TerraForums Venus Flytrap, Nepenthes, Drosera and more talk
Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!
nepenthes gracilis
Nepenthes Specialist
I would see lowland truncata not being in TC as an issue, in fact I'd see it as a positive. TC is good for plants with limited availability, where you need to produce large numbers of plants quickly. The downside is it produces thousand of identical plants with little or no genetic variability, depending on the number of clones in culture. Lowland truncata is so common that seed is flowing out of most peoples ear's (like ventricosa and maxima seed).
Hamish
Hamish
Clint
Stay chooned in for more!
Using traditional seed sowing methods, a high attrition rate is normal. With some grexes, you may end up with only a dozen or so plants that make it to a size larger than a tea cup saucer Raising seed 'in vitro' definitely increases the number of survivors, especially if the seedlings(plantlets) are replated onto fresh agar at the right times.
If only I had the time, space and money for in vitro cultivation... If I did, it would probably cause even more problems - I have enough problems finding space for seedlings once they need to be potted up (especially with species with very high survival rates), having even more survive into adulthood would drive me out of my house
Agristarts has a long line of discontinued plants, including the truncata. They used to produce most of the merrillianas that were available a few years back, from material they got from John de Kanel. They also did gracilis for a while, as well as Sarracenia leuco Titan (for Botanique), red tube flavas, Nepenthes ampullaria... When plants don't sell as well as expected, they discontinue. I agree with the theory that this is better for the genetics of the plants in general, for those who propagate, but let's not forget one of the underlying benefits of tissue culture. It helps alleviate some of the poaching that takes place in the wild. If a minor amount of culturing fulfills our needs, then we're less likely to buy plants from someone pulling the plants from the jungles. There are othern TCers in Malaysia, but the plant will most likely be a bit more difficult to get. Some of the better known retailers of the plant here in the U.S. already list the plant as "discontinued" or 'Not available'.
I "think" the reason N. truncata was not as succesful as some of the ones they have now, is they charged $5 for one, where N. ventricosa was only $1.25 each(I think you had to order two flats of plants minimum/ order and there were 72 cells in a flat). To us, these prices are really cheap, but it must have made a big impact to the wholesalers.
At a recent orchid show that had cp, I saw the current Agristart Nepenthes selections for $7-$15 ea., while the N. truncata were $40.00(they had 10 inch pitchers, BTW).
Why did Leco Titan or red flavas not sell so well, I wonder?
Cheers,
Joe
At a recent orchid show that had cp, I saw the current Agristart Nepenthes selections for $7-$15 ea., while the N. truncata were $40.00(they had 10 inch pitchers, BTW).
Why did Leco Titan or red flavas not sell so well, I wonder?
Cheers,
Joe
The red tube flava had problems adjusting from flask to greenhouse, as well as other tc problems. Apparently, S. flava is not an easy plant to get up to size when tc'ed. As for the 'Titan', I don't know. We find them to be a vigorous clone.
Most of Agristarts Neps come from John. The merriliana clone grown up is the plant pictured on our website. It has beautiful strawberry pink pitchers. I asked John if he knew which clone it was (John often has as many as 50 different clones of any one species), and he told me he didn't know. If any of you have a merrilliana from Agristarts, you got a beauty!
Most of Agristarts Neps come from John. The merriliana clone grown up is the plant pictured on our website. It has beautiful strawberry pink pitchers. I asked John if he knew which clone it was (John often has as many as 50 different clones of any one species), and he told me he didn't know. If any of you have a merrilliana from Agristarts, you got a beauty!
nepenthes gracilis
Nepenthes Specialist
Well except for Drosera and Sarr seed Third time's the charm seems to work well. I did not get the Nep seed to germinate my first two tries but I heard from various people that the seed was dead anyway. My pings on the other hand (lusitanica) sprouted the first two times but died off. My P. sharpii has had nearly 100% germination and suvival rate so far. Unfortuanatly my 20th batch of Sarrs (the oreo's go figure) got boyatris (sp?) but I think I may have saved two plantlets. I bet once I get the proper set up done I will be able to germinate.
