Enter the dragons

[Presto]

I finally got my order for new plants today!  (I ordered them so long ago it's ridiculous.)  4 baby VFTs: one typical, one dentate, one red dragon, and one green dragon.

And a Nepenthes rafflesiana was thrown in as a freebie for my order being so late.  No clue how to take care of that guy.  :pens "Savage Garden" to the Nepenthes chapter::

How do you tell the difference between a red dragon and a green dragon?  because, um...they look exactly the same to me...

Oh and also, do you guys think the new plants should be put into dormancy? Or hold off because they're new/probably just out of tissue culture?

 

[BobZ]

Quote[/b] (Presto @ Nov. 10 2005,2:11)]How do you tell the difference between a red dragon and a green dragon? because, um...they look exactly the same to me...

There is a good reason that they look the same. You will notice that the ICPS database
http://www.omnisterra.com/bot/cp_home.cgi
lists only 'Red Dragon' aka 'Akai Ryu' as a registered cultivar, but not "Green Dragon".

As I understand it, "Green Dragon" was one of the plants isolated about 1996 during the amplification of 'Akai Ryu'. To register a cultivar, one needs to describe how a candidate plant differs from a registered cultivar. As you observe, the differences (if any) are too subtle to qualify. That, of course, does not prevent anyone from distributing or selling a plant using an unregistered name. Just look at the large number of unregistered names (and photos) in the VFT section of the CP Photo Finder.
http://www.humboldt.edu/~rrz7001/Dionaea.html

In addition, over time the actual identity of true cultivars becomes clouded and confused. Many of the plants being circulated and traded as 'Red Dragon' are not the original cultivar -- some are seedlings, not clones.

 

[jimscott]

Boy, you asked a loaded question about whether to put the plants through dormancy! For this time of year, the opinions are diametrically opposed. One person even said that he wouldn't buy a plant at this time of year! Now that I've just scared you, be prepared for a potential debate.

I have purchased CP's, the dormancy types from Home Depot at this time of year. I kept them at a SE window sill (drafty) at the lab in which I work. The temps got as low as the mid-50's and the photoperiod naturally declined. The Sarracenias I let stay on the sills. the VFT's I ended up taking them home and put them through a convoluted process of trying to get them cooled, but not frozen. I had them between the storm and inner kitchen window - but they got "greenhouse effect" on sunny days. I was told to get them colder. So I put them in our screened in porch, where they were okay until a cold snap froze the soil. So I moved them. as is, to the butter keeper of our fridge. (Can't believe my wife tolerated that maneuver!) In February I moved them back to the lab, into a sample fridge, for awhile. Then I put them back on the drafty window sill to gradually warm up. Then it was outside and by April, I was rewarded by flowers. The Sarracenias didn't have a proper dormancy, but when I put them outside in the spring, they responded and I realized that those 50 cent rack plants I thought were S. rubra - turned out to be S. leucophylla of some sort.

I wish I could tell you what the plants you purchased are expecting, where they are on the yearly cycle. If it were up to me, I would keep them where they will have natural sunlight, be it outside in some safe place near the dorm, or a coolish window sill. I wouldn't toss them from 70 degrees into a 40 degree environment, but I would gradually move them in a less lit and cooler direction. Disclaimer: This is just my opinion. There are others.

Um, there are MANY generous folks out there that would be happy to send you window sill plants, that don't require a dormancy, if you're interested.

 

[CaRnIvORoUs_FrEaK]

Did you happen to order from Dangerousplants.com? Because the same exact thing happened to me too! LOL. I got a free N.raffielsa too so the wait was worth it.

 

[Presto]

as a matter of fact, yes I did! wonder why dangerousplants totally dropped the ball there. I got an N. rafflesaina (spelling??) too.