How are you growing your D. paradoxa? I have about 8-9 plants, and 3 or so just sort of disintegrated. The leaves (dewless) just sort of shriveled up and fell apart. When I touched the plant with some tweezers - all the leaves including the fuzzy part where the growing point should be just flew apart kind of like a dandelion. There's maybe the bottom most row or two of leaves left and a kind of woody stem were the fuzzy part was.[b said:Quote[/b] (JB_OrchidGuy @ Dec. 27 2006,6:57)]Well, I am doing ok with my petiolis complex. The only one I am growing is paradoxa. It is flowering, but hasn't had much dew since summer. The 3 I recived from Pyro are just surviveing and one kicked the bucket. So I cannot give you much advice on those.
[b said:Quote[/b] ] have about 8-9 plants, and 3 or so just sort of disintegrated. The leaves (dewless) just sort of shriveled up and fell apart. When I touched the plant with some tweezers - all the leaves including the fuzzy part where the growing point should be just flew apart kind of like a dandelion. There's maybe the bottom most row or two of leaves left and a kind of woody stem were the fuzzy part was.
Yep, although I found evidence that looked like a bug or something. Probing around in the moss - I saw one leaf waggling even after I turned off the fan - and that's when the first plant "exploded" - I found a silk nest/tube and what looked like seeds or caterpillar poop. No critter that I could find though.[b said:Quote[/b] (Farmer Dave @ Dec. 27 2006,10:04)]wow that stinks!
I used a sand/peat mix 2 parts sand to 1 part peat, and was letting the tray go dry between waterings (every 2nd day or so). The plants were in seed tray "plugs" four or five plants per plug. I just planted them plug 'n all for the time being, intent on repotting later on - the plants appear dormant.[b said:Quote[/b] (Pyro @ Dec. 28 2006,3:58)]None of these are exactly "easy" plants.
For Petiolaris complex you will need to provide stable warm conditions. I would definitly suggest you start with paradoxa because it is the most robust. If you can not keep it alive then do not bother trying any of the other species because you are doomed to failure. My techniqe (just one of many) is to take a 10 gallon tank and flip it on its side then silicon a small (10cm) side wall onto it. To cover the open portion I make up a screen/plastic top that I can not really describe but I might have pics of somewhere. For reference the small sides are now front and back. I put a 10-20G reptile heat mat on the back and then wrap the back bottom and full glass side with foil and then stick lights on top. Watering is by adding no more than 2cm water and letting it stand until dry before adding more. I have gone up to a week dry with no adverse effects. My media is 2/1/1 sand/LFS/pine bark mulch and I use tall-style 5cm pots.
These plants by and large have deep root systems. Most people I know use a 15-20cm pot. However, given space limitations I need something that is not quite so broad. The 6cm tall pots give me the depth I need without sacrificing valuable lateral space. So I get 32 pots/10G tank vs 16.[b said:Quote[/b] (Not a Number @ Dec. 28 2006,7:58)]So deep/tall pots are best for this complex?