What's new
TerraForums Venus Flytrap, Nepenthes, Drosera and more talk

Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Cobra lily

I just bought a Cobra Lily earlier today and unfortunately I dont know what soil mix to use. I usually have hostage with me just about every library book there is on the subject, but, silly me, I just turned those in yesterday. I did not know I would be needing them again the next day. Also, what kind of pot would be best? Drained or undrained? Huge, medium, tiny? I have a Sarracenia purpurea already, who is similar from what I gather. Another thing Ive been wondering is how do I feed the Cobra lily? I give my s.purpurea crickets a' la tweezers, can I somehow push a cricket into that interesting little hood they have? I dont want to damage the plant by force feeding it, but I do not have enough bugs around to allow it the thrill of the hunt. I also purchased a sundew and have the same soil and pot questions about that little fellah too, but I'll run over to the correct board to post. Thanks ahead of time for any info. -Julia
 
I use successfully a mix or 3 parts peat moss and 1 part perlite with a top dressing of live sphagnum moss..
 
Mike,

Do you need to do any unusual cooling for the roots over there, or is your climate very approximate to Coastal Oregon?
I have a friend in Liverpool who grows them well also.

Cheers,

Joe
 
I should warn that a lot of department store "Cobra Lillies" are really some form of Sarracenia. If you can post a pic, that would be great, because the care is slightly different for them.

Capslock
 
Sorry about the incredibly late response. So far the potting of my cobra lily had gone well. I cant find live spagnum for the life of me. Im wondering how I should feed it (and I will have to, there are not enough bugs around) I have flightless gnats and crickets of various sizes. Unfortunately I cant post a picture of the little fellah, I have no resources to do so. Thanks for the help. -Julia
 
I'm trying a new experiment with my new Cobra lily. My first one I anchored, not well enough in a gentle streamlet running behind our home. When a persistent rainstorm came, it was carried away and forever lost. So I bought another one. Someone once said that the water coming from the exhaust pipe from the AC unit is pure. It is also cool. I now have the pipe PVC pipe draining cool, pure water into the container. The container, of course, has drainage holes. Wish me luck.
 
Jim, thats very cool
i should try that to
smile.gif
 
smile_h_32.gif
 
smile_k_ani_32.gif
 
smile_m_32.gif
 
smile_n_32.gif
 
smile_l_32.gif
 
smile_o_32.gif
 
smile_r_32.gif
 >;-D  
smile_t_32.gif
 
smilie4.gif
 >:-@
Cool new faces lol
 
Remember Jim, the colder the water running over the rhizome, the better your Darlingtonia will respond. The fattest, healthiest Darlingtonia I have seen in the California mountains, lived in a stream of water from snow melt runoff. The plants were huge, the water temp and rhizome temp about 50- 55 degrees F. They love a cold rhizome.
 
  • #10
Greenis, you won't have to feed your plants
smile.gif
. They will do just fine without bugs as they do produce food by photosynthesis like any other plant. Bugs do provide additional nutrition to help the plant grow better but they won't die without them.

smile.gif

BCK
 
  • #11
Yeah, bugs are just sort of a snackie for the plant, but I've heard that in most cps it really does, some more than in others (and in some cps that it is ABSOLUTELY essential, like in baby D.hartmeyorum seedlings, gonna be hard to catch fruitflies for all of that ones...otherwise the seedlings won't grow) It says on Ivan Snyder's webbyhere
plus forbes gives info 'bout feeding these seedlingshere

Sorry for the off topic, but that's still some useful info!

You can water your plants with ice water to cool the roots, or use a peltier junction (thermoelectric cooler), topic
here

I'm no Darlingtonia expert (hoping to get 1 soon), but from what I've heard, you've got to keep their roots cool. Go ask an expert.
smile.gif
 
  • #12
I use room temperature (generally cooler water being it is inside a fairly cool room) for the watering. I keep the little guy (the first one in about ten that I have sucessfully 'raised') in its 3" cup inside its clear lid and water it that way. I tried ice cubes on the one I had last year, and it killed it. they are picky and a bit frustrating (at least for me) to grow. I can see that this is going to be a good plant though. I got it from lowe's back in dormancy about six months ago, and just kinda let it be. It has one pitcher about 6" and two more growing...ahhh, live and learn. Good thing lowe's has that return policy for plants for a year!
 
Back
Top