Date: Thu, 28 Aug 1997 06:06:26 +0100 From: steiger@iae.unibe.ch (Juerg Steiger) To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg3267$foo@default> Subject: Re: Pinguicula alpina
Oliver
>One of my Pinguicula alpina plants has formed a winter bud (hibernaculum)
>about
>three weeks ago (for any reader of the southern hemisphere (Hi Eric!) it is
>summer now here in Germany with temperatures of about 30C). Its summer leaves
>are still green and catching small flies. Now I have recognised that the
>hibernaculum is forming new leaves again. Is this a normal reaction of this
>species or will the new formation of leaves cause the death of the plant in
>autumn?
The premature hibernaculum followed by an autumn rosette is usually the
death of (sub)alpine and (sub)arctic northern Pings grown in moderate
lowland temperatures. The leaves of the second rosette have a different
quality (smaller, less glands) and mostly perish, including the rest of the
hibernaculum. In some few cases I have succeded to save such specimens by
means of artificial light simulating the longer summer days: In December a
second hibernaculum was developed which formed a new plant in May (but this
was the exeption). The only way to keep such species is to grow them in
cold storage environment. My P. alpina have now (July, August) 8C at
night and 14C in the day while the outside temperatures are around 16C at
night and around 28C in the day.
>As far as I know is P. alpina one of the rare temperate species that keep
>their
>roots alive during winter. To overwinter the hibernaculum, could I take the
>plants out of their pots and keep them with living damp sphagnum moss in a
>plastic bag in the refrigerator or do I have to keep the plants with their
>pots
>in the refrigerator so that the roots are not disturbed?
Yes P. alpina has hibernating roots. Apply definitely the second option!
The root tips are usually destroyed when removing the plants from their
substrate. Some plants may recover, but many will perish. Keep them at
1C, not at 5C or so which is to warm.
Kind regards Juerg
________________________________________________
Dr. Juerg Steiger, Institut fuer Aus-, Weiter- und Fortbildung IAWF
University of Bern, Inselspital 37a, CH-3010 Bern, Switzerland
Office: +41 (0)31 632 9887 Fax: +41 (0)31 632 9871
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