Date: Mon, 21 Jul 1997 10:48:18 -0700 (PDT) From: Andrew Marshall <andrewm@eskimo.com> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg2726$foo@default> Subject: Darlingtonia, Ron and rebuttles.
Hello Folks, Hello Ron,
I normally don't get bent out of shape by letter like the one
below. At least not enough to bother you folk with it, however I am
this time. Justifiable is your opinion and I accept any fair critisism
that may come my way because of it.
> 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.
Good for you, Ron!:-) I have no idea what your problem is today,
and why you seem to be so rough about it. I am surprised that you would
get so heated up, especially since we know each other and you should have
e-mailed me personally if you wanted to have a go at me. To clarify
something for you though. *I* do not go about telling people how *hard*
Darlingtonia is, merely I report the success or failure of the methods I
have used, or heard of, as relevant to the questioners location, (if I
know it) and the information I am given. I may suggest a method over
another, but in the end, it is up to them. I am all in favour of them
doing what ever they want. As to my own growing methods, I do not
actually use the ice. I know folks that do, and include this bit of
information as I feel that it may be useful. I would rather give them as
many methods as I can remember, rather then saying heres' mine, now do it
my way. Do you suggest that instead I don't tell them information,
alternatives that may prove successful if thier current method fails?
Currently I grow my best plants (not all of them, only my best) in styros,
located under leaky rain gutters. Whats' good enough for me as they
say...
> 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.
>
Further kudos to you Ron! I personally have tried all sorts of
growing methods, including ignoring a bunch of seedlings in 2 inch pots
submerged in a tray in full sun, for years. I have adult blooming sized
plants from them now, and they still are in the tray, though I removed the
pots for the sake of the plants last spring. I wouldn't reccomend others
doing this, I have yet to repeat it successfully in fact. Just a lucky
fluke. Consider that I started with about 500 seedlings and have only
about 20 plants left...
To be fair though, how many plants have you lost before getting
the idea right for you 15 years ago? I agree that with a little
creativity, luck and good plants to start with, plus the right sort of
ambiant climate conditions any one can grow Darlingtonia. You forget how
intimidating these can be though to the newcomer, especially given the
shocking state that some of the plants I have seen on the market are in.
It is a wonder that these plants lived at all, and that the nurseries get
away with selling them for so much. (NOT ALL nurseries sell poor or
expensive plants, at least not all the time). Consider your own
experiance and ask yourself what you would have liked to known as a
newbie. Maybe you were a lucky person that took right away to these
plants. I was, but still routinely kill a few trying to see what will
kill them.
Anyway, I merely report all the methods that I have used, and yes
I am aware of your successes. I too have on occasion had them grow like
weeds when in pots. I am not in a position, like many of us I assume to
be able to put large holes in the ground in which to sink stock tanks. I
am so glad that you are as it obviously helps considerably. The next best
thing however may be a styro. Especially if one moves frequently, lives in
an apartment, or doesn't own their own stock tank. Ron, we are some of the
lucky few that are blessed with soft, clean water, right out of the tap,
weather that is conducive to almost all of the cp besides Darlingtonia
native to this country, as well as a good many others. I only have to go
80 miles in any direction,(100 for eastern Washington) or sink a well in
my own yard to find bad water, or worse, that and terrible cp growing
climate (again I refer here to eastern Washington).
I repeat your method below as I know it works. I have recieved
plants from you in the past, always in great shape, good growers and
healthy. For the readers out there, add it to your repertoire as a
possability if your situation allows.
Meanwhile Ron, consider the postion you were perhaps in, fortunate
or not as a newbie, then perhaps you won't have so tough a time dealing
with folks that want to make certain the person recieving the plants has a
successful time with them, and do this by providing, perhaps to much in
your opinion, as much (in mine) information as possible on the variety of
successful ways these plants can be grown, as well as the failures.
> 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.
>
Again, I say that you are most fortunate in either having a
liberal landlord, or you own your own land/stock tank. Most of us don't.
> 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.
>
How lucky we both are for our water. I also do nat need to water
every day, merely when ever I get around to it. I have mine under leaky
gutters and our frequent rain leaks in and flushes them out. This may not
be possible for every one though.
> 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 suppose I don't? I have routinely traps to 3 feet. So what! I
am interested in making it possible for the individual that asks, to have
as many alternatives so that they to can at least keep one alive long
enough to figure out that this is NOT a scarey plant at all.
> 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!
>
And if you do, do not worry about it. Not all of us can do what
the lucky few here in certain parts of the Pacific Northwest can. We have
the deck stacked in our favour before even starting, a fact taken for
granted sometimes by some folks.
Good growing
Andrew
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