Date: Fri, 16 Jan 1998 11:41:03 +0000 (GMT) From: "Dr W.R. Tribe" <wrt20@cus.cam.ac.uk> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg202$foo@default> Subject: intro, questions and answer
I've been on the list for a couple of weeks now - already a couple of my
questions have been answered, so it is already worth joining! I've been
growing for a couple of years, and have about 40 species, most of which
are doing well, which is hardly a surprise as they are amongst the
easiest! I have a couple of questions, but first (hopefully) an answer.
I can't remember off-hand who it was, but someone asked about sources of
live sphagnum in the UK. I had the same problem, and bought from Marston
Exotics in Hereford, which was inconvenient. Certainly, all common garden
centres, while claiming they had sphagnum, in fact did not. However, it is
curious that virtually every garden centre I've been to in the
Newcastle-upon-Tyne region DOES have sphagnum - at least it is visually
identical to the stuff I used to buy, and my plants have done well in it.
I think this is because most garden centres buy from a national
company, whereas there is small company in the North East who supply the
local centres, seem to know what they are actually selling, and profess to
harvest in a sustainable manner.
I have two questions. Firstly, I have started growing pygmy sundews
under lights. Can they be grown evergreen, or do they need a dormancy? I
have conflicting information here. I want gemmae, but if I can vary the
growing conditions to my own schedule this will take the hassle out of it!
Secondly, my Darlingtonias set seed this year, but I am unsure of the
best approach to raising seedlings. Slack simply recommends the same
approach as Sarracenias, and I have had little success tracking down other
recommendations. It seems to me that there are a number of obvious
questions;
i) Is it best to use live sphagnum?
ii) Do they require a longer (colder?) stratification than Sarracenias?
iii) Since the roots are closer to the surface, and therefore given less
insulation from the growing medium, do you have to be more careful to
limit the root temperature, than in the mature plants? Perhaps there is a
dilemma here - how do the seeds know that the growing season is
approaching if the soil temperature remains low - i.e. is germination
(after stratification) triggered by increased photoperiod alone?
I'd very much appreciate any help anyone can offer. It would be great if
someone could send out a comprehensive approach to Darlingtonia seeds,
above and beyond the questions above.
Cheers
Bill Tribe
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