Date: Wed, 3 Mar 1999 08:49:24 -0500 From: "Malouf, Perry" <Perry.Malouf@jhuapl.edu> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg648$foo@default> Subject: RE: More~ SCARE~ ~~stories
Hey Marc Burak,
I envy the success you've reported about growing Nepenthes that
have
been "mistreated". My experience has not mirrored your reports,
and
I would love to pay you a visit to see how it's done.
I haven't found Nepenthes roots to be like metal cable. Sure,
some
of my larger plants do have strong primary roots. It's the very
fine roots that I'm more worried about when I repot the plants.
These
black roots resemble darning thread and are very delicate on my
plants. They can be pulled gently (though I try to not do that)
without
breaking--if they do break from a gentle tug then they're
probably
rotten anyway and not functional.
I haven't killed a plant yet by damaging those fine roots. But
I have
noticed that the plants are set back for a little while when the
roots are damaged. They usually recover in a few weeks--the
time of recovery depends on the species/hybrid.
As regards the temperature fluctuations, I've read reports of
people subjecting N. khasiana and a few others to slightly sub-
freezing temperatures where the vegetative portion of the plant
turned black and rotted away after a few days. The plants
came back after some time. One possible explanation is
that the plants were large, the root ball was massive, and the
temperatures didn't stay very low for very long to freeze the
root ball. I don't think any Nepenthes would come back after
the root ball has been frozen.
If my plants experience temperatures outside of their preferred
range, they slow down. In the Winter, my highlanders grow
faster and my lowlanders stop; vice versa in Summer.
Even salt buildup in the potting media affects the growth rate
of my plants. Recently I measured the conductivity of the
runoff from my Nepenthes pots and found it to be much
higher than normal. The problem was traced to a few
months of poor watering practices, and has now been
corrected. Those affected plants are much happier now.
Is it absolutely necessary to pay attention to salt buildup,
temperature range, humidity, etc. in order to keep a Nepenthes
alive? No, not if you're reasonable. It can take a long time
to
kill a Nepenthes with improper conditions.
But if you do pay attention to these things, trying to keep
them right for the plants you're growing, I think the plants
will grow faster, look much better, and give you more
satisfaction. That's my experience, anyway.
>...Dave, why do you pass on information that is ... inaccurate?
Well, he was reporting his observations of his plants (I think).
Certainly I have just reported my observations of my plants.
Why do our observations differ from yours, and somewhat from
each other's? One explanation is that we provide different
growing
conditions for our plants--perhaps different potting media,
lighting,
humidity, water, etc.
And that's why I'd love to pay you a visit sometime to see how
you get your Nepenthes to produce "metal cable" roots. :-)
Regards,
Perry Malouf
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