Recent posts on the CP listserve were in regard to some of our members reliance on spoon fed advice, when, with a little effort the information can be had from a good websearch; these comments about "lazy" newbies have made me a little wroth. (Wroth is the pleasant way of saying *moderated by Tamlin*) So, I hope that since the whole world is watching our conduct here at PFT, that new growers ("newbies") will demonstrate that this is not the case.
I did a little pondering, and I think some of those comments were sometimes on the mark. The information is out there in cyberspace, but, not everyone is skilled at websearching. This is a suggestion for a method that will let you often answer your own questions as to how to grow a particular plant. That answer is always tied up with how a particular plant grows, and where!
Personally, I would not accept a species into my stewardship and care that I did not already research. I like learning about the climate and place where the plants grow, it helps me tailor conditions as closely as possible to the plants habitat and preferance. Little things make big differences in the culture of these plants!
This is one method I use. Say I want to grow a species of Drosera that I have never grown. Lets take an example.....Drosera burkeana will do, but this works for any genera. My first stop is to visit the accurate and up to date CP database at:
http://www2.labs.agilent.com/bot/cp_home
Then I type in the Genus and species name. If you get a "No match found" it means 1 or 2 things: either you typed the name mis-spelled, or the name is not a legitimate species.
The most recent published account is listed in boldface.
The reference tells you where the description is published, and more importantly for growers, where the type plant was collected. In this case we see Magaliesberg as one of the stations where the plant was found.
Going to google search, I now type in "Magaliesberg climate", I check the "travelouges" under "climate" and quickly get a view of the plants world: in this case Magaliesberg proves to be mountainous, and this tells me nights there have a good temperature drop. I like to take it as far as I can, so I would also research the other location sites, and see if they all have similar elevations: if so, the temperature drop may well be a requirement, not an option and vs vs.
A plus to this, is you will find that you pick up a lot of the global picture in this research process. The geography, climate and commerce of South Africa in this example. Pretty soon you get to feeling like a world traveller!
So, by visiting the CP data base and then typing the collection site ____ and adding the one word "climate", you can access the habitats of almost any species of CP. Often many species are rare or difficult in cultivation, only because the habitat factors were overlooked.
Knowledge is power.
Next step is to run a general search on "Drosera burkeana cultivation" and explore the links generated by this. Eventually you will find Archives where the very questions you have asked were already answered, possibly by many different growers.
I encourage members here to check this out. Many of us will never set foot anywhere near to many of these habitats, and this just adds another fascinating dimension to growing these plants with a green, not a black, thumb.
I did a little pondering, and I think some of those comments were sometimes on the mark. The information is out there in cyberspace, but, not everyone is skilled at websearching. This is a suggestion for a method that will let you often answer your own questions as to how to grow a particular plant. That answer is always tied up with how a particular plant grows, and where!
Personally, I would not accept a species into my stewardship and care that I did not already research. I like learning about the climate and place where the plants grow, it helps me tailor conditions as closely as possible to the plants habitat and preferance. Little things make big differences in the culture of these plants!
This is one method I use. Say I want to grow a species of Drosera that I have never grown. Lets take an example.....Drosera burkeana will do, but this works for any genera. My first stop is to visit the accurate and up to date CP database at:
http://www2.labs.agilent.com/bot/cp_home
Then I type in the Genus and species name. If you get a "No match found" it means 1 or 2 things: either you typed the name mis-spelled, or the name is not a legitimate species.
The most recent published account is listed in boldface.
The reference tells you where the description is published, and more importantly for growers, where the type plant was collected. In this case we see Magaliesberg as one of the stations where the plant was found.
Going to google search, I now type in "Magaliesberg climate", I check the "travelouges" under "climate" and quickly get a view of the plants world: in this case Magaliesberg proves to be mountainous, and this tells me nights there have a good temperature drop. I like to take it as far as I can, so I would also research the other location sites, and see if they all have similar elevations: if so, the temperature drop may well be a requirement, not an option and vs vs.
A plus to this, is you will find that you pick up a lot of the global picture in this research process. The geography, climate and commerce of South Africa in this example. Pretty soon you get to feeling like a world traveller!
So, by visiting the CP data base and then typing the collection site ____ and adding the one word "climate", you can access the habitats of almost any species of CP. Often many species are rare or difficult in cultivation, only because the habitat factors were overlooked.
Knowledge is power.
Next step is to run a general search on "Drosera burkeana cultivation" and explore the links generated by this. Eventually you will find Archives where the very questions you have asked were already answered, possibly by many different growers.
I encourage members here to check this out. Many of us will never set foot anywhere near to many of these habitats, and this just adds another fascinating dimension to growing these plants with a green, not a black, thumb.
