howdy

Jim Lucke (Jim.Lucke@pp.inet.fi)
Wed, 2 Oct 1996 18:07:24 +0300

What the heck, as long as some other new CP'ers are confessing that they're
just growing a few flytraps from the grocery store, I might as well join in.
Amazing how so many got the same start (me too): I had a carnivorous plant
kit from North Carolina Biological Supply Company when I was a teenager. It
came to a bad end when it was left in the Texas sun for a couple of hours. I
got started with an article in National Geographic around 1966, I think.
Since then I've been on hold except for a couple of VFTs I found in a
grocery store. Naturally, they turned black and died, no matter what I did
for them.

When I found this list I figured I would follow the other "help, my flytraps
are turning black" stories for a while and then have another go at it. I
can't follow the discussions about genetic variations, etc., but there's a
lot of advice about sphagnum, lighting, dormancy, and so on that I hope I
can use.

I have to say that I'm surprised these plants exist at all, since so many of
them don't seem to have the will to live. How can they be so demanding and
still survive climatic variations, floods, fires, and all manner of natural
hazards.

I've been living in Finland since 1985, and I noticed another Finnish CP'er
(in Oulu, I think), so I might be looking for some advice about sources of
plants. I'll definitely need artificial light. And what kind of mosses grow
around here, are they suitable for CP's?

It looks like this list doesn't have a moderator, since occasionally
off-the-wall stuff appears.

I enjoyed the new improved FAQ page. I can't do movies but if I take the
.gif files to work I can get good color images on the machine there.

Jim Lucke
Lappeenranta Finland