North American Pitcher Plants in California - WIP

[rockpickerforever]

May 1, 2014 22:36:42 GMT -5 @shotgunner said:

Definitely not a match.

Foliage is incorrect. Thanks for playing a rousing game of ID Scott's flower.

Scott, I'm going to give up on the ID game.  You can just call it a little purple flower, and let it live it's life incognito.

James, you don't worry about using the Roundup near the pitcher plants?

Took a few pics of mine this morning -

The plant doing the best, with flower and mutant pitcher.  The pitcher on the plant

on the right got seared, don't think it will be able to open and be effective.

But it does have a new one coming along, woot!

This is the one that lost its flower when it was only pea sized.  (Amputated stalk in bottom of pic.)

It also has some new growth, but these leaves(?) are flat, don't look like they can open and become pitchers.

Another new leaf just starting out.

So I have the three larger plants, plus two minor ones that have turned brown (you can see one of them in upper left of first pic).  But when I checked underneath them, they had some roots going down.  Maybe there is hope for them yet?

I think they will be doing better in the summer heat and searing UV rays now that they have been moved out of full sun.  That's it for now.

[jamesp]

That plant looks hot. From the burned sections. I like avoiding the afternoon sun. Hey, gotta find it's nirvana. Nuclear sun light of yours is OK for the cacti, must be too much for the sarracenia.
Makes sense. It is an experiment after all. The tops of those pitchers are poked from heat. You know the sun here is filtered by the humidity a good bit. Dry days cook me and I got skin
of nougahyde. And my greenhouse cover is clear but dirty and it blocks the direct sun by probably 15%. I don't think it is heat as much as it is radiation.

[Deleted]

The leaves of Sarracenia that are NOT pitchers are called phyllodia. Perhaps your plant is making these in response to the failed pitcher development. Next year they will thrive for you. Just watch!

[Pat]

May 3, 2014 20:29:28 GMT -5 jamesp said:

That plant looks hot. From the burned sections. I like avoiding the afternoon sun. Hey, gotta find it's nirvana. Nuclear sun light of yours is OK for the cacti, must be too much for the sarracenia.
Makes sense. It is an experiment after all. The tops of those pitchers are poked from heat. You know the sun here is filtered by the humidity a good bit. Dry days cook me and I got skin
of nougahyde. And my greenhouse cover is clear but dirty and it blocks the direct sun by probably 15%. I don't think it is heat as much as it is radiation.

Oh, oh. Going to move ours out of the hottest spot in the yard today.

@shotgunner thanks for the tip. Seems like there is always a way to make it work. Whew!

[rockpickerforever]

James, I had tried to tell you that full sun out here would be lethal. Now they are only getting direct sun in the morning, from about 8am til 12:30 pm. I think they like it much better there.

I hope you're right, Scott. The phyllodia are on a plant that has not produced any pitchers. Didn't think they looked like pitcher material.

[jamesp]

Dana's Delight are the small red ones in foreground. They are not robust growers. Luec mixes in the next two rows. And the big ones are Flava in the next two rows.



A big Flava

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Cant wait to see my flava's next season!

All of mine are feeding now. Little black wasps seem to be attracted to the flavas.

My lone flava did get the tip of it's cap burned in 100 degree weather this week. I been thinking about Jean's burnt ends and at the same time noticed her yard is lacking a lawn (easier to maintain that way!). I have a lawn and therefore my yard is likely slightly more humid than hers. Perhaps that is the difference between our plants. Climate is almost identical for us this time of year.

jamesp - are those Dana's market ready?

[jamesp]

I meant to take a picture of the greenhouse so you could see how dingy the clear plastic is. You guys could use 20-30% shade cloth and have open ends for cooling.
basically a shade shed roof to lower the radiation. Personally i would rather have the high energy. Especially in the early season. Odd that Pat's got overheated way
up in San Jose. Apparently going north does not effect the radiation.
But it is good to know they have a limit to there ability to take bold sun. only the S. Minor goes into south Florida. And the S.Oreophila grows in the cool mountains. Bet it would
cook in my greenhouse.
After looking at Pat's I have changed to thinking it is the raw sun intensity. Same burns that Jean has. Here we let stuff get the before 1PM sun. We put the plants on the east side
of a North-South tree line to get free shade. Afternoon sun is much more destructive.
Cool that the intense sun was figured out. I am glad to know this info. It may be that they would take the heat if you started them in Feb.
they are definitely soft of tissue when they first spring up. Then getting much more leathery in 2 months. Really tender at first shooting.
i forgot what those leaves are-phyllodia.

No, those are not ready Scott. They are late shooters. And never as robust as a Leuc unfortunately. So i just looked them up and now I know why they are slow. They are cross
of Leuc and rubra(willisii). and the that crossed back to Leuc. Rubra is a TC plant available at agstarts, and it is a pitiful grower(and a native) for my conditions. It has a big territory
and goes to Virginia. Probably does not like my hot greenhouse.

[jamesp]

May 4, 2014 14:18:36 GMT -5 rockpickerforever said:

James, I had tried to tell you that full sun out here would be lethal. Now they are only getting direct sun in the morning, from about 8am til 12:30 pm. I think they like it much better there.

I hope you're right, Scott. The phyllodia are on a plant that has not produced any pitchers. Didn't think they looked like pitcher material.

you get a star Jean. You are absolutely right.

[rockpickerforever]

James, I think you are right about them being able to handle the full sun in early season. It is important to figure out at what time they need to be moved into morning sun only. With all the knowledge we've all gleaned from this experiment, we should all do better next year!

[jamesp]

I think they will handle the sun better if they come up earlier. You guys received them and they woke up and sprouted in the nuc sun.
Great experiment. Yes, I gleaned plenty. Was curious what their limitations are. Funny, i get richer colors than my competitors and taller pitchers.
I still think it is the extreme heat/humidity of my greenhouse. But not as hot as your turf !

These are some mature stock plants that have barely sent any pitchers up. They are outside and way behind.

[rockpickerforever]

Actually, in my case, lack of turf, lol. Like Scott said, my back yard is mostly dirt (with a few areas of dichondra hanging on), so no increased humidity from a lawn. Dryer air, higher temps, more meltdown factor.

I think they did well on the south side of the garage, in the full sun, until the planet shifted (there's always that, huh?) and the sun's rays got real intense. Got almost two months to go before the fry is at the max. I think they will do good in that location in early spring next year. Where they are currently located, getting only 4+ hours direct sun, I don't think I'll need to use shade cloth. But who knows, I might in a couple months.

[jamesp]

Ran across this British grower while researching last night. Nice backyard op with tables and greenhouses to die for. Wish I could afford such structures.
Got some nice photos of Ga,Al and Fl hybrids. British and Australians are big collectors of Sarracenias.
Stock for this man's collection was supplied by Brooks Garcia judging from the crosses.

www.shropshiresarracenias.co.uk/gallery/index.php

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Pitcher Plants can make a person a bit of a nutcase. Here is an example.

From this:



to this:



Well, it did take over 20 years...

[Deleted]

May 4, 2014 13:38:01 GMT -5 Pat said:

@shotgunner thanks for the tip. Seems like there is always a way to make it work. Whew!

I have zero knowledge I am correct. I was meaning to be encouraging! It worked!

[rockpickerforever]

Took a few pics this morning of how my plants are doing -

Petals are long gone, but seeds are developing in the pistil.

This is the largest pitcher.  Despite being fried/burnt by the sun, it still was able to open enough to be functional.  There's a slurry of bugs inside.

To the left is the a pitcher on another plant.  This one got sealed shut when burnt. 

Decided I didn't have anything to lose, so pulled off the offending dried cap at the top.

Even though it was closed, it was already filled with elixir.  It is primed, and ready to go.  Now just gotta wait for some food!

This is the freeloader from Georgia.  Still look like a Red Maple, jamesp?

I don't think it's a Liquid Ambar. 

Don't have any room for it, think I could turn it into a bonsai?

[jamesp]

It was so wet this winter and spring that the Japanese Maples(Coral Bark and Bloodgood) germinated ll over the place. That is a red maple Jean.
May be on the hot side in your area for Red maples.

[Deleted]

I am starting to get burnt "lid tips" (not rib tips, haha) and have moved my carnivor garden to a shadier spot 20 feet away. Still direct sunlight 50% of the time for half the day. lol