Is my purp healthy?

[Drosera36]

I was wondering if my S. purpurea ssp. purpurea looks like it might need some more light. It does have lots of veination, but isn't plump like ones that I've seen in the wild. Could it just be its genetics, because that would explain why its previous pitchers looked like mine. Here's what it looked like when I got it in late April:

And this is it now:

Only now is it really growing good.

Many thanks,
0Ben

 

[glider14]

you can give it more light. that would make it more compact. but you dont need to. it looks healthy anyway.
Alex

 

[Clint]

i grow mine crispy.

 

[nepenthes_freak]

WHOA! Thats CRAZY! That little sundew grew into a cactus!

 

[BigCarnivourKid]

More light would also help redden it up a bit. But like Alex said, it looks health where it's at.

 

[jimscott]

Sure is looking better now! One thing to keep in mind is that there basically 2 forms of S. purpurea - ssp. purpurea & venosa. The venosa is a shorter, more squat looking plant, relative to the purpurea. I think you have ssp. purpurea.

 

[Drosera36]

Quote[/b] (nepenthes_freak @ Aug. 13 2006,6:35)]WHOA! Thats CRAZY! That little sundew grew into a cactus!

Yeah, that happens

Jim, my plant is S. purpurea ssp. purpurea.

Now that I know it's healthy enough to grow, is it healthy enough to flower this spring? And since I live in Rochester, and this plant is native to here, could I just leave it outside as it is during winter in 0 degrees temps?

-Ben

 

[jimscott]

If kept outside, I would mulch it heavily. Contact WildBill for the details. Otherwise, you can do like I did this winter - tote it to the attic and place at a window sill. It was cold, but not frigid and it woke up when the photperiod increased enough.

 

[CP30]

Quote[/b] (Drosera36 @ Aug. 13 2006,6:38)]And since I live in Rochester, and this plant is native to here, could I just leave it outside as it is during winter in 0 degrees temps?

   

Growing in the ground and growing in a pot are different. I would worry about the pot freezing too hard/dry.

 

[Est]

Quote[/b] ]you can give it more light. that would make it more compact. but you dont need to. it looks healthy anyway.

I don't think you're going to be able to compact that plant. The pitchers are nice and tall, and that's good. Higher light levels shouldn't do any compaction because a) there's no internodal space to shrink, b) the plant is made for high light environments, c) the plant isn't suffering from lack of light (etiolation.)

Plant's looking healthy and good.

 

[mabudon]

Yeah, he looks fine- it looks like the rhizome you got was of a pretty old plant- next year when it makes more pitchers it'll look a bit better balanced- I think the perception of "too tall" is enhanced by the low pitcher count. I just saw tons of S.purpurea ssp. purpurea in a sort-of local bog and the older ones looked pretty much exactly like what you have there (tho most of em were heterophylla but that's another story)

 

[Drosera36]

Oh, ok. Thanks guys. That makes me worry much less. The guy I got it from said it was a four-year-old plant grown from seed.

-Ben

 

[Alvin Meister]

The large wings are signs of the plant trying to grow more tissue area for photosynthesis. The plant didn't have much to work with earlier one, so this has probably prompted the rather impressive wings! Either that, or you have a nice gentic varient there

It will probably look more like the ones you've seen later on, or next year.

 

[Drosera36]

So, are the large wings a good thing then? I'm kinda confused.

-Ben

 

[Drosera36]

So here's an update on my plant.

Notice the shorter, more compact pitcher, and darker veins.

Newest pitcher.

YAY (moss)

This plant also catches wasps all the time. There's always a wasp squirming around in the pitcher.

-Ben

 

[Clint]

Very nice!

 

[Gemini528]

That looks really nice! Surprisingly, mine never catches wasps. It's always smaller insects like ants or sphagnum gnats instead.

 

[Drosera36]

Thanks, guys! I think maybe it catches so many wasps is because there is a foot ball sized nest about 20 feet away in a tree.

I think my plant has stopped growing for the season, since the newer leaves haven't done anything. Is it too early, or is that normal? When should I expect to see a flower bud forming while it's in dormancy?

-Ben

 

[nepenthes gracilis]

That looks alot better Ben.

 

[glider14]

Quote[/b] ]I think my plant has stopped growing for the season, since the newer leaves haven't done anything. Is it too early, or is that normal? When should I expect to see a flower bud forming while it's in dormancy?

my plants have also stopped growing or grow VERY slowly now. expect to see a bud in the first weeks of spring.
Alex