Well, after being gone for a month I was quite ready to get back
into the swing of things as far as CP's. First off, due to absolutely
horrible weather I never made it to the coast of B.C. and thus, did not
see any Pings or Drosera in the wild. I did see lots of other
interesting plants during my time in the interior. Another year I'll
make it out to the island, when the weather is more suitable for camping!
When I did get back, I went and checked on my plants which I left
with the greenhouse and did I get a surprise. While everything that I
had growing in live sphagnum was doing terrific, the plants I had growing
on mixtures of peat, sand, etc. had been overgrown with algae! As many
of you know, I was just starting out so many of me plants were just
seedlings and succumbed to the algal growth. However, I still have
enough plants to keep me going and happy. I will, from now on, only grow
them in live sphagnum. I think the peat mixtures are good for starting
seedlings (they aren't overgrown by the moss) but I also beleive that
live sphagnum is the best for mature growing plants, except for maybe
Sarracenias which did ok in the peat. As well, you don't have to worry
about repotting the plants in live sphagnum as the soil doesn't break
down like peat does.
I do have some great news, my D.rotundifolia produced a lot of
seed, and I mean a lot for only six or seven plants. While I could offer
this for trade, I am instead offering it for free as it's the least I
could do for the people on this list who have always been willing to help
me. It will be a first come, first serve basis of course, just to be
fair. Just e-mail me your snail mail and I'll ship it off. I am quite
willing to accept any excess D.capensis or any other weed seed you may
have, but it is not necessary. Thanks and great to be back!
Chris Teichreb
Department of Biology
University of Regina
Regina, Saskatchewan, CANADA
S4S 0A2
E-mail: teichrch@Meena.CC.URegina.CA