Date: Sun, 28 Feb 1999 15:37:07 -0500 From: "Mark Pogany" <markp@en.com> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg614$foo@default> Subject: Darlingtonia
Darren wrote:
I have had no success in cultivating Darilingtonia. I have tried watering
everyday with refrigerated purified water, using a pump to circulate water
to
the root, but they always end up dead. I live in CA in the Napa/Solano
region. I use the recommended soil composite (lava rock/perilite) very open
mix. I once read about a fellow CPer using an ice cooler to grow hers in.
Does anyone have any suggestions?
Thanks for any input.
The most crucial part in successfully cultivating Darlingtonia is root
temperatures. I know this from killing scores of plants in the past few
years. I've tried everything as well and came to the conclusion that there
is no getting around the dilemma of cool roots. I've had plants that started
out fine in spring but died when the ambient temperatures and humidity
started to rise come June. Anything above 62f-64f in the root zone will lead
to root rot. I have read of growers rigging up airhoses and below ground
water tanks, watering the pots with ice water 3 times a day, modified
refrigerators with holes in the top, etc... Simply growing Darlingtonia in
large clay pots and live sphagnum/perlite doesn't work for many of us east
of the Mississippi.
The genus has evolved in its natural habitat over millions of years. Cool
seeping water from the melting snowpack has significantly figured into
Darlingtonias well being, just as photoperiods for temperate CPs and wet/dry
conditions experienced by tuberous/pygmy drosera.
If anyone has come up with a simple and cheap system to provide cool root
temperatures please post it! 5 seasons of experimentation and failure has
not discouraged me yet. Maybe there are synthetic materials ( fashioned into
containers) out there that can function as radiators, wicking away the heat
and leaving the medium cool. Many growers would benefit from this one!
Mark Pogany
Cleveland, Ohio
markp@en.com
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