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A Few Helis

Crissytal

What is and what should never be
My modest Heli collection:
IMG_5021-1.jpg


Still working on lighting to bring out more color. Overall I'm satisfied with growth and general health.

Crystal
 
Oooh, pretty!

Is it just me, or are the three big ones in the big round pots all the same kind? And I thought people mainly grew helis in pure live moss but yours are in bark/coco ???
 
Hey Z, actually they are in cypress mulch and a bit of dried Sphagnum. I use live for a top dressing. The fan dried out some of mine, I'm in the process of replacing it. Pure Sphag doesn't agree with my conditions. They rot every time.

They are all different actually. The one in the front in the big pot is a fancy, rare variety of H. heterodoxa x minor. The very big one directly behind it is H. 'Tequila'. The one to the far left, sort of between the two is the regular version of H. het x minor. Better lighting would help bring out the differences I'm sure.
 
Those Helis are very well developed plants. :)

Say, what's that Nep in the bottom right corner?
 
Thanks! :)

Nepenthes argentii
 
Thats a neat lookin pipe over there ---> what/how is that used for? o_O
 
That's a modest collection? Sheeeesh. BTW, I've fiddled around on your site quite a bit. It's quite nice. When things pick up a bit in the spring, I may have to look into your stock a little more. :) Out of curiosity, how long have you been growing for, and how much room does your collection take up?
 
:-OWow...!Oh how I wished I had a Heliamphora that grows like yours!
 
"Standing on a hill in my mountain of dreams, telling myself it's not as hard, hard, hard as it seems"

:rookwoot:

Well done indeed!
Av
 
  • #10
Well done Crystal, everything looks great!
Are you growing these in Lowland conditions as well or as HLers?
 
  • #11
great plants! They're all beautiful! I love them!
 
  • #12
Hey Z, actually they are in cypress mulch and a bit of dried Sphagnum. I use live for a top dressing. The fan dried out some of mine, I'm in the process of replacing it. Pure Sphag doesn't agree with my conditions. They rot every time.

They are all different actually. The one in the front in the big pot is a fancy, rare variety of H. heterodoxa x minor. The very big one directly behind it is H. 'Tequila'. The one to the far left, sort of between the two is the regular version of H. het x minor. Better lighting would help bring out the differences I'm sure.

Cool! I didn't know heterodoxa x minor came in fancy versions? What's so special about it?

While I'm here...if I finally bought a humidity meter and it's telling me 80%, does that mean I can grow helis? It never gets to the point of having condensation on anything's leaves, but I do have a good fog roll through all winter long from the beginning of this month until the end of March.
 
  • #13
Very nice terrarium. I would like to a get a Heliamphora, but I don't have the growing conditions for it.

Maybe when I get a place of my own, I can have a huge terrarium and fill it with Heliamphora, Cephalotus, Nepenthes, and more.
 
  • #14
Thanks for the kind words everyone!

Halt: The pipe acts as an exhaust for my ultrasonic humidifier that I have sitting on the outside of the enclosure.

nesler: Lol it's modest compared to some collections I have seen :). Thanks for the compliments on my website. It's a work in progress. I hope to get more cultivation "How Tos" done soon. I've been growing off and on for about seven years. I've been a serious grower for the last five or so. My setup currently consists of three 5-tier racks from Lowes. One is completely full, the other two are only partly full. I will be adding more lights within the next week or so, those shelves won't be vacant long :). I also have an outside setup for temperates which is a good sized area.

marvin1997: A year ago I never thought I'd be capable of growing Helis. So you never know ;).

Av: Great quote from the mighty Zeppelin! I had a very good teacher so I can't take all the credit :).

French3z: These are being grown in the intermediate end of lowland. The temps during the day are between 70 and 78 depending on where they are located in my setup. They have absolutely no nighttime drop. In most cases the temperatures actually go up a couple degrees at night when the fan and humidifier are off. I have found as long as the temperatures do not exceed about 86F they will do fine; perhaps grow a big slower but it is completely doable. High humidity is a must though for proper pitcher development. I wouldn't recommend much less than 70% humidity (and I feel that is pushing it) for proper development.

Devon.B: Thanks :)

thez_yo: Apparently it does, though it's rare. It's speculated that it may be from an old collection and not in circulation anymore. The shape of the pitchers are quite a bit different than the regular clone. Av can tell you a bit more about it if he wishes. Yes, if your humidity stays close to 80% and your temperatures don't exceed 86F at any given time (Helis can and will melt at high temperatures) you can grow them just fine. Having humidity to the point of condensation isn't necessary. Mine actually hate sitting the fog of my humidifier. I'll get browning on the pitcher tips and eventually pitcher death if I don't move them. What do your conditions stand at after the end of March?

Wolfn: Thank you! It's actually not a terrarium. They are growing on an enclosed shelf on my grow rack. You'll get there one day. It may cost a bit to get an appropriate, stable setup depending on what your conditions are. It is worth it if and when you ever become serious about growing them. Here in NC the temperatures are extremely hot during the summer. I have to fight it every step of the way (no basement here on the coast), but it is doable and not really that difficult. Cephs don't need anything special from my experience. The first year I had my typical, it grew in temps of 86F day, 78F night with regular household humidity (about 35-40%). It's all in the acclimation process. Use a bag and take it slow.
 
  • #15
Beautiful plants there . . .
 
  • #16
I wish i had a Heli :cry:
 
  • #17
....It's speculated that it may be from an old collection and not in circulation anymore. The shape of the pitchers are quite a bit different than the regular clone. Av can tell you a bit more about it if he wishes...

It originated from an old collection and is not one of the clones typically found in circulation.

This is what it will look like:
helihybrid2.jpg


HTH's
Av
 
  • #18
Thanks crystal! You and BB have given me a ray of hope ;)
Wonderful colors av8tor
 
  • #19
It originated from an old collection and is not one of the clones typically found in circulation.

This is what it will look like:

HTH's
Av

WOW :0o:

crissytal: Well I've only just gotten this humidity meter so I'm not sure what the humidity is over the summer, but I am on a peninsula with ocean on both sides so I imagine it is still relatively high. I've also got a lot of plants bunched together to use up all the sunshine and bump up the local humidity. The temperature here from what I've seen struggles to hit the highs of 70day/55night for Nov-March/April, then is 80day/65-70night until August, then pushes 90-95day/75-80night for all of August, September and October. I'm sure I could get a fan going to cool things down a bit though in those three scorching months. I'm timid to get one because they're so expensive and I'm not sure if they'll live - of course things turned out well for the pygmy drosera I didn't think I could grow!
 
  • #20
Very nice plants! Do you have any close ups of the three larger ones? I hope I can get a heli collection going that nice. I just go my first a few weeks ago and I hope it does well.
 
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