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Heliamphora nutans divided it stands!

I got my Heliamphora nutans in November 2009. Here's what it looked like shortly after I got it:
HeliamphoraJuvenile.jpg


I fertilized it recklessly every two weeks since December 2009 or so. It has grown amazingly well. I decided to finally uproot it today, divide it and repot it. Here are some photos of the job.

Before dividing:
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Divisions (many of which are about the size of the plant when I got it!):
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The two largest divisions repotted:
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More divisions repotted:
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All together now:
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Back in the terrarium with their friends:
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Beautiful -- and it strangely looks like Ashland in the background. Go figure . . .
 
Beautiful -- and it strangely looks like Ashland in the background. Go figure . . .
Thanks! And yep, that's Ashland in the background. It was a crazy weather day here today. I felt like I was on top of a Tepui when potting up my Heliamphora. It kept alternating between blustery winds and rain and sunshine.
 
You can pull them right out like that during the growing season?
 
Nicely done Matt, very good technique.... they should do great for you

There has definitely been a change in Heli "tribal knowledge" over the last couple years...

:clap:
 
You can pull them right out like that during the growing season?
I suppose so. I've only been growing Heliamphora since November, so I certainly don't know much about growing them. This guy was in a terrarium and have been getting a 16 hour photoperiod since I got it, so I figured it doesn't really have any idea of the season. For Heliamphora I'm not sure it matters. Though, I don't really hesitate to repot any plant at any time of the season if I get the urge to.
Nicely done Matt, very good technique.... they should do great for you

There has definitely been a change in Heli "tribal knowledge" over the last couple years...

:clap:
Thanks Butch!
 
wow very nice, and really good shot (4th pic down) looks great.

offtopic but what camera do you use?
 
This is the year that Helis became "mainsteam", never has there been so many nice helis threads going on at once by so many different growers.

;)
 
This is the year that Helis became "mainsteam", never has there been so many nice helis threads going on at once by so many different growers.

;)


True enough. I received my first Heliamphora divisions -- H. nutans, H. minor, and H. heterodoxa -- back in the 1980s -- when they were rarely offered for sale, from WIP (World Insectivorous Plants); now there are, at this point, eighteen species (more now than Sarracenia), most of which are available to even the most casual collector . . .

 
  • #10
wow very nice, and really good shot (4th pic down) looks great.

offtopic but what camera do you use?
Thanks! I usually alternate between my "nice" canon EOS Rebel XSi (used mostly for macro shots) and my canon PowerShot SD980 IS Digital ELPH. All of these photos were taken with the ELPH. It takes amazing photos for a tiny camera.
True enough. I received my first Heliamphora divisions -- H. nutans, H. minor, and H. heterodoxa -- back in the 1980s -- when they were rarely offered for sale, from WIP (World Insectivorous Plants); now there are, at this point, eighteen species (more now than Sarracenia), most of which are available to even the most casual collector . . .
Very true, but they're still quite expensive. Another few years of tissue culturing and propagating and hopefully they won't be so expensive.
 
  • #11
Very true, but they're still quite expensive. Another few years of tissue culturing and propagating and hopefully they won't be so expensive.

I was aware of the first tissue culture efforts with Heliamphora in the late eighties -- and the promise of "inexpensive" plants was the lure of that technology even then; but nothing can overcome their relatively slow rate of growth and five to seven years to flowering maturity.

Coupled with that, is the extreme difficulty -- judging from the PMs I've received -- many have with their cultivation and relatively narrow temperature tolerances.

Ironically, Dalingtonia (which is cultivated similarly) took the reverse tack -- and was dirt cheap and available from any number of nurseries and hardware stores when I was a kid (sold as "The Cobra Plant" in a bag with a ball of sphagnum moss); though dealers have now been offering the same plants for upwards of 100.00, which were once 5.00 at best at any Orchard Supply Hardware . . .

TC has not benefited them too terribly well . . .
 
  • #12
I was aware of the first tissue culture efforts with Heliamphora in the late eighties -- and the promise of "inexpensive" plants was the lure of that technology even then; but nothing can overcome their relatively slow rate of growth and five to seven years to flowering maturity.
That's very true. But even so, they seem to multiply fairly rapidly in tissue culture and it seems reasonable to be able to produce a few thousand small plants over the course of a year even operating solo out of my home like I am. It seems like the cost of baby plants would drop significantly if a few people started tissue culturing them. I think that the larger operations like Agristarts will probably never mess with them because of the strict growing requirements. Though if a large-scale TC operation opened somewhere that the weather was more cooperative for growing Heliamphora (i.e. not in Florida), they might be able to do well producing them.

Ironically, Dalingtonia (which is cultivated similarly) took the reverse tack -- and was dirt cheap and available from any number of nurseries and hardware stores when I was a kid (sold as "The Cobra Plant" in a bag with a ball of sphagnum moss); though dealers have now been offering the same plants for upwards of 100.00, which were once 5.00 at best at any Orchard Supply Hardware . . .

TC has not benefited them too terribly well . . .
[/I]
That is interesting. I wonder why the price for Darlingtonia has increased? Maybe it's a supply/demand thing?
 
  • #13
I got my nutans at the same size from the same place as you at the same time and mine looks like one of your small divisions right now - behold the power of feeding! I think I posted a thread about dividing mine up a little a couple months ago when I decided to repot.
 
  • #14
I got my nutans at the same size from the same place as you at the same time and mine looks like one of your small divisions right now - behold the power of feeding! I think I posted a thread about dividing mine up a little a couple months ago when I decided to repot.
Yeah, I definitely took a risk feeding mine so much. I read a lot about them and some of the more expert growers on several forums recommended being careful about how much one root fertilizes Helis. But I have several dozen in tissue culture right now and I thought I could risk losing this one to experiment with it a bit. Now I'm wondering where the upper limit of fertilizing them is.
 
  • #15
Yeah, I definitely took a risk feeding mine so much. I read a lot about them and some of the more expert growers on several forums recommended being careful about how much one root fertilizes Helis. But I have several dozen in tissue culture right now and I thought I could risk losing this one to experiment with it a bit. Now I'm wondering where the upper limit of fertilizing them is.

I would not exceed biweekly fertilizing with dilute orchid fertilizer; that has always produced great results for me . . .
 
  • #16
how exactly do you divide a heliamphora. my h.nutans has really started taking off and is popping out new growth points quickly. when you unpot it do u just give it a little tug on the rhizome to separate it or what ?
 
  • #17
I would not exceed biweekly fertilizing with dilute orchid fertilizer; that has always produced great results for me . . .
Noted! Thanks :)
how exactly do you divide a heliamphora. my h.nutans has really started taking off and is popping out new growth points quickly. when you unpot it do u just give it a little tug on the rhizome to separate it or what ?
I was surprised at how difficult it was to actually break apart. I thought it might just fall apart like flytraps often do when they're ready to divide. But I had to gently work it apart. It's somewhat intuitive. I could see where a division should be and I gently worked the pitchers apart until I could gently break apart the rhizome.
 
  • #18
thanks matt. i just divided most of my vft's today for the first time, and they just pop right off.
sounds like patience is key with the helis.

thanks
 
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