I finally succumbed

Liane Cochran-Stafira (lcochran@midway.uchicago.edu)
Tue, 25 Jun 1996 10:07:50 -0500 (CDT)

Hi all,
After many years of studying these gems in the field, I finally
succumbed to the urge to try my hand at growing them at home. I rescued
one of those abused and doomed to die S. purpureas from a science "surplus
and assorted junk" shop a couple of weeks ago. True to my usual inability
to throw anything away, I had the perfect home for it stashed away in my
basement - a old discarded acrylic aquarium filter unit. It had been
tossed out by one of the labs, and looks like it had never even been used.
I simply cleaned it out thoroughly and covered the access hole on top with
a bit of plastic wrap, and so far all is well. I will transplant to better
medium in the next week or so, but I wanted the poor thing to get over the
abuse it had suffered in the store first. Since all the leaves are bright
green and there are no signs of disease or mold, I assume there's no
immediate urgency - correct me if I'm wrong. I'll be reading Barry's FAQ
and other pertinent postings over quite thoroughly. Actually, since
there's room in this box for a couple more small plants, I may add a
Drosera or two once I know I can successfully keep this first acquisition
alive.

I'll keep you posted.
Liane

Liane Cochran-Stafira
Dept. of Ecology and Evolution
The University of Chicago
1101 East 57th Street
Chicago, Illinois 60637-5415
phone: 312-702-1930
fax: 312-702-9740
e-mail: lcochran@midway.uchicago.edu