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Rball
INFECTED
dionae
sarracenia lover
Dexenthes
Aristoloingulamata
I understand your your reason to exclude childhood growing however...
I first start growing carnivores was ten years ago when I was ten. However, studying them as a hobby started a year or two before that due to the wonderful wild D. rotundifolia you can find in my area. My first batch of plants was S. purpurea, D. muscipula, D. capensis, D. californica, and N. ventricosa. Not surprisingly the plants all died one by one with surprisingly, the cobra lily lasting the longest only after the D. capensis which survived for years.
So that was my child hood experience that is excluded, however I struggle to exclude it because my capensis lived until I re-ented the hobby after I had gotten through the worst of my teenage angsty years. So in a way, my growing of CP's never stopped. (thanks to capensis.
)
But the rebirth of my interest started with a N. bicalcarata that I purchased four years ago.
So in short:
Ten years if we're counting capensis and wild dews.
But four years since I really lit the flame back up again.
And pretty much one or two years since I let all shame go and started buying plants hither and thither without forethought.
I first start growing carnivores was ten years ago when I was ten. However, studying them as a hobby started a year or two before that due to the wonderful wild D. rotundifolia you can find in my area. My first batch of plants was S. purpurea, D. muscipula, D. capensis, D. californica, and N. ventricosa. Not surprisingly the plants all died one by one with surprisingly, the cobra lily lasting the longest only after the D. capensis which survived for years.
So that was my child hood experience that is excluded, however I struggle to exclude it because my capensis lived until I re-ented the hobby after I had gotten through the worst of my teenage angsty years. So in a way, my growing of CP's never stopped. (thanks to capensis.
) But the rebirth of my interest started with a N. bicalcarata that I purchased four years ago.
So in short:
Ten years if we're counting capensis and wild dews.
But four years since I really lit the flame back up again.
And pretty much one or two years since I let all shame go and started buying plants hither and thither without forethought.
started in the 2nd grade---off and on mostly VFTs, subtropical dews and sarrs, darlingtonia (once). stopped when i went off to college. started again last year, but this time growing some pretty crazy stuff. pretty much showing that it is possible to collect a decent collection within a small period of time.
Exo
Tastes like chicken!
I understand your your reason to exclude childhood growing however...
I first start growing carnivores was ten years ago when I was ten. However, studying them as a hobby started a year or two before that due to the wonderful wild D. rotundifolia you can find in my area. My first batch of plants was S. purpurea, D. muscipula, D. capensis, D. californica, and N. ventricosa. Not surprisingly the plants all died one by one with surprisingly, the cobra lily lasting the longest only after the D. capensis which survived for years.
So that was my child hood experience that is excluded, however I struggle to exclude it because my capensis lived until I re-ented the hobby after I had gotten through the worst of my teenage angsty years. So in a way, my growing of CP's never stopped. (thanks to capensis.
But the rebirth of my interest started with a N. bicalcarata that I purchased four years ago.
So in short:
Ten years if we're counting capensis and wild dews.
But four years since I really lit the flame back up again.
And pretty much one or two years since I let all shame go and started buying plants hither and thither without forethought.
I'm not completely excluding childhood growing, I'm just excluding those "oh cool, a flytrap!.....and now it's dead" moments.....I'm sure everyone knows exactly what I'm talking about
Dexenthes
Aristoloingulamata
I do know exactly what you're talking about. Only I killed expensive plants like Darlingtonia and Nepenthes. oooo Pretty! oooo dead.
That capensis was a trooper though, I can't believe it actually managed to die. I don't even remember when that happened either. Just one day I looked up at it and there was a mangle of dried flower stalks.
Only I killed expensive plants like Darlingtonia and Nepenthes. oooo Pretty! oooo dead. That capensis was a trooper though, I can't believe it actually managed to die. I don't even remember when that happened either. Just one day I looked up at it and there was a mangle of dried flower stalks.
Exo
Tastes like chicken!
I do know exactly what you're talking about.
That capensis was a trooper though, I can't believe it actually managed to die. I don't even remember when that happened either. Just one day I looked up at it and there was a mangle of dried flower stalks.
Oh dear....My kills were cheap supermarket flytraps.
Dexenthes
Aristoloingulamata
You know, I only ever purchased one supermarket flytrap and I did manage to kill it too. That was not all that long ago either. Right about when I signed up on TF. I did all that I could to keep that plant going, giving it dormancy and such....
I really am convinced that those plants are some of the hardest to keep alive.
I really am convinced that those plants are some of the hardest to keep alive.
lizasaur
Charlatan
In 2005, I saw Cobra Lilies for sale in the Target ad.
And I was like
And spent a bit of time discovering there's more than just VFTs in terms of CPs.
In 2006, I dropped a couple hundred dollars to get mostly Sarracenia.
And most of it died.
So I spent a couple hundred more.
And every few months, that's what I did.
And then randomly one day stuff just stopped dying (um, last year, I think)
So my collections been able to grow to what it is now
And I was like
And spent a bit of time discovering there's more than just VFTs in terms of CPs.
In 2006, I dropped a couple hundred dollars to get mostly Sarracenia.
And most of it died.
So I spent a couple hundred more.
And every few months, that's what I did.
And then randomly one day stuff just stopped dying (um, last year, I think)
So my collections been able to grow to what it is now
I bought my first carnivorous plants about 15 years ago from Peter D'amato. I bought 15 cape sundews for my Jr. High science fair, and a hanging N. ventricosa.
The science fair experiment was feeding 5 of the sundews fruit flies, 5 of them pieces of tofu, and 5 of them nothing as a control group. The 2 "fed" groups grew noticeably more than the control group, and the original display is still somewhere @ my parent's house. From then on, I always had at least a small collection of CPs.
A few years later I convinced my parents to let me dig-up part of our back yard to make a bog. This worked for quite a while, but succumbed to lack of upkeep.
After that, I always had at least 1 terrarium of plants, even throughout college. Most people just assumed that the fluorescent light pouring out from under my bed at weird hours was a secret pot stash, and letting them think that was usually much easier than explaining what a carnivorous plant was.
Then about a year and a half ago, I decided to quit my job, rent a big greenhouse, and start a business importing and growing plants on an large scale. I started selling plants at local farmer's markets, and have been expanding ever since.
The science fair experiment was feeding 5 of the sundews fruit flies, 5 of them pieces of tofu, and 5 of them nothing as a control group. The 2 "fed" groups grew noticeably more than the control group, and the original display is still somewhere @ my parent's house. From then on, I always had at least a small collection of CPs.
A few years later I convinced my parents to let me dig-up part of our back yard to make a bog. This worked for quite a while, but succumbed to lack of upkeep.
After that, I always had at least 1 terrarium of plants, even throughout college. Most people just assumed that the fluorescent light pouring out from under my bed at weird hours was a secret pot stash, and letting them think that was usually much easier than explaining what a carnivorous plant was.
Then about a year and a half ago, I decided to quit my job, rent a big greenhouse, and start a business importing and growing plants on an large scale. I started selling plants at local farmer's markets, and have been expanding ever since.
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If we only count seriously setting out to grow them it would be Easter of 2000 when my uncle gave me a cutting from his pitcherless huge vine of "Nepenthes alata" for my first terrarium. The plant turned out to be N. x Ventrata when I got it to pitcher. I grew Neps pretty much exclusively and later got into orchids between 2000 and late 2006 when my dad had his first open heart surgery and I sold all my plants so I could stay at his place and help take care of him without letting the plants languish from lack of watering and care. That was a mistake I only later regretted since I can't get hold of some of those plants anymore but it seemed a good idea at the time. In early 2008 I started back with plants (succulents) but couldn't stay away from the tropicals. In 2010 I decided I wanted to concentrate on fully planted "display terrariums" with CPs (Neps & Utrics mostly) and whatever else that looks good in there - though I do have some plants-in-pots terrarium bins for housing cuttings and stuff I just don't have a place for yet.
I remember when I was a kid I talked my mom into buying me a VFT at the grocery store. Back then the sticker on the little cup it was in had instructions to "put small bits of hamburger into the trap and trigger it with a pencil" if no flies were available. I don't recall ever doing that but I did water it with tap water so it didn't live long. Now I can keep them alive just fine - until they die from a lack of dormancy. Which is why I don't keep VFTs even this many years in. LOL
I first encountered Utricularia in the mid 1990s in a batch of aquatic plants. I thought it was a neat looking hitch hiker and tied it to a log but pretty soon it was trailing everywhere choking out my planted aquarium and I hated the stuff. I thought it must be some kind of evil string algae - nobody on the aquatic plants forum could ID it for me and I couldn't seem to pluck it out cos the tiniest piece would regrow a whole 75 gallon tank full of strands. Little did I know it was Utricularia gibba and it was greedily sucking up both the heavy plant fertilizers, CO2 and live foods I was feeding the killies and their fry!
I remember when I was a kid I talked my mom into buying me a VFT at the grocery store. Back then the sticker on the little cup it was in had instructions to "put small bits of hamburger into the trap and trigger it with a pencil" if no flies were available. I don't recall ever doing that but I did water it with tap water so it didn't live long. Now I can keep them alive just fine - until they die from a lack of dormancy. Which is why I don't keep VFTs even this many years in. LOL
I first encountered Utricularia in the mid 1990s in a batch of aquatic plants. I thought it was a neat looking hitch hiker and tied it to a log but pretty soon it was trailing everywhere choking out my planted aquarium and I hated the stuff. I thought it must be some kind of evil string algae - nobody on the aquatic plants forum could ID it for me and I couldn't seem to pluck it out cos the tiniest piece would regrow a whole 75 gallon tank full of strands. Little did I know it was Utricularia gibba and it was greedily sucking up both the heavy plant fertilizers, CO2 and live foods I was feeding the killies and their fry!
@jurow: dont know if you know, but you arent supposed to mention vendor namesonly andy's shop is allowed to be mentioned. you could say stuff like petey d'amato's nursery or josh brown's nursery but can't say the actual shop names.
Thanks Jon, stupid mistake.
Rball
INFECTED
Exo
Tastes like chicken!
Sorry to say, but I'm sure you will sooner or later...everyone does, it's just part of keeping anything alive.
But if you are a really good grower, it just won't happen as often....it still happens though.
I started my hobby a little over 3 years ago. My first plants were 1 typical flytrap, 1 dentate, and 1akai ryu. I made the mistake of buying them in October and they were starved for light when I received them. Somehow, the typical and dentate pulled through and I still have them today, my first carnivorous plants. The akai ryu was not so lucky, it died while dormant. Since then i've killed several plants, from experimenting. In this past year, the only ones that have died for me are flytraps. Experimental soil mixes shouldnt be used with hard to get plants, makes you sorry. Nepenthes, by far, easier, I think.
I started to seriously collect CPs a year ago exactly.
It all started because my friend and I saw some CPs at the state fair. In particular we saw a very large Nepenthes (I think it was N. chaniana). We took some pictures, and we talked about how cool it would be to have our own pitcher plants. When December came around I got the idea to get him a pitcher plant for Christmas. I ended up doing a huge amount of research to find the perfect one for him, and I became so enamored with the plants that I had to buy some for myself. My fist one was an S. purpurea I found at Lowes. The following week I bought two N. ventricosas off of ebay --one for me and one for him--and from then on I was absolutely hooked. My friend bought a few more Neps, but the plant bug did not take root as deeply in his soul apparently, because he stopped at five plants whereas I now have something like 50.
So far the only deaths I've had include a Nep that got frozen in the mail, and some drosera seeds and gemmae which succumbed to fungus.
It all started because my friend and I saw some CPs at the state fair. In particular we saw a very large Nepenthes (I think it was N. chaniana). We took some pictures, and we talked about how cool it would be to have our own pitcher plants. When December came around I got the idea to get him a pitcher plant for Christmas. I ended up doing a huge amount of research to find the perfect one for him, and I became so enamored with the plants that I had to buy some for myself. My fist one was an S. purpurea I found at Lowes. The following week I bought two N. ventricosas off of ebay --one for me and one for him--and from then on I was absolutely hooked. My friend bought a few more Neps, but the plant bug did not take root as deeply in his soul apparently, because he stopped at five plants whereas I now have something like 50.
So far the only deaths I've had include a Nep that got frozen in the mail, and some drosera seeds and gemmae which succumbed to fungus.
