plant or seed. Does anyone know of a commercial
source for live sphagnum? - despite all the aquatic systems in the
region, I have not found sphagnum bogs. Stephanie Digby