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Post by dvg on Sept 18, 2014 10:43:44 GMT -5
when will cobra lilys roots outgrow a 5 inch pot? The problem here is that you can't know exactly what the roots are doing, because you can't see them....they're under the surface and unseeable. Now if you want to see them, you can always unearth your plant, but that can cause root disturbance, which can interfere with your plants overall good growth and vigor. So the way I approach it is to apply the old saying As above, so below, meaning if your plant has good green vigorous growth above the soil, there is a very likely chance that the plant's roots are also very healthy below the media surface. So how does this apply to knowing how long the plant needs to be in a 5 inch pot for? Well you judge it by the top growth of the plant...the part growing above the soil media. if your seedling start to get too crowded after a year or two, repot a few of the larger ones, but Darlingtonia don't mind being crowded. And it is a good rule of thumb to let a mature Darlingtonia stay in it's pot undisturbed for at least 3 years. I like to repot mine every 3 to 4 years. dvg
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Post by Dennis A(cook1973) on Sept 18, 2014 11:12:10 GMT -5
when will cobra lilys roots outgrow a 5 inch pot? The problem here is that you can't know exactly what the roots are doing, because you can't see them....they're under the surface and unseeable. Now if you want to see them, you can always unearth your plant, but that can cause root disturbance, which can interfere with your plants overall good growth and vigor. So the way I approach it is to apply the old saying As above, so below, meaning if your plant has good green vigorous growth above the soil, there is a very likely chance that the plant's roots are also very healthy. So how does this apply to knowing how long the plant needs to be in a 5 inch pot for? Well you judge it by the top growth of the plant...the part growing above the soil media. if your seedling start to get too crowded after a year or two, repot a few of the larger ones, but Darlingtonia don't mind being crowded. And it is a good rule of thumb to let a mature Darlingtonia stay in it's pot undisturbed for at least 3 years. I like to repot mine every 3 to 4 years. dvg I fill the watering pot and water every hour with distilled water I place in the fridge to get cold and the plant is in shade now,the sun today would bake them and the soil,the heat was making me sick !!
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Post by hal on Sept 18, 2014 11:22:43 GMT -5
Watering every hour. Now that's dedication! Have you thought about making some distilled ice cubes and putting them in the water tray to cool the roots? It's another trick some growers use.
Good to hear it's hot in that part of the country. Leaving for Gander this evening.
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Post by Dennis A(cook1973) on Sept 18, 2014 14:23:59 GMT -5
The problem here is that you can't know exactly what the roots are doing, because you can't see them....they're under the surface and unseeable. Now if you want to see them, you can always unearth your plant, but that can cause root disturbance, which can interfere with your plants overall good growth and vigor. So the way I approach it is to apply the old saying As above, so below, meaning if your plant has good green vigorous growth above the soil, there is a very likely chance that the plant's roots are also very healthy. So how does this apply to knowing how long the plant needs to be in a 5 inch pot for? Well you judge it by the top growth of the plant...the part growing above the soil media. if your seedling start to get too crowded after a year or two, repot a few of the larger ones, but Darlingtonia don't mind being crowded. And it is a good rule of thumb to let a mature Darlingtonia stay in it's pot undisturbed for at least 3 years. I like to repot mine every 3 to 4 years. dvg I fill the watering pot and water every hour with distilled water I place in the fridge to get cold and the plant is in shade now,the sun today would bake them and the soil,the heat was making me sick !! I put the pot of cobra lilies outside in the shade cause it was sunny and hot I watered with cold distilled water I kept in the frige every hour when I brought them in the pot was cold like the water !! I hope this was ok,I plan to do this every sunny day
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Post by dvg on Sept 18, 2014 14:45:13 GMT -5
Dennis if you are watering them with cold water that consistently, you can put them in full sun.
Try them in the sun for 30 minutes for a couple days, then you can go up to an hour in the sun at a time with them for a few more days.
After that, you can go up by a couple hours for a couple days more.
They will be fine in full sun if they have cool roots.
And your top watering of them with the cold water is what they experience in their native habitats....cold water seeping over they roots.
Plus, you will have much healthier plants if you can give them some more full sun, once you have properly acclimated them and they are sufficiently hardened off.
Just don't forget to water them...I put ice cubes on the surface of my large plants media, when they're outside in full sun.
I also place other pots around my Cobras pot so that direct sun will not be able to shine on the sides of that Darling pot, which helps keep the media and roots cool.
dvg
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Post by Dennis A(cook1973) on Sept 18, 2014 15:43:32 GMT -5
Watering every hour. Now that's dedication! Have you thought about making some distilled ice cubes and putting them in the water tray to cool the roots? It's another trick some growers use. Good to hear it's hot in that part of the country. Leaving for Gander this evening. How about I put some distilled water in unused water trays and freeze it then put the cobras on the ice instead of making distilled ice cubes?
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Post by Dennis A(cook1973) on Sept 18, 2014 15:51:55 GMT -5
Dennis if you are watering them with cold water that consistently, you can put them in full sun. Try them in the sun for 30 minutes for a couple days, then you can go up to an hour in the sun at a time with them for a few more days. After that, you can go up by a couple hours for a couple days more. They will be fine in full sun if they have cool roots. And your top watering of them with the cold water is what they experience in their native habitats....cold water seeping over they roots. Plus, you will have much healthier plants if you can give them some more full sun, once you have properly acclimated them and they are sufficiently hardened off. Just don't forget to water them...I put ice cubes on the surface of my large plants media, when they're outside in full sun. I also place other pots around my Cobras pot so that direct sun will not be able to shine on the sides of that Darling pot, which helps keep the media and roots cool. dvg I was considering ice cubes and was going to put water in unused water trays and freeze them then put the seeds on the ice can I go that route? in full sun.
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Post by dvg on Sept 18, 2014 16:09:34 GMT -5
Okay, but have you put much thought into your idea? The way I see it, if you have ice cubes on the soil surface, where is all of that melting water from the ice cubes going to go? It's going to seep down through the roots, through the potting medium and down out the bottom of your pot, cooling everything along the way, right? Now if you decide to go with ice packs or frozen water trays on the bottom of your pot, you can be sure that the bottom of the pot will be cold, but what about the middle and top portions of your pot? Just remember that warm air holds more potential energy than cold air, and with nature abhorring an imbalance, the warm will move towards the cold to equalize the system. So it is possible that a hot sunny surface will send down more heat, than the ice packs are sending up....hopefully your plant has deep long roots, but please don't unpot it to check. dvg
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Post by Dennis A(cook1973) on Sept 18, 2014 18:01:26 GMT -5
I have no ice cube trays as they were sold with our old fridge what else can I use to make ice for my cobra lily seeds,remember they have not germinated yet which was my original post
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Post by Dennis A(cook1973) on Sept 18, 2014 18:19:22 GMT -5
I found that with cold stratification darlingtonia seeds were really easy to germinate. These were stratified for 6 weeks in a fridge b4 they were sent to me NG sent them and assured me these were good seeds.
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Post by ng on Sept 18, 2014 18:45:39 GMT -5
I don't think they came from me bud I've never shipped anything your way. I will say this on a quick aside; If I ever have the misfortune of becoming a diabetic, Dennis you will be the guy measuring my insulin.
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Post by Dennis A(cook1973) on Sept 18, 2014 19:14:59 GMT -5
I don't think they came from me bud I've never shipped anything your way. I will say this on a quick aside; If I ever have the misfortune of becoming a diabetic, Dennis you will be the guy measuring my insulin. Supremely annoying laptop,,attempt 10 you would trust me with your insulin? sorry I thought you sent those seeds.
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Post by Flytrap on Sept 20, 2014 13:34:30 GMT -5
Dennis, for getting your darlingtonias started, check out my earlier thoughts on preparing its seeds: ocps.proboards.com/thread/2481/germinating-na-pitcher-plant-seedsThe secret is keep the growing media away from excessive temperature swings (ie, keep it constant... don't shock it with ice cold water on a hot day, nor allow the sun to bake it). My friend, Kimberly grow hers in a large tub drilled with holes, sitting in a larger tub full of water that is constantly aerated by an airstone. My other friend, Lorne, grows his collection in a large tub inside a kid's wading pool. In both instances, the ambient growing media is maintained at a constant temperature. The plants are never given a dose of ice cubes, ever. I just checked my greenhouse today, where half my darlingtonias grow, the temperature is at 110F ... and the cobra plants are really enjoying it. I just make sure the container the plants are in, is huge (it's a 35 gallon plastic tub full of peat moss, perlite and sphag moss). As for my cobra plants out in my garden, they're struggling a bit, due to my infrequent watering of them... but heck, they've been in this location for the past 20 years and have survived all sorts of hot weather, ice storms and plenty of neglect from me. in fact, I lost over 75% of my cobra plants this past summer, as I was too busy to water them. But that's okay, there's all sorts of growth occurring now from the stolons (root like runners beneath the growing media). Here's a link to my cobras: ocps.proboards.com/thread/1021/darlingtoniaIn the past, I'd get seed pods that would open up and have its seeds wash down onto the ground around it... and lots of baby cobras would pop up. Some of them growing for years in full sun on the soil of my citrus trees... which shows me how resilient these buggers are. I've got no seeds this year, but I may be able to convince my friends to put some up for sale or something. David
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Post by Dennis A(cook1973) on Oct 1, 2014 9:06:16 GMT -5
When these first come up for you Dennis, the seed cap will still be attached to the two thin cotyledon leaves. The leaves formed next on the plant will be true leaves and also carnivorous. One of my seedlings with its second pitcher has already captured a springtail. These seedlings are probably too small to hand feed at this size, but they seem more than capable of capturing their own prey, even at such a young age. My seeds were sown on July 30 and nothing really started happening with them until September. dvg I had rainwater collected and during the day I let the pot dry outside, then at night cooler temps made the rainwater cool,almost cold so I placed the pot in the rainwater at night to cool it and remoisten the soil 2 weeks with this method and one is emerging for me! it was never brought in...it was outside the whole time
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Post by Dennis A(cook1973) on Oct 2, 2014 18:04:40 GMT -5
I have a seed grown baby that I could part with. She's not a monster View AttachmentOops pm sent edit How old was this plant? I left mine outdoors to dry out then when it cooled the pot was put in cold/cool rainwater for the night to cool and remoisten the media yesterday and today I think I seen a green pin size spec coming thru the surface.
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