I am experimenting with darlings in my home, and trying to understand how these things can be "hard to grow" and yet be available by the hundreds for $2 each at my local Hardware Labyrinth.
Can anyone tell me how these are cultivated by the big plant concerns? If they use tissue culture methods, then I assume that the temperature issues simply don't exist in the absence of bacteria and fungus.
If that is the case, I have a setup based on the theory that high oxygen content and a certain amount of dissolved toxins are the key, as this combination keeps the bacteria and fungus down. I think temperature is only tangentially involved, and that these plants should grow OK where such evils are kept down. Nothing some bacteria and fungus hate more than superoxygenated water, brimming with sulfurous compounds, metals, and a little asbestos.
So I am using an undrained, glazed pot, a fairly dense peat/perlite/LFS mix, lots of water, and an air pump to keep it oxy-rich. Several hours direct late-day sun. Perlite on top as a heat barrier. The pump has the added benefit of providing considerable cooling through forced evaporation.
So far (four weeks), the plant is stable and slowly growing. I am losing one old leaf, but the new ones are hanging in there, despite the dry conditions in the house and the transplant shock.
All I need now is the equivalent of some serpentine rock to provide the poisons.
Steve
Can anyone tell me how these are cultivated by the big plant concerns? If they use tissue culture methods, then I assume that the temperature issues simply don't exist in the absence of bacteria and fungus.
If that is the case, I have a setup based on the theory that high oxygen content and a certain amount of dissolved toxins are the key, as this combination keeps the bacteria and fungus down. I think temperature is only tangentially involved, and that these plants should grow OK where such evils are kept down. Nothing some bacteria and fungus hate more than superoxygenated water, brimming with sulfurous compounds, metals, and a little asbestos.
So I am using an undrained, glazed pot, a fairly dense peat/perlite/LFS mix, lots of water, and an air pump to keep it oxy-rich. Several hours direct late-day sun. Perlite on top as a heat barrier. The pump has the added benefit of providing considerable cooling through forced evaporation.
So far (four weeks), the plant is stable and slowly growing. I am losing one old leaf, but the new ones are hanging in there, despite the dry conditions in the house and the transplant shock.
All I need now is the equivalent of some serpentine rock to provide the poisons.
Steve