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Pft vft var. and the mutation inducing chemical

timbudtwo

Shoopdawoop
why isnt pft selling there own var of vft's that they get some times through tc. the one that puts out plantlets instead of flowers on its flower stalk.

Also, I heard there is a chemical that some people put in there tc to encourage mutations in the plant. Does anyone know what this is called, and has anyone tried it?
 
Hi Tim,

Peftflytrap would have to let every plant in their care go to flower before they could tell if they were producing plantlets instead of flowers. Have you let all your plants fo to flower? if not, how do you know you didn't get one?

Here is the deal, the 'Cup Trap' has occured in Petflytrap stock before, when that has happened, it has neither been 100% consistent throughout the plant, nor continuous from what I know. I believe that if you contact Phil, and tell him your interested, he may keep an eye out for you. BUt please do not barrage him with requests, you guys have no idea how busy petflytrap employees are.

Linda spends all day on the Phones, in the Green House, moderating the forums, wiping phils mouth (jk) (But she is a great Mom! Happy Mom's Day Linda&#33
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While Phil is busy being a business manager, charting the future of petflytrap, bringing in inventory, talking to the growers, importers, and all manner of people... I have been talking to him on the phone at 10 PM when he says "I gotta go, business meeting". Petflytrap moves stock FAST, they move it almost as fast as they can get it in, and grow it out. Growspace is limited, so dividing what they have up to try and see if a few select plants are variants is business madness at this point.

That is not to say petflytrap won't carry variants in the future... just not immediately. Remember, we always respond to demand, you wanted more Nepenthes, and Phil got in a huge order last year, and you gobbled them up... we have more nepenthes in culture than we did when we started, and There are probably going to be more coming over the years.

Just please be patient, and stay tuned, great things happen in time.
 
what about the chemical?
 
The chemical I think you are referring to is Colchicine which acts during cell division in such a way as to prevent the separation of the paired chromosomes, thereby increasing the ploidy levels. Polyploidy can indeed produce different looking plants. I must advise you that this is a powerful mutagenic chemical that has been shown to cause cancer in humans and should you acquire it, I recommend that you use GREAT caution in applying it. Even a small quantity may prove harmful to you if accidently inhaled or ingested.

Regarding clones with abberant traps, these plants often revert back to typical forms, and typical plants can sometimes produce abberant traps. Many of the forms simply will not stay true to form, and I suspect this would be even more so in TC. From a commercial point of view, the time and space wasted in trying to produce a marketable product with only limited success possible is just not profitable.

My own current attempts at reproducing my various "forms" is very frustrating! Almost none of the rhizome divisions and leaf cuttings I have taken have yeilded any variation from the typical form, although this may happen as they mature, but this could take years! Commercially this is just not a good plan.
 
Is this the same chemical that produces pom-pom vft's?
 
not sure, i just have heard of a chemical that encourages mutations in tc.
 
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