I need heliamphora info

[nich]

Does anyone know of any good Web sources of information about growing Heliamphora? I'm new to this species & would like to learn more about it but there doesnt seem to be a lot of info out there that's easy to find...

Also, I have a new H. nutans & I'm growing it in a terrarium. It has 3 fully-grown pitchers on it & one that is currently developing & has not yet opened. 2 of the fully-grown pitchers are turning pretty red in colour, and the un-opened one is completely red. The third mature pitcher is completely green however. Is this normal? I have had suggestions from people that the redness could either be from a fungus attack or simply be a 'suntan' for the plant & I just wondered if anyone out there had the same experience with nutans turning red. I'm a little worried about it. Sorry - I dont have a camera to take photos of it

Cheers for any help!

Nick.

 

[Tony Paroubek]

In my greenhouse the new leaves emerge and are red... then they turn greenish with red coloring around the upper part of the pitcher.

How much light are you giving it? They do like quite a bit of light to develop properly and turn a nice reddish color.

Tony

 

[Joachim]

Hi nich,

lots of information concerning cultivation can be found on Martin's site (sadly only in german language - you might try an automatic translator):

http://www.drosophyllum.com/deutsch/heliamphora.htm

Joachim

 

[Martin]

Hi,

it is also aviable in a much shorter English version.
Sorry, it is not as frequently updatet as the German version (there are also fewer pictures).

There are also lots of spelling errors which i didn't find the time to correct, but I hope it is better readable than the German version translated by a computer ;-)

Martin

http://www.drosophyllum.com/english/e-heliamphora.htm

 

[nich]

Hi guys,

Thanks very much for your replies

Thanks for the links to the site - it's really nice & has some very useful information about these plants. The English used in the translation is very good!

I grow my nutans in a small (2ft long) terrarium as that's all I have right now. The terrarium has 2 fluorescent tubes above it for lighting and is pretty bright. I use Hagen tubes (powerglo & floraglo), so I think that they should be fine for the plant. I was considering getting a third tube for the tank, but if heliamphoras go red under nice bright light, then I think that possibly it has all of the light it needs for now! The new unopened pitcher is still completely red, but I'll keep watching it to see if it gradually turns green Tony - thanks for that information.

I am a bit worried that it might not get nightime temperatures that are cool enough for it because the tank is in my bedroom & I guess it doesnt ever get very cold in there. Do you think I should place ice cubes into the tank at night to help to cool it?

Thanks guys - I appreciate the help you've given me.

Best,
Nick.