Plant Update 05/01/08
Well, the weather down here on the Isle of Wight (UK) is pretty erratic and cold lately, and so my plants that are growing outside are really braving the English elements thrown at them!
The varieties outside in the bog are:
Sarracenia Minor (okefenokee) x1
Sarracenia Flava Ornata x1
Drosera Filiformis x1
Dionaea Muscipula (Standard) x3
In the Coldframe are:
Drosera Capensis (Alba) x2
Dionaea Muscipula (Standard) x3
Nepenthes Ventrata x1
Pinguicula Moranensis x1
On it's own: Darlingtonia Californica (Slacks)
The bog garden is covered at the moment with a anti-frost fleece cover as frost has been pretty hard and the wind chill is bitter. I noticed the Dionaea were looking pretty war torn by the freezing wind, so i offered them this form of shelter. Everything seems fine regarding them so far. They're obviously dormant, as the traps have grown increasingly smaller, and rate of growth is significantly slowed right down.
The Sarracenia Minor: Stopped developing traps at the end of October, and the oldest trap died back to brown, so i chopped this off. The remaining 2 traps are still there although one is looking a bit worse for wear, but the youngest trap is ok! Despite the weather conditions and temp (has been down to -4c)
The Sarracnia Flava Ornata: Stopped developing traps around the same time as the Minor. Cut back the two fully developed traps as they were dying off quickly. However, a few traps started to shoot up, but as the cold weather set in they have stood in stasis since that weather came in. So ive had a 2 devolping traps since Nov! and they're not dead. Just there.
The Drosera Filiformis: I bought this recently and introduced to the bog about 4 weeks ago. I recieved it in a dormant state (a resting bud). The roots were very minimal as it's dormancy has set in. It appears to be doing ok, as the bud still has a healthy colour and no signs of rot at all. Looking good so far!
In the coldframe things are a tad cold too! I've insulated this with bubble wrap and anti frost fleece also. It's kept the inside a few deg c's higher than outside, not to mention protection from the wind.
Nepenthes Ventrata: As it's size permits, I was unable to move this inside during the winter period. I've decided to leave it in the coldframe and just see what happens really. Well so far, looking at it today it looks worse for wear. Traps dying off, leaves dying off. It may be dying or just having a sleep, but i guess we'll see. I took a cutting of this during autumn period and thats in the ICU at the moment, looking good.
Drosera Capensis: This basically shrunk back to nothing as the weather started to turn cooler. Traps were roughly 2" now they're about 1/2" if that. It's still showing the 'dew' on the leaves, but just very small in size. Dormant.
Dionaea Muscipula: One of these is from a cutting I propagated in August, and the traps are very small, but there are lots of them! Seems to be growing really well, really suprised actually as I thought a cutting being so young wouldn't be hardy enough to survive cold frame conditions.
The other has many many traps and is totally green. No red pigmentation at all, so I'm thinking it may be a Heterodoxa variety. I would prefer to wait until Spring/Summer to fix on that conclusion though. Very few traps have actually died off, and its general health seems to be excellent, good coloring etc... and still eating things. I actually found half a slug hanging out of one of the traps recently. Yuk.
Lastly the 3rd Dionaea is again looking healthy, reduced trap production and is still capturing bugs. The red pigmentation within the traps is looking minimal in size, but the majority inside is still very red. Trap size hasn't seemed to have mimised either.
Pinguicula Moranensis: The leaves being produced are still huge, and is also producing the massive flowers and stems. Looking very lush and healthy too. The flower production seems to have slowed, but I can see another 3 flower buds coming up out of the center. No signs of non carnivorous leaves yet, as it's still capturing insects.
On it's own, in it's very own pot, exposed to the elements is my cobra lily ( Darlingtonia Californica) I made a anti frost fleece cover using wire mesh and fleece to keep the worst frost off of it.
Darlingtonia Californica (Slacks): Trap production has frozen still and trap growth has stopped completly which is no suprise given the environmental temp and light exposure. The traps are still looking healthily red and green, no signs of trap deteriation. Judging by 2 summers ago growth, the traps seem to have doubled in size.
The varieties outside in the bog are:
Sarracenia Minor (okefenokee) x1
Sarracenia Flava Ornata x1
Drosera Filiformis x1
Dionaea Muscipula (Standard) x3
In the Coldframe are:
Drosera Capensis (Alba) x2
Dionaea Muscipula (Standard) x3
Nepenthes Ventrata x1
Pinguicula Moranensis x1
On it's own: Darlingtonia Californica (Slacks)
The bog garden is covered at the moment with a anti-frost fleece cover as frost has been pretty hard and the wind chill is bitter. I noticed the Dionaea were looking pretty war torn by the freezing wind, so i offered them this form of shelter. Everything seems fine regarding them so far. They're obviously dormant, as the traps have grown increasingly smaller, and rate of growth is significantly slowed right down.
The Sarracenia Minor: Stopped developing traps at the end of October, and the oldest trap died back to brown, so i chopped this off. The remaining 2 traps are still there although one is looking a bit worse for wear, but the youngest trap is ok! Despite the weather conditions and temp (has been down to -4c)
The Sarracnia Flava Ornata: Stopped developing traps around the same time as the Minor. Cut back the two fully developed traps as they were dying off quickly. However, a few traps started to shoot up, but as the cold weather set in they have stood in stasis since that weather came in. So ive had a 2 devolping traps since Nov! and they're not dead. Just there.
The Drosera Filiformis: I bought this recently and introduced to the bog about 4 weeks ago. I recieved it in a dormant state (a resting bud). The roots were very minimal as it's dormancy has set in. It appears to be doing ok, as the bud still has a healthy colour and no signs of rot at all. Looking good so far!
In the coldframe things are a tad cold too! I've insulated this with bubble wrap and anti frost fleece also. It's kept the inside a few deg c's higher than outside, not to mention protection from the wind.
Nepenthes Ventrata: As it's size permits, I was unable to move this inside during the winter period. I've decided to leave it in the coldframe and just see what happens really. Well so far, looking at it today it looks worse for wear. Traps dying off, leaves dying off. It may be dying or just having a sleep, but i guess we'll see. I took a cutting of this during autumn period and thats in the ICU at the moment, looking good.
Drosera Capensis: This basically shrunk back to nothing as the weather started to turn cooler. Traps were roughly 2" now they're about 1/2" if that. It's still showing the 'dew' on the leaves, but just very small in size. Dormant.
Dionaea Muscipula: One of these is from a cutting I propagated in August, and the traps are very small, but there are lots of them! Seems to be growing really well, really suprised actually as I thought a cutting being so young wouldn't be hardy enough to survive cold frame conditions.
The other has many many traps and is totally green. No red pigmentation at all, so I'm thinking it may be a Heterodoxa variety. I would prefer to wait until Spring/Summer to fix on that conclusion though. Very few traps have actually died off, and its general health seems to be excellent, good coloring etc... and still eating things. I actually found half a slug hanging out of one of the traps recently. Yuk.
Lastly the 3rd Dionaea is again looking healthy, reduced trap production and is still capturing bugs. The red pigmentation within the traps is looking minimal in size, but the majority inside is still very red. Trap size hasn't seemed to have mimised either.
Pinguicula Moranensis: The leaves being produced are still huge, and is also producing the massive flowers and stems. Looking very lush and healthy too. The flower production seems to have slowed, but I can see another 3 flower buds coming up out of the center. No signs of non carnivorous leaves yet, as it's still capturing insects.
On it's own, in it's very own pot, exposed to the elements is my cobra lily ( Darlingtonia Californica) I made a anti frost fleece cover using wire mesh and fleece to keep the worst frost off of it.
Darlingtonia Californica (Slacks): Trap production has frozen still and trap growth has stopped completly which is no suprise given the environmental temp and light exposure. The traps are still looking healthily red and green, no signs of trap deteriation. Judging by 2 summers ago growth, the traps seem to have doubled in size.
1 comment:
Hey Matt,
Bugger- just saw this post- that will teach me not for reading further- cant seem to find any photos of your outside bog- do you have any? Sorry if they are in an obvious place- im having a mentally challenging day today! :)
Cheers
Owen
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