Date: Sat, 31 Oct 1998 14:24:49 +0100 From: Christer Berglund <christer.berglund@amiga.pp.se> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg3464$foo@default> Subject: pitchers lifespan (was frog droppings, and highlanders)
David Mellard wrote:
> the larvae's droppings filling the pitcher as dead insects would do. What I
> realized is that the reason pitcher plants do not die when they loose their
> pitchers to these parasitic moths is that the droppings continue to feed the
> plant through the lower parts of the pitcher that remain alive. I assume
> the possibility is there to utilize droppings. One problem might be
> overproduction of harmful microorganisms, which is what I suspect causes the
> loss of tropical pitcher plant when feeding them too large a meal.
I will try frog droppings in the future, as a complement (not that I
ever could "harvest" much from my frogs anyway), but I'll keep a close
eye on the pitchers for any problems. Thanks.
Davids reply got me thinking. If a pitcher is overfed, will it always
"die" of fungus or some other nasty, or might the "death" be natural,
because of the digestive fluid is being so full of nutrients that the
main concern for the plant now is to retrieve the nutrients, not keeping
an active trap. Even if the pitcher now looks ugly (to us), it has done
what it's supposed to do. Anyone studied how much longer the lower part
of a trap "survives" after the top starts to deteriorate? How long can a
pitcher stay "fit" anyway?
Finally, does anyone have an opinion on the book Nepenthes of Borneo.
It' been a while now since it was published, and I guess some of you has
been reading it thoroughly. Is it as good as it seem? Maybe I could find
answers to my future questions in this book, so I could stop pestering
you all with them. Thanks to Trent Meeks, Dave E, Miles and Andrew M for
clarifying things.
Regards,
-- Christer Berglund E-mail: christer.berglund@amiga.pp.se
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