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

[Flytrap]

Nice brood of cobras there tobobbi! good start to the new years

Good to hear from you... Looking forward to some more nice plants and pics from you and Rick.

D

[vraev]

Trying out a bit of photoshopping with my earlier shot that I posted of today. I think it looks better

[tobobbi]

This guy was grown totally indoors under lights Varev. So far we haven't put it into dormancy. Love the latest pic of yours V !!!

D, does the plant look familiar? This is one of your babies grown up and fathering kids of his own now! It's certainly one of my favorite types of cp's along with sundews.

Hope to share more pics with you all as the plants wake up. Keeping them all tucked in still as it is -16C this morning. Our pump house froze over night too - gotta go put a new heater in there this morning....brrrrrrrr

[vraev]

WOW! You have no idea how encouraging that is to me Bobbi. Can u please tell me :
1) How old is that plant?
2) How do you guys water it? What are the growing conditions?
3) Do you guys cool it every night?

Thanks for the comment Bobbi. I am also excited to see what this baby can do for me. its from D as well.

[tobobbi]

Hi Varev,

The plant came as a cutting from David about a year and a half ago.

It's sitting in about 2 inches of water on the cold cement floor of the grow room and seems as happy as heck there. It's in a 6 inch pot. The lights go off at night so temps cool down. A space heater & lots of insulation keep the temp from freezing.

Oh and I goofed on the babies. I thought they were from David's plant, but apparently Rick has seeds growing in culture
not plant parts. Hopefully the babies will be ready in about a year.

[vraev]

Thanks for replying Bobbi! that sounds pretty doable for me. I guess I will be trying that out as well. Thanks again.

[andreas]

Good evening,

Varun, to me it looks like your young cobra has suffered on some kind of fungus. Cannot tell what exactly it is. Those deep red to purple-black blotches are mostly symptoms for a fungal attack. But your plant is now on a good way as it seems, isn´t it?

However I too think, that it is very difficult growing Darlingtonia all year in a warm room. Seedlings can be grown without a cold winter period for 2 to 3 years. But older plants seem to need a cold winter time. I wouldn´t say the Cobra plant needs a strong dormancy, but at least a period of average 10°C in winter.

My plants grow in an uncovered tank under a West facing roof window in my bathroom. The window is almost permanently more or less open. At the bottom of the tank is a 3cm high layer of expanded clay filled with water for a slightly higher humidity. I grow my plants in clay pots in a mix of 50% LSF, 20% perlite, 20% lava rock pieces and 10% peat and they NEVER stand in water! I only water from above and let the water flow 5 - 7 times through the soil. In winter I keep the plants a little drier.
To me this method appears to be very advantageous for indoor cultivation. In fact Cobra plants are best grown outdoors where you can receive large and vigorous plants. I doubt my indoor grown plants will become taller than 30cm. But for the next time I have no chance to grow them outdoors.
Soil temperatures above 25°C should be categorically avoided. The pitchers can stand temperatures above 30°C. Cooling the water isn´t that necessary unless it´s much warmer than 20°C. Best water temperatures are 13 - 15°C.

I would be careful with keeping the plants in standing water! I know some British people do it with great success. But if I´m correct the pots are standing in large tubs with water. In my opinion it is important Cobras have always fresh water. Stale water can encourage spreading of dangerous root and rhizome fungi.

This is what I can tell you after 7 years of growing Cobra lilies. But it mustn´t be the only option!

Good growing for you!

Andreas

[lloyd]

I don't know what those splotches are but I think they mean stress and in my bad experience a sign the plant is on it's way out.

[vraev]

lol! Don't kill it yet. Its growing pretty fast. There is another baby point ready on top of these two.

Hey Andy...thanks for that advice. yeah! I guess my temp does go down to 10 C at night. I open the window a bit and its like -20 outside. lol! Also I flush water through the pot and it seems to love it. The water I think is like 15 C or lower. I don't leave my plants sitting in water ever.

[insectivore]

I find them pretty picky myself... I only have one of the 6 i had left they all are dying since I tryed to have them skip dormancy... hopefully one will make it!
Cya

[titom]

When I came in my dormancy area, I seen all my american pitcher plants. They were green... green and alive??? They are possibly frozen tto and will die when they will defrost. But now they seems fine !