Date: Sun, 20 Jul 1997 21:23:16 -0800 From: Ron Schlosser <rons@earthworld.com> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg2718$foo@default> Subject: Re: Darlingtonia; CC article
On 18-Jul-97, Sara A. Gardner wrote:
>Here is a preliminary report on my success with darlingtonia
>during our hot summers. Received a large, lovely clump from
>Andrew Marshall a while ago. Took his suggestion and planted
>it in sphagnum moss in a styrofoam cooler. Then, I got several
>"blue ice" squares. I also took some very stiff cardboard and
>put a piece at each side of the plant clump. Each morning I
>exchange the blue ice with ones from the freezer. My plants seem
>quite happy and are showing new growth. The cooler is just outside
>my greenhouse on the north/east side...morning sun, hot afternoons
>in the shade. I am feeling very optimistic about this arrangement.
>An article on California Carvnivores (from the AP wire) was in our
>local Grants Pass paper last evening.
>Sara in Grants Pass, Oregon
To Sara and all of the other readers of the list;
I am having a tough time "listening" to growers saying how hard it is to
grow Darlingtonia without some special arrangement using styrofoam coolers
etc. Granted many of you are in warm climes and have found that that is the
*only* way you can keep your roots cool, but I'm surprised that Andrew (who
lives near Seattle) would *even* suggest that to Sara who is in Grants Pass
practically in the heart of Darlingtonia country. I myself live in Oregon
City at the north end of the Willamette valley (for those of you who are not
familiar with Oregon, Grants Pass is near the California border with Oregon, I
am near the Washington border). I have been *successfully* growing
Darlingtonia now for nearly 15 years and I have yet to resort to styrofoam
coolers and blue ice.
I know that what works for one grower may not work for another, but here
is how I have grown my plants. Currently I have my main batch of Darlingtonia
growing in a large (150 gal) Rubbermaid stock tank that is buried in the
ground. The ground acts like an insulator and helps to keep the roots cool
naturally. They are planted in a mix of coarse peat moss (I like that better
than regular peat) and pumice. The drain hole in the stock tank I covered
with a piece of filter fabric that I hot glued in place. That was to keep the
soil mix from clogging the half inch hole I drilled into the drain plug. This
keeps the media very wet and I don't have to water them very much at all.
However, I also have a "mother" plant that I grow in a black plastic pot
on a bench. This plant is planted in straight peat moss although I have had
them in a peat/pumice mix before. I had experienced the burning of the new
runners where they have come into contact with the edge of the pot, so now I
arrange it so that it is mostly surrounded by the pots of my Sarracenias. I
grow all of these plants in full sun with *no* afternoon shading and standing
in shallow saucers of water about 1 1/2 inches deep. I *do not* water them
every day, sometimes I go several before I do and then I do a thorough flush.
My water source (I am lucky in this) is naturally soft city water that comes
from the Clackamas River. I do not let my water sit at all before watering
the plants, it comes straight from the tap to my plants.
The one thing that I have found that seems to be harmful to Darlingtonia
is repotting. I have found that that the plant does not like to have its
roots disturbed by frequent replanting which is why I am growing some in that
large stock tank. I want my plants to get as large as they can, I have seen
them growing with pitchers 3 feet high and hoods about 4 inches. If you do
need to repot, plant them into pots that are large allowing for many years of
growth and do your transplanting in the spring when the new growth appears.
I hope this information is helpful to you fellow growers, don't be afraid
(once you have obtained enough extra plants) to experiment with other growing
methods. Maybe you'll find that you don't need "styrofoam and blue ice".
Good growing!
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