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Darlingtonia: Spring 2009

While watering this morning, I discovered that one of my Darlingtonia plants was sending up two flower shafts this year. Strangely enough, it didn't bloom at all in 2008 (it has usually been like clockwork); instead, it rapidly sent out stolons, producing new plants, and filling the pot. Go figure . . .

I guess that it is making up for lost time . . .


Darlingtonia californica
DC-2.jpg


DC2.jpg
 
Congratulations. Great cobras and sphagnum.
 
Nice plant(s) you've got there! I was going to move my Darlingtonia into a much bigger (36") community pot this Spring, but I just noticed my first flower coming up on it so I've put repotting aside until Fall, I guess. I want to hurry up and get to the part where it makes lots and lots of offsets.
Step 1: Grow plants
Step 2: ???
Step 3: Profit!
~Joe
 
Mine flowered last year and it is flowering again this year. I was able to get seed from a pollen exchange with Jimscott.

You're welcome to try an exchange if our plants flower together in a reasonable time frame.

The plant in question also put out a couple new plants from stolons. I was going to divide them but I'll wait since it is flowering.
 
Yeah, if the timing is right, we can give it a try. I too was going to do a bit of division before I saw those flowers forming . . .
 
Well, looking more closely it seems one of the runners is flowering too, as well as the plant in another pot. :)

Neither of the plants get much in the way of color unfortunately. They may if given more than the afternoon sun they get. That's all the sun that is available for them in my outdoors area.

Pot a - mother plant, you can see part of last year's flower stalk in the upper left
P3190014.jpg

Pot a - runner plant
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Pot b
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Well, looking more closely it seems one of the runners is flowering too, as well as the plant in another pot. :)

Neither of the plants get much in the way of color unfortunately. They may if given more than the afternoon sun they get. Unfortunately that's all the sun that is available for them in my outdoors area.

Very nice. My plants usually get their reddest coloration in the summer in Northern California -- and I trimmed a number of the large older leaves away during winter to avoid pests, etc.
 
Man was I surprised when I saw a flower emerge from the plant last year! I was even surprised when Warren was able to get seeds from the union. It will be interesting to see what things look like when I get my plants back from my co-worker next week or so.

Here's a pic of some of a baby plant:

Picture075.jpg
 
I was a bit surprised that I had gotten seed myself. The anthers and bits of petals Jimscott sent me in aluminum foil were squashed paperthin by the post office. I had to let the moisture and oils from the petals dry out a couple days before I attempted pollination. I was afraid the flower would be past receptivity by the time I got to it.

Still, it is possible that I may have self-pollinated the plant accidentally while collecting the pollen and anthers for Jimscott. It is also possible that a native California bee did the job for me. It was found a few years back that the natural pollinator for Darlingtonia are one or more of the species of native California bees. The European honey bee is too large and not strong enough to get to the anthers. The anthers are recessed towards the base of the petals and are not easily accessible.

Which reminds me that I need to repot my seedlings.
 
  • #10
From last year:

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  • #11
Wow! Very nice guys. Darlingtonia is a species I have a lot of trouble with. My Lowes death cube that I picked up last year is still alive but isn't looking very good at all. Considering the cooler weather, I thought it would be doing a bit better. This is looking like a species I'm going to have to enjoy through pictures from others.

Thanks guys!
Crystal
 
  • #12
Wow! Very nice guys. Darlingtonia is a species I have a lot of trouble with. My Lowes death cube that I picked up last year is still alive but isn't looking very good at all. Considering the cooler weather, I thought it would be doing a bit better. This is looking like a species I'm going to have to enjoy through pictures from others.

Thanks guys!
Crystal

Thanks. The "highland" conditions here in California certainly help. Rarely does it get too warm at night in Northern CA for the plants; and we're only a few hours away from their growing range.

My "sure-fire" simplest advice on growing Cobra Plants anywhere is to keep them in a large, drained, unglazed terracotta pot, and submerged in a generous tray of cold water. Keeping the roots cool to outright cold seems to be the most important factor in growing them.

Darlingtonia californica -- October 2008

DC.jpg
DC-1.jpg
 
  • #13
Yes, the Southern California coastal climate I live in seems to agree with them. If I lived in one of the coastal valleys the micro-climate would be perfect.

I have mine in unglazed clay pots also, although I need to up-size the pots due to growth. They are in a perlite/LFS mixture at least 60/40 perlite to LFS with a thick layer of live Sphagnum. I top water at least twice daily - once early in the morning and once in the late afternoon or evening. I rarely let them stand in water, letting evaporation do the cooling. When we have the horrid "Santa Ana" wind conditions (hot and dry) I may water with chilled water and let them stand in water.

Interesting to note that pot b which was a smaller, less mature division is producing the adult pitchers that grow nearly straight up. Pot a was a much more mature division still produces the adolescent pitchers that curve outward then up. I attribute this to the fact that it flowered last year.
 
  • #14
Yeah, my cobra's go nuts here in summer....gotta love the northwest :)
i defenantly back up the cold water in the trays.
Hell, when it gets above 90 or so, i even add ice cubes to the tops of the pot. lol
 
  • #15
San Fransisco fog do a Darlingtonia wonders, let us not forget.

-Clue
 
  • #16
Yay fog lol.
Washington is constantly foggy, and rains alot....not much need to water the plants on my own, summer i do however need to water alot as it gets pretty hot. THANK GOODNESS i can use my tap water though now that ive had it tested.
Here are my cobras, coming out of dormancy. i love how the previous seasons pitchers turn a nice deep red in this variety
Darlingtoniasspring2009004.jpg
 
  • #17
Thanks for the growing information guys. The only thing that I didn't do was put it in an unglazed pot. It's in a light colored, off white plastic pot with drainage. I may repot it into a clay one and see if it makes a difference. Last year I kept it inside during the summer; it went out when the weather cooled off. I may do the same thing this year if I don't lose it before then.

Crystal
 
  • #18
Oversize the pots by at least one size too.
 
  • #19
Thanks for the growing information guys. The only thing that I didn't do was put it in an unglazed pot. It's in a light colored, off white plastic pot with drainage. I may repot it into a clay one and see if it makes a difference. Last year I kept it inside during the summer; it went out when the weather cooled off. I may do the same thing this year if I don't lose it before then.

Crystal

Terracotta does make a difference, especially in hotter climates. The unglazed pots are porous, offering some air exchange, as well as practical insulation to keep the roots and soil cool. Adding inert "rock" materials like perlite and pumice to the compost also contributes to aeration and keeping the temperature manageable. A friend near of Austin, Texas grows Darlingtonia outside in full sun very successfully in terracotta planters -- in a climate which often exceeds 100˚ F for days at a time, during summer . . .
 
  • #20
Yeah, my cobra's go nuts here in summer....gotta love the northwest :)
i defenantly back up the cold water in the trays.
Hell, when it gets above 90 or so, i even add ice cubes to the tops of the pot. lol


Upon checking out the plants this afternoon (on slug patrol in the northwest fog and rain), it turns out that there are now three flower stalks emerging from the sphagnum -- quite a difference from my experience in 2008 . . .

Darlingtonia californica
CobraPlant4.jpg
 
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