Just a comparison between indoor grown and outdoor grown U. livida. On the average the outdoor temps can be 10-20 degrees less than the indoor. Suspect that the anthocyanin pigments are responding to the cold like we see in grapes and many other plants.
Outdoor
Indoor
I see this every year with VFTs & Cephs as the cooler fall temps roll in. However, the difference in those livida flowers is pretty amazing - thanks for sharing!Suspect that the anthocyanin pigments are responding to the cold like we see in grapes and many other plants.
Due to the very low quality of the pics, I debated just keeping them quasi-hidden in my growlist (%#@*&%& point & shoot camera) but I've waited over 2 years to see flowers on this little guy - so here they are ... U. warburgii (Zhejiang, SE China)
The various colors and patterns are so striking to me, that it was worth the wait - sure wish I could get some better pics. As you can see, another flower should open soon so maybe I'll try again ...
That's the one with the amazingly long flower stalks that go up, then fall over & up again. Of the ones I grew, that was one of the few that looked like it would self seed (ovaries swelled up so I cut the stalks after flowering - didn't wait for possible nightmare). They flowered almost constantly in my basement.OTOH U. welwitschii is outside and has never bloomed for me at all. Guessing I might not have enough cold or something.....
Other than tricolor, this one has been my problem child. I think I just out-waited it. I grew it for over 1.5 years in my basement with my other utrics where it had a summer & winter photoperiod & it refused to flower. I moved it upstairs to my office where the lighting is constant (~13.5 hrs) & it flowered. I'd mostly given up for a while - semi-planned to try some periodic flooding to change things up (but never got around to it). The other day I was cutting all of the U. sandersonii "white" stalks that had flopped over several other plants (amazing - that one) when I just happened to notice the warburgii flower hidden in the white mass. Maybe that was it, it got upset when it got all crowded from the sandersonii ---What are your conditions for the U. warburgii? Mines is growing like mad but no flowers yet.
.... and here's the latest attempt. At least both horns are visible on the top flower (as he lets out massive DSLR-envy sigh):As you can see, another flower should open soon so maybe I'll try again ...