Date: Sat, 26 Jul 1997 20:21:52 -0400 (EDT) From: CMcdon0923@aol.com To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg2826$foo@default> Subject: Miscellaneous Ramblings.......
Finally (!!!), after a lapse of three months, my local (Plano, Texas) Home
Depot store received a shipment of CP, comprised of VFT, Drosera (very young
plants...unsure of the species), and N. madagascarensis. There was also one
possible D. rotundifolia, but it was hard to tell...the container had tipped
and the plant was buried under and coated with the planting medium.
The Neps look very healthy...good color with numerous well developed
pitchers. I bought 2 each of the Neps and young Drosera, for $3.23 each.
The plants are from the \223Little Pot of Horrors\224 source. Does anyone know
they actually are?
I\222ve only been able to find one other (semi-regular) source for CP in the
Dallas area; Calloway Nurseries. Calloway gets their plants from Booman
Floral. You never know what they\222ll have, if they have any at all. It\222s
usually all VFTs, but I\222ve also found P. agnata and D. capensis.
Back in June, I found one solitary half dried out Sarracenia (a clump of
about six pitchers, about six inches tall ...poss. S. minor?) at a Calloway
store. I bought it, but unfortunately I think it is now completely dead.
Everything turned brown, but I will wait a little longer before throwing it
out, just in case their is a \221spark\222 of life left. (Any suggestions on how to
jump-start it if there is???) The problem is, that once these stores receive
the plants, they don\222t ever bother to water them! Even \221regular\222 water would
be better than nothing!
Last weekend I took the plunge and repotted some of my plants which were
still languishing in their original 3\224 pots. I transferred them to 4\224 (but
much deeper) pots. I mixed up a medium comprised of peat, perlite, sand, and
some long fibered sphagnum...no scientific proportions, it just \223looked\224
right.
I transferred two VFTs and one D. adalae. But, the D. adalae turned out to be
comprised of eight (!) individual plants, two main plants and six smaller
ones, all crowed into that tiny 3\224 container. No wonder it was looking bad!
In addition, hiding in between the plants I found something which looks like
a mini D. rotundifolia. The individual leaves are approximately one mm wide,
and were on the ends of what look like long \221runners\222. I tried to separate
them from the adalae\222s roots, and hopefully they\222ll \221take\222 too.
Back in May I reported about a S. flava I purchased at Monticello
(Fredricksburg, VA). When purchased, it had two mature pitchers and a third
developing. Well, it now has a total of ten open pitchers with two more
sprouting! One of the newer/smaller ones is dying though...a hole developed
towards the base of the pitcher...possibly from an ant that was able to
escape?
Question: Do these plants \221generate\222 their own liquid for the pitchers, or
do they rely on rainwater, etc., in their natural habitats? I keep my plants
indoors, and only take them out occasionally. When looking at the pitchers
with backlighting, I can detect numerous carcasses in the base of the
pitchers, but I can\222t seem to detect any \221water-line\222 for the digestive
liquid. If there is no liquid, I assume these trapped insects are not
actually doing the plants any good. Could (i.e. \221should) I add a little
distilled water to assist the plant in the digestion of its trapped prey?
And finally, I think I\222ve gotten my mother hooked on CP. Almost every time we
spoke over the last few weeks, she would ask me how my plants were doing,
etc., and would mention that she was looking for a VFT. Last week she told me
that she found a garden center near them (S. California), Armstrong\222s (?),
that sold CP. She purchased two pitcher plants. They were from Booman Floral.
One was labeled \223Sarracenia\224, but the other had no label. In describing it,
she says that the pitchers are \223very short, and almost as wide as they are
tall\224. (Heliamphora?!?!) I asked her to take a photo ASAP and send it to me.
I should have it by the end of this week. If they turn out to be \221good\222 I\222m
going to have her bring a few along when they come to visit in a few weeks.
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