Hey Gus,
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]I was wondering how tolerant is this plant to a "Melbourne winter"?
Well, its almost winter and it's doing just fine so far.
As we talked about the other day I figure the only issue ‘my’ plants have to deal with through the Melbourne winter is the shorter daylight period and reduced intensity of the sun.
Temp and humidity are not really issues as both are controlled in the glasshouse pretty much irrelevant of the external weather.
Not quite winter yet but what are we... about 5 weeks away from the shortest day of the year? June 20 or there abouts? I'm getting about 7 hours of sun at the moment so that should only shorten by half an hour or so between now and then. That being the case and based on the current rate of growth from the Mirabilis and overall appearance I'm guessing it'll do just fine. As I mentioned the other day, with the belated removal of the 50% shade cloth I’ve seen a lift in the growth rates and colouration of some plants.
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]It is very interesting to discover that sometimes plants labeled as "lowlanders" are not really lowlanders but intermediates such as eustachya, thorelli, and macrovulgaris.
I agree (see my Thorelli thread).
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]I wonder how well N. truncata and rafflesiana would grow in highland conditions?
Not sure. I suppose my conditions are better described as intermediate at the moment. I aim for nights around 13-16C (plus or minus a few degrees) and days are reaching 25-low 30C’s depending on if the sun is out. The thermostat is set to 25C day, so it’ll go to about 26-27C max unless the sun gives an extra kick.
I have 3x types of Raff. One is doing well and the other 2 are a bit new to tell yet. They are slowly settling in but I don't expect any huge results until spring hits and we start to get longer days again.
I also have 2x Truncatas. One small (from Tissue culture) which I've had for a few months now. It's coming along slowly but looks nice and healthy (though still quite small. The second is again new so a little early to tell yet. One partially developed pitcher on it is still continuing to grow at a good rate, but the test will not be until a complete new leaf and pitcher are formed and I see how they turn out.
On the other hand I'm pretty sure both Steve and Peter (re: VCPS locals) have mentioned lowlands don't do too well for them. Maybe that's because they don't running heating to take the edge off the coldest nights and days (i.e they are providing the colder side of highland through the winter months)?
Aaron.