Hello+
Ben Levin (benjinsl@astro.ocis.temple.edu)
Thu, 9 Mar 1995 18:55:25 -0500 (EST)
Until now I've been one of the passive participants here for some time;
now that I have free time (spring break) I'm finally taking the time to post.
I've been interested in CP, as well as all other topics of biology and
science in general, since young (~5), mainly from watching all those
nature shows on the PBS stations. But only two years ago I started
attempting growing CPs. (Actually I had an experience about 10 years ago
with some species of Sarracenia (I think S.alata) which I unwittingly
drowned.) I now have one beautiful VFT, my first CP (surprise), which
is flowering(!); I see a second flower stalk popping up, too. (There's
something else about this VFT I wanted to discuss, I'll get to another
time.) I also had an unidentified Utric. (from PeterPauls); don't ask.
I'm growing a Ceph. in my University's indoor greenhouse, which is set
at 10hrs.(30C)/14hrs.(20C) day/night, but not by my choosing (i.e.
the setting is not of my choosing). And last, I also have a S. purpurea
ssp. venosa growing in a pot in my backyard. The last two I've had since
last summer, both bought from PP's before getting onto this group, no
problems with them. The VFT I grow outside from mid-spring 'til the
first frost ( or second, or third, or until I remember) when I move it
inside my house, where I just put it on a windowsill, unprotected from
the low humidity of our house's air. Actually, last winter I left the
VFT outside until the media in which it was planted (peat:sand, 3:1)
was frozen solid; it survived.
By the way, I live in Philly (i.e. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania [PA]).
I'm a biochemistry student in Temple University and hope to go on to get
a Ph.d. and work in the field (pun intended) of agriculture research.
I'm also an amateur vegetable gardener and bread baker.
P.S.: What happened to polypompholyx? Just because it's an annual no
one wants to grow it, or are all Poly. growers computerless? (I heard
Allen Lowrie may have seeds; what's his email/snail address?)