rant rant rant...

i was making my way thru lowe's today when i noticed a little cobra lily amongst the batch of cps. i wouldve bought it but i dont think it will survive in the houston weather, even indoors.

~b

If you have highland nepenthes conditions with metal halide lighting you should do ok with it.

Go for it Billy.

Whether it lives or dies you will have learned a lot on how to care for them.

Heck, my little Lowe's Cobra Lily is still alive and now coming outta dormancy and I ain't killed it yet...... If I can keep 'em alive, then anyone can........

Fryster said:

Heck, my little Lowe's Cobra Lily is still alive and now coming outta dormancy and I ain't killed it yet...... If I can keep 'em alive, then anyone can........

Click to expand...

Only if you want to be really disappointed. TX & MI are slightly different climates ... Here in NJ, growing outside in an in-ground bog of live LFS - they still croaked in the heat!!

There are lots of plants that would love that heat - I'd try with some of them 1st. Heck, you might want to grab a few plants in the petiolaris complex and make a mini-bog ($2 dishpan would do fine) to sit in the sun from April-May thru Sept-October. They'd probably love that sun - you could probably sit the dishpan (er - mini-bog) out on a black macadam driveway (just don't let it dry out).... Let them dry out when winter comes - poof - happy plants. I think Maurizio over on CPUK does something like this & his plants grow & flower very well for him...

Since you're in Houston, you might want to arrange a roadtrip over to the Jesse Jones Nature Center & visit Mike Howlett - provide some great inspiration...

You could always pick it up a few and trade them on the Trading Post.

People are always looking for Darlingtonia. Last year there was a dearth of them from online sources. This year there appears to be a few available.

I know many members here have had success growing Darlings. There are all kinds of tips like circulating water around the roots and white pots (to reflect light) to keep roots cool. Although I have managed to keep some alive for a pretty good while...they always die. Last summer I had one that made runners and baby plants...but still...they all died.

if you want to get one and try it....just cause you dont hav ideal conditions that most say are needed doesnt mean it wont grow....i had one live happily for 2 years, in a full sun south window........in a black pot......in pure peat.........believe me during mid day the soil around its roots was prolly well over 90 degrees........especially when our AC would conk out..........the damn plant should have keeled over quickly but it grew fairly quickly and was happy...........you can occationally get away with bending the rules or throwing them out the window all together.......doesnt work all the time and i dont recommend throwing away the rules with expensive plants but cheap plants are great for experiments......a move to a new house and placing it in more ideal conditions for normal Darlingtonia led to its keeling over quickly

my mom bouhgt me one of htose cubes the cobra was dead to start with.

Well, I was thinkin' that Billy would keep it indoors and not outside in the toasty Texas summer heat.

This got me to thinking; How long do Darlingtonias survive in captivity on average? For that matter; How long does one survive in the wild??