Re: U. Calycifida ... epiphyte or terrestrial

From: Chris Teichreb (cjteichr@sfu.ca)
Date: Fri Apr 30 1999 - 11:26:36 PDT


Date: Fri, 30 Apr 1999 11:26:36 -0700 (PDT)
From: Chris Teichreb <cjteichr@sfu.ca>
To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com
Message-Id: <aabcdefg1497$foo@default>
Subject: Re: U. Calycifida ... epiphyte or terrestrial

Hi Jay,

        Had to put in my two cents worth on this :)!

> My Utric pots sit in aerated water to within an inch of their tops
> in most cases. None are sitting in less than half of their pot
> depth. I have noticed in all cases that growth is fast and
> vigorous. (My U. calycifida is flowering at the moment, in fact).
> In my experience past, much drier cultivation experiments, even U.
> sandersoni was shy to flower for me.

        I've found that only certain Utrics (terrestrials) respond to high
water levels with flooding. My U.sandersonni and U.livida do fine with
lower water levels. You may say, yes, but your humidity levels are high,
well, I had these plants outside last summer in the open. Although the
humidity levels out on the West Coast are higher, last summer was
extremely dry. Anyways, they all stayed in flower. The only thing that
slowed them down were aphids (they love the flower stalks).

        However, certain plants like U.subulata seem to refuse to put out
flowers without the occasional flood.

> For me at least, a higher water level has made all the difference in
> the world.

        Not in my case, it seems to be the media. As someone in private
correspondance noted, his U.calcyfida plants were much larger when grown
in a looser media. I've unpotted plants from sphagnum and from peat/sand
mix, and the ones in the sphagnum always have a more extensive 'root'
system.

>
> One word of caution in this however. Make the transition a gradual
> one. I have lost a few plants from friends when I suddenly dunked
> them into high water levels.

        I agree. I've done this before and shocked Utrics which usually
flower non-stop. And they certainly do sulk. It took almost half a year
for one pot of U.livida to recover.

>
> Jay Lechtman (jay.lechtman@ingenix.com) Ashburn, Virginia, USA
>
>

Happy growing,

Chris

**********************************
Chris Teichreb
Department of Biological Sciences
Simon Fraser University
Burnaby, B.C.

cjteichr@sfu.ca
**********************************



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