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Akai Ryu sensitivity...

joossa

Aklys
Does anyone find that their Akai Ryu cultvar is more sensitive than a typical? In other words do you notice that the Akai Ryu suffers from a longer shock period after repotting, or that it will show signs of stress (due to poor water, light, etc.) faster and longer than a typical VFT?
Also, have you found that this cultivar grows slower than a typical that is under the same growing conditions?

Thanks.
 
Not if you give it the amount of light it needs.... which is ALOT!!
 
I did notice that it grows a bit slower. I guess it depends on the clone from which our plants orginated from.
 
I have to agree with that last comment about it depending on the clone. I purchased a supposed Akai Ryu / Red Dragon from one seller and it did poor from the get-go. Never grew worth of crap and eventually died and rotted out, despite having a typical and a dente from the same seller which THRIVED in the exact same location with the exact same treatment. I still have those two plants to this day and they both grow extremely well, some of my most vigorous.

Contrast this with some Akai Ryu that I received from a much more well known and reputable seller. All three of those have grown extremely well, despite bad treatment when I was on vacation somewhere, and I dare say that right now they are growing better than some of my others.

So yeah, I definitely think it varies by clone. There must be some bad Akai Ryu floating around out there in the mix, that or they are other, weaker red clones and are simply mislabled to fetch a better price.
 
ooh btw...do u guys seem to have akai ryu's that grow just long petioles always? Both this one and my regular colsanti farms dentate are always long petioles. I haven't ever seen a rosette form on my plants yet.

Another reason why it may grow slow is the light intensity and so on which many ppl say! Red is one of the PAR ....now if one plant has this pigment in higher intensity...that means it must be reflecting green and red as a combination...so I guess the plant is unable to just get enough light. Also the reason why many red dragons loose their colour. When I got mine it was blood red.....now its green and red....and loosing green every time.....I guess it is still red...but not as much as it was before.
 
It will rosette just before winter and with its first few spring leaves.

Akai Ryu is a selfed wild plant, so not the best genetically. There are better red clones out there, but Akai Ryu is the most easily available. The red colouration has no effect on light absorption as the pigment cells are not preventing the chlorophyll in the cells from access to light.
 
ooh btw...do u guys seem to have akai ryu's that grow just long petioles always? Both this one and my regular colsanti farms dentate are always long petioles. I haven't ever seen a rosette form on my plants yet.

Sounds like 'Clayton's Red Sunset' rather than 'Akai Ryu'. Does it lose its leaves in the winter?
 
Would anyone agree in saying that Akai Ryu is the same as a typical in terms of trap size, then?
 
What's typical though? ??? :-))

I've never seen Akai Ryu grow 'large' traps personally however.
 
  • #11
I did notice that it grows a bit slower. I guess it depends on the clone from which our plants orginated from.

Akai Ryu is a cultivar and all plants are clones off of one original plant. There are not varioius clones, only the one.

I have never noticed AKai to be any different in growth from typical. Mine attain the same size and grow just as, if not more, vigourously as they typicals. Of course I have mine in a bog garden so perhapse that makes some difference...
 
  • #12
Akai Ryu is a cultivar and all plants are clones off of one original plant. There are not varioius clones, only the one.

I have never noticed AKai to be any different in growth from typical. Mine attain the same size and grow just as, if not more, vigourously as they typicals. Of course I have mine in a bog garden so perhapse that makes some difference...

My experience growing this clone is the same as Pyro. Actually only 2 clones come to mind that have not grown robustly for me: Wacky & Red Pirahna. Wacky is just a sickly little beast (congrats to all who grow it well). Red Pirahna seems to be slightly less robust than most of my other plants - it grows - just not as wildly as the others....

While I also agree on the one AR clone, I think there are some possibilities for differentiation that have taken place:

1) as with any widely distributed plant. Some people are probably growing AR 1st generation plants (or 2nd, 3rd) and still calling them AR
1A) I suspect that many red plants end up w/ the label AR / Red Dragon if someone is unsure of their pedigree
2) diffeerentiation may occur as part of the T/C process itself. I believe 'Fused tooth' and several other mutations are a result of T/C. Who's to say that less-obvious mutations don't occur as part of this process?
2A) I believe Bob Z has an AR variant that has red stigmas ....
 
  • #13
Akai Ryu is a cultivar and all plants are clones off of one original plant. There are not varioius clones, only the one.
Agreed, there is one and only one true Akai Ryu clone. However, as Ron points out, there are many plants being circulated as Akai Ryu that clearly are not the original TC plant. I have been interested in VFTs for many decades. I have collected plants from numerous growers and always retain the name of the plant as received. I grow them side-by-side under virtually identical conditions. I have been amazed by the variability of some of the plants having the same name. Akai Ryu is the most variable and I have come to conclude that this cultivar has become so confused that few people actually know what they have anymore.

The cultivar naming rules are a big part of the problem. Unless explicitly stated that the plant must be reproduced vegetatively (cloned), the rules allow someone to call an unknown plant by the cultivar name, if it looks like the named cultivar and meets the official published description in all respects. Who determines this? You do, of course.

Read the official published description of Akai Ryu
http://www.carnivorousplants.org/cpn/Species/v25n2p50.html

Now, how would you know whether the all-red VFT that someone sent is actually Akai Ryu? Further, suppose you self-pollinate your Akai Ryu and produce hundreds of little red seedlings. Do you call them Akai Ryu? If, as adults, they look like the parent, the rules allow this. But, we all know that seed produced plants are not genetically identical to the parent. Hence, the problem.
 
  • #14
Good points Bob. I've noticed plants like "Red Burgundy" appearing and I've no idea where they've come from. Likewise, 'Royal Red' and 'Clayton's Volcanic Red' are the same plant, at least in my collection.

There are a number of 'Red Piranha' plants around as well. I think the original is a little weaker. I've had my plant for 4 years and it's been the same size every summer!

Piranha.jpg


Whereas I've seen some monster examples of this plant over the last year or so which seem to be more rosetted in growth habit.
 
  • #15
Alexis, perhaps the "original" 'Red Piranha' was more robust.

I received a bunch of 'Jaws' plants last summer direct from tissue culture. They were in a relatively undifferentiated mass and still covered in jell. I washed off the jell and planted them in sphagnum peat. Nearly all survived. Now, after about 6 months, and having been in an unheated greenhouse all winter, all are still tiny (about 10 mm rosettes). However, one plant started growing wildly and is now about a 75 mm rosette. All from the same TC batch. I do not understand TC "genetics". I thought all plants were exact clones. What is going on? I read that 'Red Dragon' was selected from TC during "amplification" -- whatever that is. So, from TC, are there occasional "superior" individuals that emerge, or are the rank and file mostly duds?
 
  • #16
Bob,

I had the same question when I got my first batch of tc Dionaea from Agri-Starts III (years ago). Mike R. told me occasionally an odd plant or flat of plants turns up. Variagated forms of Nepenthes and Pinguicula or other unusual aspects show up. I was impressed to look at his production greenhouse and see the variety in the thousands of plants that should (I thought) all be uniform in growth and form. Workers are constantly grading and moving plants around so that all plants in each flat are at least the same size. Some flats "crash" from fungus, or other problems, with only one or two or ten... plants surviving. These survivors are then moved into flats of plants that are similar in size (not always age or vigor). When large production operations are working with the number of plants businesses like Agri-Starts III, a certain number of unusual (freak) plants get released just to fill each order. Most probably die on the store shelves without even being noticed or are purchased by first time growers. A very few are selected by growers/ finishers or retail buyers with an eye for the unusual, and set aside for other collectors and then possible cultivar registration.

Steve
 
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