North American Pitcher Plants in California - WIP

[rockpickerforever]

Suppose I should post the pics of those pitcher plants (taken at Huntington Gardens) here where everyone can see them, so they know what the heck we are talking about.  This is what the blooms on these pitcher plants will look like:

[Pat]

rockpickerforever my plants are due to arrive tomorrow. I'll be combing this thread for how to grow them.

I 'll keep a growth journal. That will be new ! Very much looking forward to it.

[rockpickerforever]

Oh, okay, I thought you already had them, my mistake. Yes, I'm so much looking forward to you getting them, too!

[jamesp]

I finally crossed a water lily and a carnivorous plant-a carnalily. The lily pads roll up frogs sitting on them and digest them not really.

It is good to see Californians rising to the carnivorous challenge. Desert dwellers growing swamp plants. That ain't right.

This morning in the hot house. About 110F and 95% humidity. Great enviro for physical activity.

[radio]

I'm more like Scott than I care to admit!!!:-) When I lived in the central valley of California I had a house that at one time had an enclosed outdoor shower that was non functioning. I promptly turned it into a greenhouse for my Orchids, and yes, there were some reptiles in there to keep the bugs at bay:-)

[rockpickerforever]

Mar 12, 2014 18:32:51 GMT -5 jamesp said:

I finally crossed a water lily and a carnivorous plant-a carnalily. The lily pads roll up frogs sitting on them and digest them not really.

It is good to see Californians rising to the carnivorous challenge. Desert dwellers growing swamp plants. That ain't right.

If a carnalily could keep down the cat population, I'd definitely get one, lol!  One of those three-four foot diameter ones should be able to handle cats.

James, growing carnivorous plants in dry California would be akin to you growing some of our desert plants in swampy, humid, buggy GA.  Hey, I can send you some seeds from my ocotillo plants...  Wanna give it a try?

[jamesp]

I am unreceptive to seeds at this time of the year Jean. As a matter of fact i hate seeds. I got my hands so full.Thanks for the kind offer. I do have about 40 succulents.
And the summers here are dry often. Especially 10-11-12 and not 2013. The sun way out does the humidity in the container and we have to water terrestrial plants like
a fiend.
Funny how mass production can make you hate the thing you love. Except women. Never could get enough of that. Always suffered a shortage in that area anyway. Ha
You can blackmail me now
You need heat. No matter what form. Dry is not gonna be issue if you keep the roots damp. They love heat.

[rockpickerforever]

[jamesp]

Mar 13, 2014 11:34:44 GMT -5 rockpickerforever said:

Are these Ocotillo plants Jean ? I know these are of alien origination. No doubt.

[Pat]

Killer plants arrived safely. I'm printing out three pages of helpful comments from this thread. Showed plants to a friend who wanted to know why you would want to put killer plants in your aquatic area since they would eat the fish! Before she got to wondering about me, I explained the setup.

I'm going to search for the necessary items around here, then at the dollar store, then elsewhere. Plan on having them planted very soon. I'll toss out a banana peal to start to attract bugs.

Do they eat only meat? How about a rotten tomato? Does the item have to be rotten to appeal to them?

Thanks!

[jamesp]

Mar 13, 2014 17:22:37 GMT -5 Pat said:

Killer plants arrived safely. I'm printing out three pages of helpful comments from this thread. Showed plants to a friend who wanted to know why you would want to put killer plants in your aquatic area since they would eat the fish! Before she got to wondering about me, I explained the setup.

I'm going to search for the necessary items around here, then at the dollar store, then elsewhere. Plan on having them planted very soon. I'll toss out a banana peal to start to attract bugs.

Do they eat only meat? How about a rotten tomato? Does the item have to be rotten to appeal to them?

Thanks!

They have a bug attractant. It does not seem too good of a smell though. But they will not eat for another month or two. They should live off the rhizome for a while.
Wetting the peat moss is a job Pat. You have to squeeze the water into it by hand or use a grout mixer. It will absorb a lot of water. No fertilizer, the roots are only
for water absorption and anchoring. Fertilizer can kill them. Full sun, hottest sunniest spot is best. Bottom water by sitting pot in a pan full of water. The deeper the pot
the bigger they get to a point. Best is 10-12 inch deep pot with holes set in a 3-4 inch pan of water. I know you are a green thumb. Hope they work for you. Any questions
let me know.

[jamesp]

Pat, Peter D'Amato owns California Carnivores. He wrote a book i suggest. Especially for western conditions. They are well north of you near San Fran.

[rockpickerforever]

Mar 13, 2014 16:05:26 GMT -5 jamesp said:

Are these Ocotillo plants Jean ? I know these are of alien origination. No doubt.

James, are you talking the big green bush towards the back of the photo?  That looks like a creosote bush to me.  Those things are all over, a very common desert plant.  Ocotillo have bare stems most of the year.   Well, I mean no leaves - they have spikes on the stems all of the year.  But as soon as they get a little rain, the leaves appear almost overnight!  The leaves are leathery to reduce water loss, but when it gets real dry, they drop them. The plant is generally vase shaped, although some of them tend to sprawl. Big ones can be 20 feet in height, and the inflorescence is a fiery red, out at the tips of the stems.  Let me get sweet Lucy walked, and I'll post some pics when I get back.  Promise!

Wow, that concretion almost dead center must be related to the bryozoans.  Know what I mean?

[beefjello]

Mar 12, 2014 15:07:49 GMT -5 rockpickerforever said:

Mar 6, 2014 19:57:31 GMT -5 @shotgunner said:

out doors in a greenhouse frogs thrive. Put out a bucket of rotten fruits for the babies and a gloppy mix of rabbit food and chicken feed in another bucket for the flies. It's OK to add calcium to the mixtures to maximize the ash content of bone free insects. Frogs need to grow bones!

a third bucket with dog food and add some cockroaches.

perhaps a fourth bucket full of chicken food for crickets. The place can/will be overrun with insects. Good for both carnivores and frogs!

I'm thinking if I did all that, I would have to be crazy!!! Who would want to attract cockroaches? I think I'll be able to keep up with the pitcher plants (no, I don't mean doing any pre-chewing!), feeding flies and bees. Got a bee on the inside of the window not two feet from me as I type this! But anyway.

Here's an update. My pot is on the south side of the garage, a couple inches from the wall. It is absorbing heat from both the pavers it is sitting on, and also the south facing wall of the garage. It is easily 10 degrees hotter than three feet away from the wall. It is also getting additional light reflected off the (peach-ish) colored wall.  There are no trees to the south to block the sunlight, but there is an avo tree in the neighbor's yard to the east that blocks the very first light of the day.  Two of the plants seem to be thriving, are sending anchoring roots down into the peat.  The other two, while, alive, are not doing much yet.  I checked them today, they are not planted too deep, not rotting.  But I think they are just not as old as the two that have the flower buds.

I've had to add, probably a quart a day on average, depending on the temperature.  I have put sphagnum moss on top of the peat moss, and the peat is staying moist.  I didn't think it would on the hotter days, but so far, so good.

James, re., your idea of a 50 foot long by 4 foot wide trench with a liner and filled with peat to place plants.  You are accustomed to your large chunk of GA terra firma.  In CA, most pieces of property do not have even one dimension of the lot that is over 50 feet.  My piece of ground is about 1/5 of an acre, and fairly level north to south, with about 100 feet of frontage on the street.  But then, you have to consider the shade the house throws, both in the morning and afternoon.  South side of the house is where my garden is, gets the full sun.  I reckon this will work for me well the way I have it.  Not a problem to add a little water while I am watering the garden.

Here's some pics:

This is the largest and tallest bud.  It's the size of a marble, and about four or five inches off the ground.

This one is a little smaller, the size of a large pea, and on maybe a two inch stalk.

This is the iris

Scott, Pat, how are your lovely pitcher plants doing?

Ah finally, some left coast pitcher plant progress pictures!

Lookin' good Jean

[jamesp]

Jean has a green thumb-alien genes no doubt.

[rockpickerforever]

Mar 13, 2014 16:05:26 GMT -5 jamesp said:

Are these Ocotillo plants Jean ? I know these are of alien origination. No doubt.

James, those look like creosote bushes.   They have a resin in the stems and leaves, to keep the evaporation to a minimum.  Like a lot of the plants out here, they burn hot.  I absolutely hate it when people take and add these to their campfires in the desert.  I'm sure you know what creosote smells like...

Here's some pics of my ocotillo plants.

Most of the year, they do not have any leaves, just some gnarly thorns.

But add water, and leaves emerge quickly.

Close up of stem/leaves/thorns

I've had this one in a pot for a number of years.  They grow pretty slow in pots.

The white papery things are the seeds, the brown acorn-looking things are what the seeds develop in.  Probably a name for that particular piece of plant anatomy, but I don't recall it at the moment.  Seed pod is good enough for me.

And a few seedlings.  I threw some seeds into a pot filled with coarse sand, added water, and the seeds came up with no fuss.

Thorns and leaves already.  The seeds were planted last September.  This plant is maybe three inches tall.

I'm sure the rate of growth could be speeded up if they were planted into the ground instead of a pot.

And a couple pics of wild plants out in the desert.

Red-tipped green stems a pretty sight.

I have drowned cactus before by overwatering, or getting too much rain, but I have yet to kill an ocotillo by overwatering. 

[droseraguy]

You all are killing me with this plant talk. The pots I have still dormant in the garage are begging to come out. Some lantana and some fly traps. I would love to have the snow melt completely so the dirty grass can get a glimpse of light and let me pull the rocks that were shoved there from the tractor pushing snow around . My strawberries and blueberries are being shipped but will have to sit in the garage as well till the garden snow clears. At least the pond is starting to get a larger hole in the ice, Field tile is flowing and opening a channel again. I want spring !!!!! At least I can live vicariously through this thread, thanks all.......

[droseraguy]

Forgot to mention I am working on finding a grower on my carnivorous board near Scott for you guys to visit and get some ideas and other materials should you find these plants another obsession. The guy in chino hills fell through but there are plenty more around. I did make it a requirement to be of legal drinking age, don't need Scott teaching bad habits to yung uns. Will keep you guys posted.

[jamesp]

Mar 14, 2014 6:43:42 GMT -5 droseraguy said:

Forgot to mention I am working on finding a grower on my carnivorous board near Scott for you guys to visit and get some ideas and other materials should you find these plants another obsession. The guy in chino hills fell through but there are plenty more around. I did make it a requirement to be of legal drinking age, don't need Scott teaching bad habits to yung uns. Will keep you guys posted.

You can come down here anytime droser. I can give you a dose of plants that won't wash off .
Already divided 1200 water lilies, 1000 sarracenias, 2000 bog plants. Got about 4 times that to go.
A lot of the work on blustery 35-45F days and always getting wet.
Odd how a hobby is a pleasure till you turn it into a business. I guess that is why i hate selling rocks.
The hard part was a bamboo grove that died at a rogue -2F. The grove is bordered by almost 300 ft
of service roads, a shed and power lines. It is falling over and took the power poles down, blocked the service roads, damaged the shed.
I burned up a Stihl chain saw, broken 2 weed eater drive shafts(running a blade) and feel like truck ran over me.
Whining, jamesp

[jamesp]

Dear Jean, check out this Euphorbia that resembles Ocotillo. It too has seeds in the same arrangement. Wondering if Ocotillo is a Euphorbia....