Nepenthes hamata 2009 seedlings . . .

[BigBella]

I finally found some old photos that had been shot on Kodachrome (late great slide film for any of you ankle-biters) -- and thought that I'd scan a few -- including those of N. hamata seedlings from 2009, grown in a media of milled sphagnum and sand.

Nepenthes hamata -- 6.09

 

[amphirion]

you have progress pics David? looking forward to seeing those!
hahaha. cute little buggers. looks like the same size when i got my hamata from AW. XD

 

[lil hokie]

aww! babies! cute!

 

[BigBella]

you have progress pics David? looking forward to seeing those!
hahaha. cute little buggers. looks like the same size when i got my hamata from AW. XD

Here is a shot, taken in April of one of the plants:

Nepenthes hamata

 

[amphirion]

thanks for the updated pic Dave. while i might try to get a seed grown hamata in the future, i guess i will be satisfied with my TC clone...for now. hahaha.

 

[justjack]

Those available any time soon?

 

[vraev]

Spectacular BigB. You surely deserve to get your hands on these rare seed as your growing skills are impeccable. Glad to see them in great hands.

 

[Cosmo]

Woow! Excellent growing big bella, just curious, where did you got those seeds?

Regards

 

[BigBella]

Thanks for the kind words, guys. I lived overseas for a time and had and maintained some contacts who could obtain Nepenthes seeds from time to time, though I was never sure precisely when; so it's always fun to get an envelope from Japan or even Vietnam with a stapled square of bibulous paper -- often accompanied by an obscene, obnoxious card. Needless to say, I keep a bunch of stuff on-hand; as Foghorn Leghorn would say, "for just such an emergency."

In answer to a PM (which was accidentally deleted -- full box -- sorry): since I don't reliably know how fresh the seeds are, I generally treat some with gibberellic acid for twelve hours, plant some outright in milled sphagnum and sand, (as seen in the photo), and aseptically germinate a few in weak tissue culture media, to cover all bases.

The germination success rate -- all said -- has been about 75% . . .

 

[dashman]

Well done! Can't imagine what it would be like to see a sea of hamata seedlings. That must be a sight to behold! I love the coloration on the latest pic. It looks different from most clones I have seen.

It is very encouraging to know that there are increasingly more genetically unique hamatas out there.