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Post by 31drew31 on Mar 18, 2013 14:19:07 GMT -5
Even in BC I think heated and insulated garages are quite common which has generally milder winters than AB. I know my mom has an electric heater in her garage and is hooked up to a thermostat that keeps it around 3C throughout the winter.
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Post by dvg on Mar 18, 2013 15:08:02 GMT -5
Even in BC I think heated and insulated garages are quite common which has generally milder winters than AB. I know my mom has an electric heater in her garage and is hooked up to a thermostat that keeps it around 3C throughout the winter. Yes, i've noticed that electricity is the energy of choice in a lot of BC locales. Here in Alberta with a surplus of natural gas, electric heating prices just don't measure up as a viable heating option. dvg
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Post by 31drew31 on Mar 18, 2013 15:21:07 GMT -5
For some reason there is no natural gas option in many parts of BC. Where my mom lives (East Kootenay), its either electric, wood or propane. Almost every house there has some sort of a wood burning fireplace or furnace.
Natural gas is great though and is a real nice advantage over BC.
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Post by shoggoths on Mar 18, 2013 17:32:33 GMT -5
Here, in Quebec, it is naturally almost electric only. Apoplast, we have two kinds of garages some are non insulated (only roof with one wall) and other are insulated and attached to the house. We usually kept these one heated to keep the humidity at bay and lower car rusting risk. Also, sometime there's water pipe in the wall between the house and the garage. Heating the garage prevent these pipes from breaking when it is -40C outside. I must admit that opening the garage door at -40C and heating back the garage is a wasting of energy ... but still, it as some use and other one like DVG suggested
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Post by Apoplast on Mar 18, 2013 17:57:05 GMT -5
Wow Canadia is a magical land of luxury and technology! We do get to -30C, but likely not as often as in Alberta. Still, I don't know anyone with a heated garage. The garage is just cold in the winter and hot in the summer. Then again I don't know any "car guys" who might want to spend more time in their garages.
And Shogg, who is building homes with water pipes in exterior walls where it gets to 40 below?! That's as bad as the tendency around here to only put heating vents below windows. You know, so all of your heat can go straight up against the cold window and be less effective. I think it is a plan that was put in place by the power company.
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Post by dvg on Oct 25, 2013 16:11:12 GMT -5
These Darlingtonia are tailing off in growth for the season and will be entering dormancy in approximately a month's time, give or take a couple of weeks. A shot from above. And a comparison shot with my wife's Hibiscus cultivar 'Tonga Wind', growing in a 6" pot. dvg
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Post by dvg on Oct 28, 2013 18:50:45 GMT -5
For some of the newer members here, I've taken some pics to help illustrate how the Darlingtonia traps work. This first pic is of the top of a pitcher. The see through windows are called fenestrations and they allow light to pass on through to the interior of the pitcher. Insects will be attracted by the light and will enter the pitcher opening. Although the light gets them into the pitcher, it is the lure of nectar that gets them to the pitcher. Nectar is secreted by the 'tongues' and pitcher bodies. Once inside the pitcher, it is difficult for an insect to keep their grip and is only a matter of time until they tumble down into the pitcher's body, where they encounter downward pointing hairs that force them deeper into the pitcher, making escape very difficult. On a side note, some of the pitchers are showing more red coloration. dvg
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Post by Apoplast on Oct 28, 2013 20:39:38 GMT -5
Hi DVG - Very nice descriptor of the trapping talents of your cobras. I'm always impressed by how blue the skies are in all of your shots. Seems there is never a cloud in your world. I've been starting some Darlingtonia from seed. I imagine it'll be a while before mine look anything like yours - if they make it that far. Until then, I'll just enjoy the pictures of your plants in their sunny world.
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Post by H2O on Oct 28, 2013 23:55:33 GMT -5
Great shots Doug, and great little lesson!
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Post by dvg on Oct 29, 2013 17:20:14 GMT -5
Thanks guys, Apoplast, good luck with your seedlings - in about three years time they should be 2 to 4 inches tall. Haha, this province has the nickname "Sunny Alberta", because the province gets more hours of sunshine per annum than any other Canadian province. dvg
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Post by dvg on Mar 26, 2014 16:14:49 GMT -5
Thought I'd share a pic of the first flower to emerge from this plant since it was first acquired back in 2007. This plant spent its dormancy period in the upstairs dining room, peering out a west facing window. I moved it back downstairs under the grow room lights last night, so the new growth should commence again soon, hopefully. As a side note, the hole shown in the pitcher in the right center of the pic was caused by a yellow jacket paper wasp chewing its way free from the trap. I also have several Nepenthes pitchers with similar holes where other paper wasps had escaped from. dvg
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Post by canuk1w1 on Mar 26, 2014 16:17:27 GMT -5
Beautiful! Thanks for posting these and keeping this thread alive.
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Post by roraima on Mar 26, 2014 21:36:41 GMT -5
Congratulations! I've never had one flower for me in five years of growing them. Great job.
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Post by dvg on Mar 27, 2014 17:14:09 GMT -5
Thanks guys. Congratulations! I've never had one flower for me in five years of growing them. Great job. Part of seeing something is recognizing it properly. It seems that I did have a flower before from this plant, but must have either forgotten about it or perhaps it aborted further development. There is a flower visible in the first pic on the first page of this thread. (pic below) Last fall when this plant started to form its flower capsule, an enclosure containing the actual flower and stalk, I didn't recognize it for what it was. These flowers start out shaped similarly to a bird's beak - cylindrical and tapering to a point. So thinking that this was either a late season malformed pitcher or a stolen that was for some reason poking up above ground, I placed sphagnum moss around and over the budding flower, in hopes that if it was a stolen, it might dive back down beneath the soil, spin around the pot a few time and finally pop up as a Cobra plantlet. Guess I was a little off with that thinking, but now I know what to look for with regards to flowers forming on this plant. dvg
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Post by dvg on Apr 9, 2014 13:42:28 GMT -5
I've had my Darling Cobras outside in the sun over the past few days. Ice cubes are placed on the media surface to keep a cool seep going down through the roots. And this flower continues to grow. dvg
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