Date: Tue, 24 Nov 1998 08:42:44 -0500 From: "Mellard, David" <dam7@cdc.gov> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg3702$foo@default> Subject: Heliamphora medium and deflasked plants
Last night, I deflasked some H. nutans. I probably should admit that it was
the flask I bought at the ICPS convention at the ABG a year and a half ago.
The plant has become rather robust in it's secure little environment. As I
was washing the agar off, little pieces, most with roots fell off or came
apart easily so that I ended up with about 40 plantlets.
I'd like your advice on the set up I gave them. It's very similar to Matt's
mix, which makes me think I'm on the right track. I put a layer of lava
rocks on the bottom of a plastic shoe box and covered that with about 2 to 3
inches of chopped live sphagnum from an outdoor bog and rock perlite,
probably in a ratio of 3 to 1. The very top layer is just chopped live
sphagnum. I like the live sphagnum from the bog because it also included
the dead portion underneath, which contained just a small amount of soil.
After placing the plantlets into the top layer of sphagnum, I added a small
amount of rainwater and covered the shoebox with clear plastic. I'll have
to check tonight to see if there's any standing water in the bottom. If
there is, it is just a little, maybe 1/8 inch. The sphagnum moss was nice
and moist because it rained yesterday but it's definitely not sopping wet.
The shoebox does not have drainholes because my intent was to cover it with
plastic and create a constant microclimate.
Here's the dilemma. If I put the container outside to get bright light,
I'll have to remove the plastic and deal with fluctuating humidity so that
option for now is out. The nice option of going outside is that days are in
the 60s and 70s F and nights are 30s, 40s, and 50s. Great weather for
Helis. I have a grow room of fluorescent lights and an HID light but it
gets very warm during the day (into the 90's F), which is also not good, but
it does get nice and cool at night. I could set up a separate fluorescent
light (ug!) in the basement which is cooler and have pretty much just
convinced myself to do that.
I was going to soak the plantlets in superthrive but just couldn't find the
bottle and may still go back and do that (or spray them) depending on the
comments I get.
Now that you know the growing conditions, I'd appreciate getting advice on
how to ensure survival of the plantlets.
David
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