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H. minor

I didn't want you guys to think things were all bad for me.  I've included a few shots of a very, very young H. minor which is currently growing in an east-facing window (the brightest of my two).  This little guy came from a greenhouse, and has been growing slowly but steadily ever since.  Of course, slowly acclimating it to the lower humidity was an exercise in patience.  It seems to be putting out one new pitcher a month....

Right after arrival:
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On 6/22:
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Comments welcome.  I figured this might be interesting to other new Heliamphora growers.
 
I agree with setep... What kind of soil mixture do you have it in?
 
Thanks for the comments =) It came potted in a 50/50 peat/sand mix from the grower. I put the LFS around the base of the plant when I finally removed the humidity cover, hoping it would help keep humidity up. It seems to have worked so far. I've been keeping the potting mix moist, without letting water sit at the bottom of the bowl it's in. So far, I've only fed it 2 tiny ants and a mosquito I found wandering around the house. I'm a little trepidatious right now, as it's my first Heliamphora. There are a few other CPs which I got at the same time, which are occupying the majority of my attention right now. This is probably for the best, as it forces me to leave this guy alone, and just let him grow. Has anyone here grown H. minor or heterodoxa with companion plants? I have some Utrics I was thinking of adding, as well (sandersonii and subulata).
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]Has anyone here grown H. minor or heterodoxa with companion plants?

Not intentionally, but a utric has invaded my H.nutans pot and there's a small D.capillaris in my H.ionasii pot. They look nice and don't seem to be bothering the helis so they're staying put for the moment.
 
hmmmmm another question, for those who've done this before. Is there a general timeframe in which i should see growth from the LFS topdressing? I've tried this method before without success. I tried running a search, but you can imagine how many extraneous posts come up when your search includes "sphagnum."
 
growth? since yah want it to grow yah probably never will see any growth. im only halfway joking. sphagnum gives ppl more heartburn than any CP, except getting U. tricolor to flower
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i can get it to grow where i dont want it(seedling pots) but in the next pot over where i have neps or something where LFS really would be nice i get NO GROWTH. its frustrating i tell yah

very nice H. minor, i tried one of the lil guys like that and failed miserably when i started with a more mature plant i had great luck. my hats off to yah on keeping the lil guy going and alive
 
Here is my H. minor as it looked when I unpacked it just today. I've got it in it's original pot and mix. The yops of the pitchers are brown but I'm hoping that it will bounce back. I've got it in a terrarium with some Neps and Sundews. It's also sitting in a shallow water tray. I got a ceph on the way that will go there too.
Hminor.jpg
 
Lookin' good everyone. I have a young H. heterodoxa that's slowly making its way into adulthood. I'm expecting mature pitchers within a year.

*fingers crossed*
 
  • #10
I hope mine does well. If I can grow this one I might graduate to another form. I'm following the directions in "The Savage Garden".
 
  • #11
Heteradoxa aggravates me with its slow growth, but its well worth it when it does put out leaves. It took mine a couple years to put out mature pitchers, and it hasnt made one for well over a month.

Happy growing.
 
  • #12
Just how many different forms of this plant are available commercially?
 
  • #13
[b said:
Quote[/b] (droseradude @ July 05 2006,9:37)]Heteradoxa aggravates me with its slow growth, but its well worth it when it does put out leaves. It took mine a couple years to put out mature pitchers, and it hasnt made one for well over a month.

Happy growing.
Interesting. My clump was a year old when I got it (last summer I think) so I probably have a ways to go before I get mature pitchers. I can't wait though!
 
  • #14
It is very fun when they come up, they also seem to be gigantic compared to the juvenile pitchers, and since they grow vertically vs. horizontal to the ground its all the more contrasting.
 
  • #15
This little guy's pushing up another little pitcher as we speak. That makes its third since I brought it home at the end of April. I'll try to post another pic sometime soon. Slow growth is a bit relative, I guess. This thing seems to be taking off to me, but it's only got a total of about 5 pitchers, compared to the VFTs next to it which have put out 3-5 traps in the past few weeks. I'd be happy it was surviving, but it seems to be doing a bit better than that, so I'm thrilled.
 
  • #16
there are many CP's that can be grown without following "mythical, textbook" CP cultivation techniques. Heliamphora is not one of them. Following The Savage Garden is probably the best bet. And as far as the sphagnum goes, you just have to get lucky depending on the type of LFS it is. When it is sterilized, some of it dies, some doesn't. Just like Rattler said, it'll grow where you don't want it to. If you want Live LFS, you may just have to break down and buy it live. I'm still a newb, in sorts, but this is what I have found in my exp.
 
  • #17
Some updated photos, as promised.  If this little photo-journal is a problem, I guess an admin'll nix it.  So far, just watering with distilled, and flushing the pot every few weeks.  I also try to keep it from sitting in much water for more than a day or so.  Feeding is by small ants I catch from the back deck, and a mosquito which wasn't fast enough in the house.  I think you can see a few of them silhouetted inside the pitchers.  I transferred a sprig of live sphagnum from another bog, as well.  It also seems to be acclimating well.

About a week ago...
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Yesterday...
f13eb4a6.jpg


If you look closely, you can see the newest emerging pitcher.  What a little monster hahaha
 
  • #18
Forgot to add this in the last post, but boglodyte's H. minor looks pretty durn cool. Hopefully he'll be able to post a few more pictures here, too. There are some good photo sites for Heliamphora, but they tend to focus on the adult plants, and it's hard for new growers with tiny seedlings to get a feel for the plants.
 
  • #19
something weird...h. minor will make these little pitchers that are mature in structure, but they're 1/3 of the size of the immature pitchers. It's pretty cool.
 
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