Cobra plant....how finicky is it really?

[vraev]

Hi guys,

As for most of you who ordered some of Flytrap's excellent palnts a while back, being soo kind he sent well grown nice cute gifts. The gift was 2 nice 2 inch tall cobra plant seedlings.

Basically since they arrived i.e., end of october......my seedlings haven't done much. Finally...the bigger of the two... The one on the left actually died. it became completely brown and crisp. I removed it finally a week ago but noticed that a part of its long root stem was white. To test my luck I stuck it in some peat...but after some research I removed it just now and put it in some live sphagnum moss.



The smaller of the 2 on the right is actually still green with a lot of red spots randomly. The whiskers of 2 actually became crisp brown...but the pitchers are still nice and green. I finally notice some little red nubs coming up....but I don't know if this just formed or if it was from before (before Flytrap sent the plant)

I am sorry..I can;t really show it as I don't have my camera anymore. But here is a bad pic of the current shape



But my questions are:

1) Is it normal for it to take 3 months + to just acclaimatise and start growing?
2) how long does it take for the pitchers to grow? from start to finish? is it as slow as neps : a few weeks (most 3-5 weeks).

ANy advice on growing them would be helpful.

BTW..I grow it in LFS + bark topped wth some live sphagnum as you can see.

thanks,

V

[Rick Hillier]

Until they outgrow their current digs, I'm growing mine in a 10 gallon aquarium that has about four to five inches of live New Zealand sphagnum in it. Right now, the whole thing is in a refrigerator along with my VFT for their winter sleep until sometime in March or so, but during the growing season, I keep it on the bottom rack of my three-tier light setup in the basement so it's close to the floor where it is cooler. Evaporation from the sphagnum seems to help cool things down as well.

I must have been doing something right, as previously, I had never been able to keep these things alive before... and these have been going since I got them on 30 March 2006.

>>> Rick <<<

[Flytrap]

That's a bummer to learn about the demise of your cobra.

Not to worry... there are a lot more plants being grown out here in Canada, so I'm sure you'll have great opportunities to pick up some more.

I grow all of my plants outdoors ...in full sun, rain and now, snow. The only caveat is that with the younger plants, I don't grow them in full sunlight, but in a shaded location.

Try throwing the pot of sphag and cobra into an aquarium tank (uncovered) and leave it outdoors all year round. This was how I got my young cobras started years ago. After much trial and error, I found that if I left the plants in a container OUTDOORs, the plant thrived. Whenever I brought in cobras (indoors), and no matter how much I tried to care for them with daily ice water, ice cubes, evaporative fans and good bright grow lights, they'd all only last a couple of seasons at most.

So when I just left them outdoors to the wrath of our outdoors ...they not only thrived, but bloomed and multiplied.

Good luck... cobras are great plants to grow... and they're easy - once you crack their stubborn fussiness.

David

[vraev]

hmm....I guess I will do something like that this coming summer. For now...it has to be content wiht my grow table. thanks for the help guys.

[lloyd]

I had a really nice one going from a little Gubler's Home Depot one. It grew for four seasons and was a nice size and died after repotting. A little baby one died last year after dormancy in the fridge. Now I have two TC babies in some sphagnum under lights. They look cute. I'm going to get them outside eventually. I think the warm temperatures might kill them in Southern Ontario. I'm thinking of one of those water-plant pots made of plastic mesh, filled with sphagnum and sitting in water with the roots shaded from direct sun.

[vraev]

hmm...I hope this one makes it. I guess it will bestaying in this pot for a while. Yeah! this plant seems a bit too wanting to be outdoors. Thats what i notice...almost everyone who has success with these grows them like weeds outdoors. Indoor growers seem to struggle for the most part.

[titom]

In my case, Cobra pitcher plants takes the same time to open a pitcher than a sarracenia.

[vraev]

aaah...thanks buddy!

BTW D, if you see this post....can u please tell me if I should put the plant in dormancy? I remember reading that dormancy is an absolute must for darlingtonias.

[lloyd]

Mine did Ok for a few years without dormancy before it died. My other one looked weak and died when I put it in dormancy. My feeling would be to try and get them strong enough for dormancy next year. Or maybe a gentle dormancy: temperatures in the low teens (Centrigrade), just moist and low light for 1-2 months or so.

[vraev]

aah! gotcha!

here is better pics from today





I guess since it "SEEMS" to be growing. I will leave it alone then and see how it goes.

[Flytrap]

If the little guy is still suffering indoors, I'd place it outdoors gently for now (in a cool/ cold locale), wrapped & covered with moss and pine needles and give it its dormancy period.

I may have a few small ones up for trade in the spring... but got to wait until the plant wakes up.

[vraev]

well! to be honest....this is not the right plant for me as it needs to be grown outdoors. I am an indoor grower. But well...I'll give it a shot. I think this thing is growing. And I have no way of using the outdoors for now...so lets see how it goes. I'll wait a few mroe weeks till I head out home early feb...if there is no growth till then...I'll dormant it.

thanks for the help guys. I appreciate it very much.

[Sawchuk]

i got the some from flytrap asweell but i just ploped mine in my outdoor setup and am hoping it makes it though dormancy, they were beatup but there still kickin not really rotting or dieing just hanging out with all the other guys

after seeing vreavs VFT deprived of dormancy i though to my self id never deprive my plants of a good proper sleep seems 2 crutcal for good proper growth.. no offence vreav

[tobobbi]

Hi all, just popped in to say hello. Been real busy learning a new job (they moved me to the deli) & helping Rick as always.

Saw your show and tell thread on the cobras and thought I'd share a pic of our 'darlins'

[vraev]

wow! Fantastic cobra. is it grown outdoors Bobbi??

Well! good news for me is that the cobra isn't dead. Its infact growing. So yeah! i guess now I gotta wait and see how it does.

Finally! I got it in october. lol!