Date: Wed, 24 Sep 1997 22:37:19 -0400 From: Richard Brown <esoft@ix.netcom.com> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg3698$foo@default> Subject: Re: Nepenthes and plant breeding.
Trent in the office again, using R.B.'s really nice computer. A few
ideas and comments that may help,fwiw.
>.shrivel up whenever I take them out of their "space-bubble"
>environment,
Growing Nepenthes in a space bubble environment results in "soft"
plants. As soon as they are removed, they "melt". Best to slowly
acclimate them to a harder environment. My Neps here in Florida(land of
the deadly mosquitoes) are often subjected to humidity drops down to 50
percent and some very high temperatures. I've found the plant from
DeRoose Nurseries in Belgium, labeled as N., alata (it is actually a N.x
ventrata) to be very tolerant of low humidity as long as its feet are
wet. When happy, this plant produces nice sized brick red pitchers with
a flared peristome.
>Other examples of ornamental
>breeding gone wrong by "scientific method" abound. leave nature
>to make the variants, or mutants, for us to find? By most reports,
there
>are enough of them out there. Surely we are not so bored?
Breeding species under cultivation definitely has its rewards. The term
"inbreeding" has negative conotations. The effects of "line breeding"
can be very worthwhile. While I was in Brasil I visited an orchid
nursery, Floralia, at both of their locations. What they have produced
using selective breeding within orchid species is truly remarkable. Of
course, this does bring up philosophic and aesthetic questions. The
orchid flowers are distinctly an identifiable species, but they are
larger and more colorful than what would result in nature. Plants in
the wild are left alone, except to occassionally increase the gene
pool. This broad question applies to CP, where hybridization and line
breeding are in their infancy. Variation within species produced by
human concepts of aesthetics is hardly boring, as long as the plants
remain in human collections (ie. the greenhouse). It all depends on the
grower's goals.
Regards,
Trent Meeks
Pompano Beach, Florida (ouch! those darn mosquitoes!)
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