Much is often said in books and on this forum (for that matter) about the great delicacy of Heliamphora plants and, particularly, that of its roots. But that is not necessarily the case . . .
A couple of months back, I had the unfortunate opportunity of seeing just how tough these plants can be. I had watered and fertilized a number of the pots; and they were left draining outside in the fog when my dog, Bella (aka "the coiled spring of primal fury" to my friends, and seen to the left), took it upon herself to chase either a cat or raccoon and knock them ***-over-tea-kettle -- all over the place. A third of them -- due to their loose compost -- were flung out of their pots, some even left partially bare-rooted and in the elements for about an hour before I got to them.
One of them in particular, a Heliamphora folliculata, which was just developing its adult pitchers for the first time, was roughly broken into three pieces. After swearing more than a bit, I quickly repotted them, and they are now growing quite well, even though the roots were clearly broken. All survived, by the way . . .
A couple of months back, I had the unfortunate opportunity of seeing just how tough these plants can be. I had watered and fertilized a number of the pots; and they were left draining outside in the fog when my dog, Bella (aka "the coiled spring of primal fury" to my friends, and seen to the left), took it upon herself to chase either a cat or raccoon and knock them ***-over-tea-kettle -- all over the place. A third of them -- due to their loose compost -- were flung out of their pots, some even left partially bare-rooted and in the elements for about an hour before I got to them.
One of them in particular, a Heliamphora folliculata, which was just developing its adult pitchers for the first time, was roughly broken into three pieces. After swearing more than a bit, I quickly repotted them, and they are now growing quite well, even though the roots were clearly broken. All survived, by the way . . .
