Date: Sun, 11 Jan 1998 17:23:15 PST From: "Zachary Kaufman" <zkaufman@hotmail.com> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg139$foo@default> Subject: Sarracenia growth habits in the wild
Hi.
For those of you that have seen Sarracenia growing in the wild[Carl,
Tom, Dave, Peter, etc.], can you tell me how often their roots penetrate
down into the waterline?
I am looking at using a Rubbermaid 150 gallon plastic livestock
watering trough as a giant pot/bog. The watering trough is oval at
the top roughly 5 feet by 3 feet by 2 feet deep. Currently I grow all
my Sarracenias in pots sitting in standing water. They have
flourished under these conditions despite our low [as compared to
their native habitat] humidity in the summer. I am concerned that if
I transplant the Sarracenia into the watering trough, I will not be
able to safely raise the waterline to the plants's roots. [Having
a foot or more of peat constantly submerged underwater would lead to
anaerobic conditions.] As it stands now, in the summer the waterline
drops substantially during the course of a day on the Sarracenia pots.
By the evening most of the potting media is getting oxygen. This
sharp daily waterline fluctuation would not occur with the watering
trough setup I envision. The volume of water stored is just too
great.
Why mess with what works already, one might ask. During the summer
I have to add water daily to the multitude of Rubbermaid dish pans
the Sarracenia sit in. During the winter I have to bail out the
dish pans after every rain storm for my plants submerge rapidly.
In the Spring I have to repot everything to accomodate the new
growth. I now longer have the free time to continue with this
practice. I also can't afford to leave town for any length of time.
Before embarking on this endevour, I need to get some kind of idea
how much extra benefit Sarracenias get having their roots
reach into the waterline in hot dryish weather as opposed to growing
in just moist to wet conditions in similar circumstances. I also
could use input on how well peat/perlite mixes wick up water. [There
might be a foot to a foot and a half of peat/perlite mix between the
waterline and the surface of the watering trough. Might the bottom of
the media be sopping wet while the top is bone dry?]
I am looking for insight and opinions before I take the plunge and do
this. No one will be held at all acountable for any bad advice. Any
sort of relevant experience would be much appreciated.
Thanks a lot,
--Zachary--
e-mail: zkaufman@hotmail.com
P.S. The watering trough is designed to sit entirely above ground.
It would basically be a massive pot.
______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Tue Jan 02 2001 - 17:31:28 PST