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  • #61
Nepenthes are woody lianas, as they grow, the older leaves die off and they end up with extremely long sections of bare, woody stems.
As for aliciae, I have one that experiences wide temperature differences throughout the year, from 40's-50's F during winter to temps as high as upper 90's during summer days. I'm thinking its biggest requirement is just lots of light. It does need a moderately large or deep pot though.
 
  • #62
Nepenthes are woody lianas, as they grow, the older leaves die off and they end up with extremely long sections of bare, woody stems.
As for aliciae, I have one that experiences wide temperature differences throughout the year, from 40's-50's F during winter to temps as high as upper 90's during summer days. I'm thinking its biggest requirement is just lots of light. It does need a moderately large or deep pot though.

Thanks. Maybe I'll try a deeper pot for it then. Everything else seems like it should be fine. I have two 24w t5ho's over a 10g terrarium. High humidity and well within the temp range.
 
  • #63
So dionaea question. When they aren't dormant should I use the tray method or water from the top when it starts to dry out? I've read both in different places so I figured I'd try for a first hand experienced opinion.
 
  • #64
Dionaea can even take flooding for short periods of time (as long as they drain well afterward). Tray water, they are swamp/savannah plants.
 
  • #65
I agree with Mr. Carlton, but I have found in my experience that just-moist soil leads to fatter rhizomes and more-toward-wet conditions lead to smaller bulbs with a (sometimes far) greater number of offshoots. I usually pot my Dionaea in deep, wide containers with lots of other flytraps. I think they look better as mass plantings, and the larger container allows me to keep them dryer toward the top of the pot -- around rhizome level -- and wetter down low where the roots are; I think they like this. In this setup, I top water about once a week except for during the hottest weather; I only let them sit in trays of water when I will be out of town for several days.

In summary, I treat them far different than my Sarracenia in terms of moisture.
 
  • #66
I grew my Flytraps exactly the same way as cbennet4041 described for several years with great success. Not only does the community pot method work as suggested above, but it also increases the cold tolerance of the plants tremendously, but it may still need further protection such as mulching in zone 7b or higher.

I used to grow them in a large plastic pot about 16" across and about 8" deep, and never lost one to cold, but the when I moved them to individual pots (this last winter) I lost most of them to cold. I highly recommend a minibog or bog garden for Dionaea, especially in colder climates. I know I will return to the community method this year.

As for Sarracenia, they are not very picky when it comes to either media or pots. They are also much hardier than Dionaea, even the gulf coast species like S. leucophylla, but will also need extra protection if grown in a colder climate.
 
  • #67
Thanks guys. I had to repot my typicals anyways so I went out and got a tall I think 8" diameter pot and potted all the typicals in there.

Here's another question. This one is probably more out of cautious paranoia than anything since I think I already know the answer. I haven't had any first hand experience with it though so I'd rather check. I put most of my Sarracenia outside a couple weeks ago when the weather got warmer. Now we are expecting a cold snap and the next 4 nights are expected to drop down to about 30-33F. I've read that most Sarracenia can tolerate frost and maybe even a brief freeze with no mulching or anything to protect them, so I'm thinking mine should be ok? How cold tolerant are Sarrs though? I have some like S. leucophylla which I believe are used to warmer temps.
 
  • #68
And one more Sarr question. This time about growing from seed. I read that the first growth would be little carnivorous pitchers. And this is what I'm seeing, for most seeds. However, some seem to just be shooting up some regular thin leaves with no carnivorous growth yet. Is this normal?

Here's one slot with both kinds of growth.
2qda9np.jpg
 
  • #69
Do you have a grow list? Do you grow many Nepenthes at all?
 
  • #70
I haven't really set up a formal growlist. I only have a couple Nepenthes on a windowsill. I don't have the best conditions for them at the moment.
 
  • #71
If you're talking about that one grasslike looking plant in the same area as the sarr seedlings, that's not a sarr. That's just a weed.
As for the colder temps, 30-33 is fine. Your plants should get through it okay
 
  • #72
If you're talking about that one grasslike looking plant in the same area as the sarr seedlings, that's not a sarr. That's just a weed.
As for the colder temps, 30-33 is fine. Your plants should get through it okay

Interesting, I didn't see any of this pop up until I sowed the Sarr seeds.

At what temp point should I really worry for Sarrs?
 
  • #73
And one more Sarr question. This time about growing from seed. I read that the first growth would be little carnivorous pitchers. And this is what I'm seeing, for most seeds. However, some seem to just be shooting up some regular thin leaves with no carnivorous growth yet. Is this normal?

Here's one slot with both kinds of growth.
2qda9np.jpg

That looks like grass. You should pull it out before it becomes a weed in your collection.
 
  • #74
That looks like grass. You should pull it out before it becomes a weed in your collection.

It looks a bit like grass. Some of it is a pretty deep red though. It's just weird that is popped up when I sowed the seeds. I did sow some sphag with it. But I have used this same sphag elsewhere and haven't seen any of this growth.
 
  • #75
This happens to me from time to time. I think it is because the seeds are already in the peat moss or sphagnum and when you wet it to use it, the seeds germinate.
 
  • #76
It would have to have been in the sphagnum, the peat was there and wet well before the sphag and nothing popped up. Just seems odd because I haven't seen it anywhere else I've used this sphag.
 
  • #77
Is there a minimum number of hours of direct sunlight for Sarracenia? I ask because I may be moving soon and the back yard at the place is shaded for much of the day. I haven't tested yet but they will probably only get a few hours of morning sun.
 
  • #78
If that is the case, I would advise supplementing the direct sun with other lighting if that is feasible. Without about 10 hours of sun a day, most Sarracenia will not do as well. Is it not possible for you to grow them in your front yard? I'm not sure if there is a limit per se, but I try to give mine as much sun as I can.

That being said, some species like Sarracenia minor can tolerate lower light levels. I grew one in my fairly shaded backyard for years and it did fine.
 
  • #79
Front yard gets more light, I'm just not sure how much I trust the community to never mess with them. I'd be moving into a first floor apt with my girlfriend downstairs from her grandmother. She's had infrequent cases of people messing with the house. BBs through windows and the such. I wouldn't want some kid coming by and wrecking my collection just because they think it's funny. I'd feel safer with them in the backyard.
 
  • #80
At what temp point should I really worry for Sarrs?

I would be worried at any temp under 28-30 degrees for S. leucophylla and the other warm temperates from the SE, while for the mountain species and S. purpurea ssp. purpurea I would be worried under 15 degrees.
 
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