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Anybody want to try an experiment?

Ozzy

SirKristoff is a poopiehead
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I've been wondering for a few years if pine pollen has any effect on cp's. Every year in this area they are covered with pine pollen. Does this actually help them in any way? I'm not disciplined enough to carry this out the way it needs to be done. So is there anybody that will be willing to take vft's, pitcher plants, sundews, pings that are native to the SE US and cover them with pine pollen that I'll provide for you. Also you'll need plants that are growing in the same conditions without the pollen to see if there is any effect on growth.

Any Volunteers?

This sounds like a job perfect for Jim.
 
Just a hypothesis, but I can see it blocking a lot of light. I can't see it chemically bothering them, though.

I can also see the rain washing it off, so the blocking of light wouldn't really be a problem. But in the SE, we've been under drought conditions for years.
 
That's funny that you bring this up, because I have been kind of pissed about these huge pines outside my window getting pollen on EVERYTHING in my room. We have to leave the windows open because it gets hot, so there is a thin layer of pollen on everything, including the plants.

It's annoying.
 
It would be an interesting experiment. You'd probably need around 20-30 plants in each group of each species for meaningful results. But you could make do with 10 plants in each group as a test study.

I couldn't imagine what the effect would be other than a source of nutrients. Fertilizing CPs can sometimes have unexpected results as it is my understanding that Nepenthes will stop producing pitchers if well fertilized.
 
That's funny that you bring this up, because I have been kind of pissed about these huge pines outside my window getting pollen on EVERYTHING in my room. We have to leave the windows open because it gets hot, so there is a thin layer of pollen on everything, including the plants.

It's annoying.



It'll be even more annoying if you don't think of it as pollen, but rather tree sperm!
 
It'll be even more annoying if you don't think of it as pollen, but rather tree sperm!

I bring up this exact point whenever one my my friends complains about allergies. hahaha
 
This sounds like a job perfect for Jim.

That got my attention! Wait'll elgecko sees the topic title!

Unfortunately, I'm up to my ears with experiments at work and with the kids. That can be misinterpreted any way you want! :0o:
 
I collected some pine pollen in a bottle a few years ago, since there was so much of it. I also have like 4 D. brevifolia, although I'm not sure I want to risk them. And it'll be a few months before I can get the temperate guys outside.

-Ben
 
I don't think it's a risky experiment. In the next couple of weeks, the cp's here will be covered in it, including my own bog. I'll try to get pics of my pinetree sperm covered bog.

I was thinking that it could act as a fertilizer that is safe for cp's, or since pine seems to be acidic, it could help maintain the high ph level.
 
  • #10
Another important thing is protein. Pollen is loaded with protein, and a lot of insects eat it. Bees clean it off their pollen thingies and eat it. They also say that's one of the benefits of eating flowers in survival situations. Protein means nitrogen. Since CPs have an ability of absorption which other plants don't, I imagine being able to "eat" pollen just like N. ampullaria "eats" leaf debris would give a competitive advantage. However, we'd need to know if CP enzymes/bacterial action could break the pollen down. Pollen would break down on the ground by bacterial action, too, but that process seems like it'd take longer to release nitrogen to weeds and other "normal" plants because it isn't right directly on the plant. CPs might likely get to it first.

I imagine that in large amounts it would make a nutritional difference. Probably not a whole lot, but a nice benefit to having constantly open pitchers and mucus glands (I imagine Drosera would be the best at catching pollen because they've got more surface area to collect on and are sticky). We could even add an experiment where we use a set amount of pollen and figure out some way to expose each kind of plant to it (i.e. a glass box with a fan or something), and then measure how much pollen falls to the ground rather than remains stuck on the plant. But pine pollen in particular I wouldn't see as being much different from any other wind-carried pollen. I also don't know, tree for tree, what species of tree produces the most pollen. In that case something producing more pollen might benefit CPs more than other trees.

And like JLAP said, in the southeast pollen typically doesn't get to sit on CPs too long before rain washes it off, and I'm not sure it'd make a noticeable photosynthetic difference.
 
  • #11
We always remark of the fact that tree sperm is flying everywhere...it's inescapable!
 
  • #12
And to those people with horrible allergies: guess what you're sputtering and choking and runny-nosing on!
 
  • #13
I imagine that in large amounts it would make a nutritional difference.
There's a current, somewhat-related thread over here. Although its primary topic is Heli's, the nutritional aspect is similar. My link is to a page where Herr Fleischmann pretty-much settles the 'debate' with 2 information-filled posts. However, the thread is also interesting to read from the beginning as it shows some interesting inter-personal dynamics at work. :angel:
 
  • #14
Hah, nothing like nerds duking it out over scientific principles of peat bog ecology.:-D
 
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