Date: Sun, 02 Aug 1998 11:24:29 From: Bill Tribe <wrt20@cam.ac.uk> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg2574$foo@default> Subject: D. adelae
On the subject if D. adelae, the replies so far have not mentioned one
aspect that my own limited experience might suggest is also important -
root run. I was wondering if anyone could make a strong comment on this.
I had some trouble with this species at first, growing it in a dark
window under a propogator cover. Some time ago I bought a small plastic
fishtank - about 18" in diameter, and filled it up to about 8" depth with a
mix of 2:1 moss peat:sand, put in about 6 plants, covered the tank to raise
the humidity, and put a fluorescent fitting in the lid. This lamp is one of
those sold as replacements for standard light bulbs, and I broadly estimate
that the light intensity is about 20% of full sunlight. I'm fairly
convinced though that the light is not that important, since I've tried
various different ratings, corresponding to about 10%-50% of full sunlight,
and the plants have always done well, with the only difference being the
size of the leaves. I've chosen 20% because it gives me fairly long leaves
- about 4-5" - and the light levels fit in nicely in the room. Watering is
by a tube sunk to the bottom of the compost, rainwater is added until the
level is to the top of the compost, a process which is repeated whenever
the top of the compost looks a little dry. The temperature is about 24C
during the day, 5C or so lower at night, and I use a 12 hour photoperiod.
As soon as the plants got established they went nuts, which was a
pleasant surprise given my previous experience. They all grow quickly and
produce offshoots frequently, and all the mature plants have flowered. The
problem, though, given the fact that I haven't done any control experiments
on the different cultivation points, is why they are doing well. The
observation about the root length is that, because the fishtank is clear
below the compost level, I can see where the roots have grown next to the
plastic, and they would appear to be extremely long, and to grow quite
quickly. The ability of the roots to grow to large lengths might seem to be
the major difference in the tank, as the light levels, temperatures and
humidity are broadly comparable to when I was growing the plants in 4-5" pots.
Has anyone tried to grow this species in very large pots, or am I missing
some other imprtant point about the cultivation....
Bill Tribe
Cambridge, UK.
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