Ridetsu
Gamer
Ridi is back! **pictures working!!**
well all, sorry for being gone during the winter. I poked around here and there when I could, but thanks to computer problems, financial problems, and work I basically took a break from the interwebs. Buuuut now I am back, and back with stories to tell, and pictures to show!
This winter in Eugene, Oregon, we had a good bit of snow, a good bit of wind, and the usual damp and soggy cold that us Oregonians are known for. This year, like last, I was determined to see my VFT make it through the window outside with no shelter. They seemed to do well enough, and so when it came time to winter dormancy, I let nature take the wheel and I took a step back.
Everything was going very well... up until december. The forecast called for snow and freezing temperatures, So i thought to myself that I would put my VFT under an overhang I had outside at least until the morning. Well, it turns out that the wind wasn't factored into my equation, and it dumped at least 4 inches of snow on each of my pots.
IF that was all that happened that night, I could be happy cuz I know my plants are tough as nails. But unfortunately, a Racoon (in its infinite wisdom) decided to come to the overhang at about 3 in the morning, and knock over all my plants.
I of course woke up to the sound of a racoon squaking away as he knocked them all off, So i grabbed the nearest weapon I had (A combat knife) and went trouncing outside in my boxers, a shirt, and a pair of unlaced shoes.
He had managed to root through the pots and uproot/damage all my VFT by the time i got outside and scared him off. To make matters worse, it was still snowing as I was doing this. Not about to leave my uprooted VFT out in the snow, I immediately grabbed whatever leftover perlite and Sphangum I had from that last spring, haphazardly mixed them together, and planted each one as best as I could, under a 50 watt light, in the snow, and dressed like I was about to go to sleep in a 60 degree room with a heating blanket.
The very next day I went out and bought a green house to stick them in. It was cheap, but after an attack like that, I was worried they wouldn't have the strength to make it through the winter.
Of course, I also received frost bite on some of my fingers from the event, since I was stupid enough to stay outside while transplanting cuz I didn't want to make my roommates. Not my brightest moment ever, but it was worth it. I didn't lose a SINGLE plant, and they were strong enough to put up offshoots (I didn't let any of them flower).
A couple weeks ago, when it was wonderfully warm and spring-like outside, I sat down in the sun and transplanted my VFT from the rushed perlite mixture to a fresh, hopefully balanced mix of fresh perlite and Sphagnum. I took the time to separate all the youngins from the old ones, but thats when it dawned on me.. I had no idea which cultivar was which when it came to my bushy, low-hanging big mouth traps. They all pretty much looked the same! Curses! Before-hand everything was separated based on age and cultivar - but because I just wanted to get everything planted, i didn't bother with segregating and classifying them. So I might need your help, you guys - if you can help me ID which plants a which, I would be really appreciative.
Oh.. and last year I went into winter with around 20 or so plants... and now, after separating all the bud divisions that popped up, I have 62. The pictures I'm posting were taken about 2 weeks ago (march 12th) which is a day after i transplanted and separated. As of this day, Only 2-3 look like they won't make it, and they are the youngest of them. I imagine it is because the soil mix wasn't good enough, but with all that happened over the winter, I'm surprised (and confused) as to how I managed to get all of these. Some traps put out 2 separate root divisions, and to my shock, the original mother "Big mouth" plant (a tissue clone) put out a whopping THREE bulb divisions. So, enjoy, and tell me what you think, and what I could do better for these plants!
Okay, so, after spending 15 minutes or so trying to figure out why the pictures won't show up, I'm giving up. Here are the links to the pictures that show up on my geocities page.
I would have liked to have more planters and give them more space in each one, but with my current financial situation I couldn't afford a second/bigger table (35 bucks at home depot.. grrr), and these are all the ones I can fit on the table I have.
well all, sorry for being gone during the winter. I poked around here and there when I could, but thanks to computer problems, financial problems, and work I basically took a break from the interwebs. Buuuut now I am back, and back with stories to tell, and pictures to show!
This winter in Eugene, Oregon, we had a good bit of snow, a good bit of wind, and the usual damp and soggy cold that us Oregonians are known for. This year, like last, I was determined to see my VFT make it through the window outside with no shelter. They seemed to do well enough, and so when it came time to winter dormancy, I let nature take the wheel and I took a step back.
Everything was going very well... up until december. The forecast called for snow and freezing temperatures, So i thought to myself that I would put my VFT under an overhang I had outside at least until the morning. Well, it turns out that the wind wasn't factored into my equation, and it dumped at least 4 inches of snow on each of my pots.
IF that was all that happened that night, I could be happy cuz I know my plants are tough as nails. But unfortunately, a Racoon (in its infinite wisdom) decided to come to the overhang at about 3 in the morning, and knock over all my plants.
I of course woke up to the sound of a racoon squaking away as he knocked them all off, So i grabbed the nearest weapon I had (A combat knife) and went trouncing outside in my boxers, a shirt, and a pair of unlaced shoes.
He had managed to root through the pots and uproot/damage all my VFT by the time i got outside and scared him off. To make matters worse, it was still snowing as I was doing this. Not about to leave my uprooted VFT out in the snow, I immediately grabbed whatever leftover perlite and Sphangum I had from that last spring, haphazardly mixed them together, and planted each one as best as I could, under a 50 watt light, in the snow, and dressed like I was about to go to sleep in a 60 degree room with a heating blanket.
The very next day I went out and bought a green house to stick them in. It was cheap, but after an attack like that, I was worried they wouldn't have the strength to make it through the winter.
Of course, I also received frost bite on some of my fingers from the event, since I was stupid enough to stay outside while transplanting cuz I didn't want to make my roommates. Not my brightest moment ever, but it was worth it. I didn't lose a SINGLE plant, and they were strong enough to put up offshoots (I didn't let any of them flower).
A couple weeks ago, when it was wonderfully warm and spring-like outside, I sat down in the sun and transplanted my VFT from the rushed perlite mixture to a fresh, hopefully balanced mix of fresh perlite and Sphagnum. I took the time to separate all the youngins from the old ones, but thats when it dawned on me.. I had no idea which cultivar was which when it came to my bushy, low-hanging big mouth traps. They all pretty much looked the same! Curses! Before-hand everything was separated based on age and cultivar - but because I just wanted to get everything planted, i didn't bother with segregating and classifying them. So I might need your help, you guys - if you can help me ID which plants a which, I would be really appreciative.
Oh.. and last year I went into winter with around 20 or so plants... and now, after separating all the bud divisions that popped up, I have 62. The pictures I'm posting were taken about 2 weeks ago (march 12th) which is a day after i transplanted and separated. As of this day, Only 2-3 look like they won't make it, and they are the youngest of them. I imagine it is because the soil mix wasn't good enough, but with all that happened over the winter, I'm surprised (and confused) as to how I managed to get all of these. Some traps put out 2 separate root divisions, and to my shock, the original mother "Big mouth" plant (a tissue clone) put out a whopping THREE bulb divisions. So, enjoy, and tell me what you think, and what I could do better for these plants!
Okay, so, after spending 15 minutes or so trying to figure out why the pictures won't show up, I'm giving up. Here are the links to the pictures that show up on my geocities page.
I would have liked to have more planters and give them more space in each one, but with my current financial situation I couldn't afford a second/bigger table (35 bucks at home depot.. grrr), and these are all the ones I can fit on the table I have.
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