Despite growing a Cobra Lily for only the last 8 months I thought some of
you might be interested in my experiences so far.....
First of all, I posted to this group for some specific advice and received
more than ten replies. All of these were very interesting and helpful, so
thanks guys:) I bought a very healthy small plant (about a dozen
pitchers, the largest about 4cm (1 2/3") long) during September last year
(Early Spring for us "Down Under"). It grew fantastically this year, about
ten new pitchers, the largest being about 11 cm (4 1/2") and now it is going
dormant. It is a great plant and I agree with some of the other posters
that the difficulties are often exaggerated.
Onto how I am growing them.... Location: Canberra, Australia, latitude
35 degrees 15', altitude 650m (2000'), so the sun is quite strong. The
pot is at the side of a brick house, in front of a north-facing wall, so
it receives full sun from about 8am to 4pm. Originally I thought this
much sun may have harmed the plant so I was always inspecting the tips
of the fangs for signs of drying out, but I saw no evidence of this at
all, so I left the plant in full sun all summer. Hottest temperature
was one day of 36C (95F). Hottest overnight may have been about 20C
(69F). Summer maximums were mostly 25C (77F) to 30C (86F), minimums
about 10C (50F) to 15C (59F). Right now (dormancy, just stopping
producing smaller pitchers) maximums about 14C (57F) to 18C (64F) and
minimums -2C (28F) to 7C (45F). Pot: A terracotta "Azalea Pot". It is
round, about 35cm (14") diameter and about 20cm (8") high. This size
pot looks huge compared to the little plant;) I have this sitting in a
large brown plastic saucer, about 50cm (20") diameter and about 5cm (2")
deep. Water: It receives a small amount of natural rainfall (it has
been pretty dry here) and is watered with normal tapwater. I run the
tap a bit first, to make sure the water is cold, then water the pot from
the top, making sure I go over the whole surface. This drains through
and keeps the saucer full or overflowing. In summer I watered this way
every morning so the saucer was full (I was away for 3 weeks in the peak
of summer and a friend was only able to water it twice a week, although
I had shifted it to a place where it got full sun until only 1pm for
those 3 weeks - the plant looked great when I returned). Now I water it
every second day and the saucer is about 2/3 full. Substrate: I
intended this to be pure sphagnum moss, but the bag of moss didn't quite
fill up the pot, so I added about 1/10 the amount of a peat/sand mix,
mixed it together, so it is about 90% sphagnum, 6% peat and 4% sand. I
added a 2.5cm (1") layer of pure sphagnum on top for its reflective
properties and appearance.
Oh well, I hope this is of some interest and/or help to growers or intending
growers of these great plants.
Cheers,
Frank.
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Dr Frank Udovicic
Australian National Herbarium Email: franku@pican.pi.csiro.au
CSIRO Division of Plant Industry Phone: (06) 246 5177
GPO Box 1600, Canberra Fax: (06) 246 5249
ACT 2601 AUSTRALIA
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