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Kids are smarter than their parents think

chibae

An orchid fancier with a CP problem
Earlier today my neighbor and his ten year old daughter were over for a visit. After I showed her the whiskey barrel bog she started to describe for me the "giant" traps she saw on a VFT on a televsion show. Her father had caught a small fly and she told him where to put it, down the open pitcher of a sarrc. and then told him, "you just gave him some nourishment"

She then asked me if I had any sundews. I took them inside and showed off the sundews among the orchids. Right now I have D. prolifera, D. adelae and D. aliciae. She asked me which ones curl their leaves around the prey, then spotted an aliciae with a curled leaf. She pointed out the remains of a gnat on the leaf of an adelae to her father and topped off the visit by noticing the similarities in leaf shape and color of two related phal orchids among a dozen more.

Her father said that he never heard about all this bug eating plant stuff, except VFTs, before today and here his daughter already knew a lot about it. I'm debating what type of CP to give her.

chibae
 
Starting out, I found Sarrs. very easy outdoors, until one particularly harsh winter. I now grow D. capensis indoors and have found it to be quite easy. Since D. capensis grows fast and is easy, I would go with that. Do you think she'd like a capensis?


David
 
Starting out, I found Sarrs. very easy outdoors, until one particularly harsh winter. I now grow D. capensis indoors and have found it to be quite easy. Since D. capensis grows fast and is easy, I would go with that. Do you think she'd like a capensis?


David

She probably would, but I'm thinking more of a prolifera for her so she can have the "hen and chicks" effect as it grows and spreads. I definitly will get her something tropical so she doesn't have to spend the winter with her cp in dormancy. As a mother of two (now grown) I know that can get very frustrating to a youngster.
Chibae
 
You should get her a hen and chicks plant OR A watering tray, a prolifera, with a pot and media, with decent care instructions.

also, that's very nice of you ;)
 
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D. capensis and D. binata are probably the easiest sundews to grow on a window sill and they are very showy plants.
 
You should get her a hen and chicks plant OR A watering tray, a prolifera, with a pot and media, with decent care instructions.

also, that's very nice of you ;)

D. prolifera is not for beginners . I like jimscott's suggestions.
 
Either an easy sarr (minor and purpurea seem like good choices) or nep (ventrata) would be first on my list. D. capensis is another good one, but it seems a bit sensitive to hot temps or hard water.

Therefore...

If you know she has pure water, get the capensis.
If you know she can give the plant a lot of sunlight, get the sarr.
If you don't know anything about her conditions at all, get the nep.

By the way... capensis has just as much or more of the "hen and chicks effect" if you grow it well. An old pot of capensis will probably have plants growing out of the drainage holes!!!
 
Okay all, here goes..She'll be growing on a sunny windowsill, her water is hard..with lots of iron. She seems more interested in the sundews than anything else. So, I'll go with the capensis suggestion, welll potted in proper media with a water tray and a gallon of distilled water to start her off. (maybe even some dried meal worm crumbles for this winter LOL)
As a hidden agenda, I'm "cultivating" my future plant sitter
Her parents are good friends and will listen to advice about the plant to help her along.
 
chilbae. if you want i could throw in another d.capensis for you, so you can have one as well as your neighbor.
 
  • #10
chilbae. if you want i could throw in another d.capensis for you, so you can have one as well as your neighbor.

That would be great, thank you.
 
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