Hard to obtain ?

[Martin]

Reading some posts like "drosera slakii is rare in collections", "a Heliamphora hybrid costs xx &#36", "cephalotus is so hard to find" ,....
I was wondering if it is really so hard to obtain rare(?) plants in your country.

I almost never read topics about Aldrovanda, Byblis, Drosophyllum, Genlisea and many other spezies...

is nobody interested in them or are they so hard to obtain for you ??

Martin

 

[Guest]

I am interested in them (as I think everyone else is too)

The problem is there isn't much over in the "States". Things are a little harder to get here than other places.

I am trying to use my power to get certain things that would other wise be unable to obtain here. For me it is difficult. But I am making way everyday!

I hope people learn more about other plants and that they are ready to try them out!

 

[PlantAKiss]

From what I've seen, those plants are harder find (and the harder to find, the more they cost). I'd love to have a d. slackii, ceph, etc., but they aren't commonly found in retail nurseries. I've heard byblis arent often sold as the plants don't handle shipping very well so nurseries don't mess with them. I am VERY lucky (and thrilled) to have 5 byblis seedlings thanks to a kind and giving soul. And IF I am lucky enough to get seeds later on, I will share as well.

I guess most nurseries sell what they can propagate, grow easily and quickly, and that are popular. They are a business and need to make a profit so therefore can't waste time/money on less popular or "difficult" plants. Similarly, pharmaceutical companies often don't make drugs (even when they exist and are needed) if they can't sell them in mass quantities for a good profit. There is a lesser demand for genlisea and aldrovanda the like so...harder to find. CP-specific nurseries offer a broader range of plants but if you have only 3 requests for genlisea...and 200 for flytraps....you have to sell the flytraps. Exotic Gardens thankfully is always looking for different plants to offer (like the heliamphora).

So for many of us, in order to get some of the harder-to-find plants, you have to rely on generous plant lovers who save/sow their seeds or have extra seedlings or plants thru some means of propagation. And I've found CP growers to be very giving and willing to share when they can when they know they have something someone else might like.

There are many CPs I'd like to have if 1) I could find them 2) afford them 3) have space for them! I'm always willing to try anything. (But drosera are still No. 1!) (And the byblis)

Suzanne

 

[RamPuppy]

you also have to take into account that the plant societies, and the practice of ornamental gardening in europe, is far older than it is here... I mean, you guys remember, tamed your countries thousands of years ago, while the americas, well.. it's a relatively new development!

Give us a little time to catch up!

 

[Mondo]

Uh Ram i doubt that...anyways byblis and aldrovanda,well lets put it this way,are quite hard to propagate and keep for long periods of time-and in my opinion are not really worth the trouble...1)because aldrovanda needs all this special equipment just to keep it-yeast fermentation and fishtanks and is a lot of work,as for byblis,most are annuals and they are really hard to get to germinate cause you have to burn the seeds and stuff-they are difficult to keep in cultivation,so i guess thats why we don't see them much,even here in australia where the plants are found i have never seen them in hardware stores along with flytraps and pitcher plants.2)their specific requirments don't cater for being left in the shops for a long time and thus they would quickly decline,plus it is just easier to sell easy to care for plants and produce such plants in mass rather than producing harder to care for plants which would jusrt die,plus aldrovanda is aquatic and it's not like it would be easy to keep in a shop-you'd need a fish tank and everything and it would stink after a bit and people in the shop would complain and blah blah blah...but if u really wanted to get one of these plants you would keep on looking until u found it,i mean if u had ur mind set on getting one then you would find one so lets just be honest, you guys r really only having a whinge.

(Edited by Mondo at 10

0 pm on Jan. 13, 2002)

 

[Pyro]

Martin,

I think there are a lot of factors involved in your not hearing about things. Rarity is a good case but I'm not sure it applies to most of the species you point out, I think the real reason you don't hear about most of them is that they are not as "interesting" as other species. Take Genlisea and Utrics for example. These are great plants and probably the most versatile and easy to grow of CPs, but you cant see the traps and the flowers are tiny so why bother? (Not my personal opinion. I have 3 species of Genlisea and 8 Utrics and am working to find as many as I can get my hands on.)

The difficulty aspect pointed out for Byblis also applies to Drosophyllum. It isn't that they are so hard to find it is just that they take so much effort that most CPers just pass them by in favor of something less of a hassel to grow. I found it very easy to get my Drosophyllum seeds and I'll keep this group up to date on my success or failure with them and when/if I get seeds I'll get them out to whoever I can. I think they have an unfair reputation and it just takes some devoted people to break that image.

Ram also makes a good point about the devotion of the European countries to plants. It is a much older art in that area of the world and there are many things they have and know that we newbies in the US are still stumbling to catch up on.

Pyro

(Edited by Pyro at 11

3 am on Jan. 14, 2002)


(Edited by Pyro at 11

5 am on Jan. 14, 2002)

 

[Martin]

Hi together,

of course ...
you can't walk into a German gardencenter and buy an Aldrovanda.
They have enough problems to keep their Venus flytraps alive (
But some years ago I bought my first Cephalotus and a Drosera regia in a normal garden center.
I have even seen some Heliamphora there (but didn't buy them, because at that time I thougt they would be to difficult for me)

You have to buy your "rare" Cps in special nurseries (for excample Andraes Wistuba if you want a Heliamphora tatei or hispida) and pay a lot of money for them (in this case about 30 &#36 for small tc plants ) but you CAN obtain them, if you want them.

I get most of my plants from other people.
Since I'm a member of the German CP societey it is not difficult to get an Aldrovanda or Byblis.

And Aldrovanda was one of my 2most wanted" plants for a long time. A tiny "underwater-Venusflytrap" which is absolutly unique in the CP-world...

Aldrovada or Byblis are NOT more difficult, than, lets say a Nepenthes, except the most easiest hybrids.

I got 6 Aldrovanda a year ago, sold a lot f them during summer (earned enough money to buy a "normal-seed-grown" Nepenthes hamata ;o) ) an finaly had more than 50 plants left in autumn.

When my father emptied this "tank of bad smelling water" (inculding 50 Aldrovanda turions !) under the next tree.
The buds even survived the first night with hard frost lieing there unprotected in the grass.

And all this stuff with CO2, minerals, and so on is absolutly not true with my aldrovanda. I will add an English cultivation guide for this spezies on my homepage if i once have enough time ;o)

ah, what was the topic ? ;o)

plant societies...
I think the ICPS is the biggist cp society in the world. And isn't it (more or less) an Amerikan CP society

and there are also "Amerikan-cp-societies", aren't they ?

and finaly...
yes, I don't "like" genlisea very much, too ;o)
(I have one and this is enough because they don't look very different)
And some years ago I didn't cultivate Uricularia, too, becouse I though "how boring".
But have a look on a 2" Utricularia humboldtii flower (IF it WILL flower). I hope I will get some seeds of this spezies, mybe in 2 years, mybe in 5. I can wait...
You can see the embryo through the seed !!! and it will geminate within some hours !!! and build hooks within some more hours (to prevent the seedling from beeing washed out of the bromelias where it usually germinates) !!! and and and ....

If this isn't fascinating, what else is ? ;o)

happy growing
Martin

<img src="http://www.drosophyllum.com/Bilder/Aldrovanda03.jpg">

 

[Pyro]

Martin,

That you can find a Ceph and a D. regia in a normal garden center sounds like a miracle to us US growers. I remember that 10 years ago all I could ever find were VFTs, D. capensis and D. adelae and I once saw a miserable specimen of S. flava for &#3610. That was all I ever found and I'd never even heard of any specialty CP nurseries.

Now we have the internet and can talk to people across the country or across the world. So yes, now things are easier to find if you want. But there are tons of species you can't get no matter how hard you look (the U. endresii I've been trying to find for the past 3 years is a great example. Or any epiphytic Utric for that matter.)

Re: CP societies...
Yes the ICPS is largely American, but that doesn't necessarily mean you can get anything out of it. I acquired 90% of my carnivorous plants through means outside being an ICPS member and all I have ever gotten from ICPS came from the seed bank. I don't think the ICPS is a good place to find plants. Communicating with ICPS members might help you to find someone growing a plant but a little internet surfing and a healthy dose of determination can get you there just as easily.

Re: Genlisea...
I never said I didn't like them. I love 'em. Yeah, they are all real similar but so are Pings and there are people out there who grow those and nothing else. They aren't boring. They're CPs, that makes them cool

Re: Utrics...
I envy you your U. humboldtii. I loved mine and it was growing well for me until my cat decided to eat it. Now I have to go hunting to find this one again, it might take a while but I will succeed. If you are having success with this plant you might want to go for U. nephrophylla

Pyro