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CorneliusSchrute

A leuco by any other name would still be as glutto
A while back on another forum I read a thread about a person "doing everything wrong with Darlingtonia." Essentially, he obtained a death cube cobra from Lowe's, and, not knowing what to do with it, placed it in a sealed glass jar terrarium in Miracle Grow potting mix. He watered by spraying tap water on the plant every once in a while. He left the plant in direct morning sun despite being sealed in a terrarium. Essentially he set it up for failure.

Yet it lived. It grew. It didn't just tolerate the conditions, it developed over time as a plant should. It even had nice red coloration. Though much smaller of a specimen than one would expect, it lived like this for three years at the time of the posting a few years ago. Presumably it is still going. He hasn't updated lately.

Since reading about this experience I have wanted to try it... Well, try something similar. My local stores never stock death cube cobras, though, and I don't want to send one of my current plants to probable doom or purchase a $30 plant for such an ill-fate. So I have decided to try this with seeds. I know of a reliable source of cheap cobra seed, and I obtained a pack for this experiment.

The following pictures show the set up: about 50 mountain form seeds sprinkled on top of a 2:1 mix of diatomaceous earth and peat moss. I have used rain water exclusively so far and plan to continue using only clean water. The jar will remain sealed and in bright, indirect light. I chose not to accurately replicate the experiment I read about because it felt too.... dirty. Or evil. Probably both.

The seeds have germinated -- or have started to -- after three to four weeks with no stratification.








Updates will follow.
 
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Also, just to let you see, I have had luck with more traditional cobra culture. Photos from today:


 
Look forward to seeing your results.

I had a Dar. planted in a 10gal terr once upon a time. Mine was also from a Lowes deathcube. It was planted in pure peat and the tank was loosely "sealed" with SaranWrap. I had the tank against an east facing window. The peat was always wet and the humidity was around 90-100%. Had it like that for at least 3 yrs. The plant did grow new pitchers and the old pitchers lasted and lasted. It too had a very nice reddish coloration. The pitchers never exceeded 4inches in height. Finally lost the plant when I tried to divide it. (I had a Dar. in a pot I kept outside most of the year. Some animal or kid ripped it out of its pot and left it lying in the sun while I was gone. Had hoped to use a division of my indoor one to replace it.)

What I actually found even more surprising, was a Dendrobium I had planted in the same tank. The den never should have survived such conditions. While it did not thrive, it did survive and even gave me the occasional bloom. Still have that plant though it has since been potted up in a much more appropriate media.

Very nice Dars. I'd like to try them again someday if I ever find a cheap source or trade.
 
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Perhaps the TC Darlingtonia sold at Lowe's are more tolerant of high-nutrient soil and 100% humidity due to such conditions resembling the TC media they previously grew in.
 
Perhaps the TC Darlingtonia sold at Lowe's are more tolerant of high-nutrient soil and 100% humidity due to such conditions resembling the TC media they previously grew in.

That is an interesting idea. I do think plants can tolerate more if they are exposed to more while maturing. I have no scientific evidence, only hard knocks experience.

Overall, I feel that cobras are FAR more hardy than they are purported to be. I agree with Jeff Dallas and others that it is fungal attack which easily overcomes Darlingtonia when conditions are not ideal resulting in the plants demise. It is for this reason I might cheat a bit and treat this culture with trichoderma.
 
@DragonsEye It is good to hear others have had similar experiences. Did you add any supplemental lighting?

What kind of Dendrobium? I grow a couple and you got me thinking now...
 
Do you know how hot it gets inside the jar?
 
@ps3isawesome they are rather mature. I haven't had them their whole life though, so I can't comment on their age. Something like four years would be my guess though.

@fdfederation it won't ever be in direct sun like the other guy's experience I described above, so probably no higher than room temperature... 80 degrees Fahrenheit max.

I feel that temperature isn't as important as the literature suggests. Dallas's work corroberates this, in addition to other's -- FredG's -- findings.
 
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@DragonsEye It is good to hear others have had similar experiences. Did you add any supplemental lighting? ...

Nope.

@DragonsEye: What kind of Dendrobium? I grow a couple and you got me thinking now...

It was a NoID Dendrobium bigibbum var. compactum hybrid. One of the cheapos that used to be extremely common at BBSs some years back. By rights it never should have survived that environment -- but I wasn't about to let it know that.

Here it is now in its current dwelling (potted now):


<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/user/obeah/media/Blooms/Orchids%20in%20Bloom/DenNoIDsm_zpsd05b2e05.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v41/obeah/Blooms/Orchids%20in%20Bloom/DenNoIDsm_zpsd05b2e05.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo DenNoIDsm_zpsd05b2e05.jpg"/></a>
 
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A nice one. I had (apparently) that same plant for a while. I gifted it to a friend when I cut back on my orchs.

Your picture makes me regret that!
 
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