Date: Fri, 12 Dec 1997 18:23:52 -0700 (MST) From: "Aaron J. Hicks" <ahicks@rt66.com> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg4714$foo@default> Subject: Xerophytic nepenthes?
People tell me this is not unusual, but I grow Nepenthes alata
here in New Mexico with no special accomodations. This is to say, like a
houseplant. :-)
Humidity on any given day ranges from 5-30%, and sometimes up to
90%+ when it rains once or twice a month. Despite this, the plant seems to
grow OK, and I noticed a new growth from the base about a week ago (in an
adobe house, propane heat, no misting).
I also recently received a Nep. x ventrada, but I've not let it
out of the bag yet- it's awful dry right now. Hygrometers don't measure
reliably, and these extremes make it difficult to tell, but humidity
measurement has become an a priori with respect to my job, and I'll
venture it's below 7% RH in my home right now. It's potted in the bottom
half of a 1-liter soda bottle, nested inside of the bottom half of a
2-liter soda bottle. It is watered from below when I occasionally dump in
a few hundred ml's of distilled, maybe with some goodies thrown in like
Peter's. It is potted in pure sphagnum, and *gulp!* occasionally goes to
dryness. No ill effects noted to date, but I have no pitchers.
Chris Frazier (hey, Chris!) informs me this is due to insufficient
light; tragically, I am caught between the two extremes: too little, and
thermonuclear-strength southern exposure. Any fear of crisping this
species? Anyone out there have cuttings available of any other species
they suspect would thrive in this kind of dryness? =-) Heh.
-AJHicks
Director, Orchid Seedbank Project
Socorro, NM
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