The clump there is from the tip of the leaf...really odd what plants can do.
RSS: Very interesting with that U. geminiloba leaf! What's the scale on that (ie: how long is the part of the leaf that we see?)?
You're having U. endresii & U. geminiloba plants sprout from leaves laying around in your tanks and I can't get a sprout from a nice
thick U. quelchii leaf to save my life! Next time I have a leaf fall off, it looks like I should ship it over to you!
Well after these 7 months I really wouldn't say this species is difficult. I think that if given proper highland conditions and kept vertically or any other way that ensures the right ammounts of water in the soil - is actually quite easy.
I agree that getting the right conditions dialed-in is usually a big part of the attempt to grow one of these plants - but getting and keeping those conditions is still a challenge. For the last few years, I tried to grow D. villosa from seed. Some of my plants grew well, but most struggled - even when side-by-side with ones growing well. Many others have no issues with these plants. I changed more conditions with these plants than I ever have. I finally gave up and donated the plants to another - could not find the 'secret'.
Then there's summer vs winter. My N. jamban was producing 3-4" leaves last winter and slowed down so much that it lost all it's pitchers and the leaves were down to 1.5" (maybe). As soon as cooler temps hit, it started growing again and is now making 6" leaves.
Your pics & descriptions give me hope that I can yet find decent conditions for a campy. My last attempt with seed was a miserable failure (I attempted to grow it with media laden with moss spores - aaarrrrghhhh!!)
but maybe I'll learn & have better results the 2nd time around ....
As for U.quelchii - I think it takes a lot of time for this species to get a good growth speed. I waited ca. 200 days for the first (!) new leaf to emerge on my plant (I received a single-leafed plantlet).
Some point in the near future I'll have to share pics of my current U. quelchii's. Two remnant pieces have tormented me but another, received this fall with one leaf, has put out another similarly-sized leaf as well as several smaller ones near the base. In addition, it is currently sending up a 3rd larger leaf. Exactly why my other 2 remain stalled at a tiny size when the same clone in Av's care has surged into growth - remains a mystery .....
(to me anyway).
Three other unrelated updates:
- one of the developing leaves on the U. geminiloba (pics in the
U. geminiloba thread) growing in LFS has surged and is approximately 3 times higher than the others (~3" high). The developing leaf in the peat-based mix appears to have almost stopped growing - even though the pots are next to each other & receive exactly the same treatment.
- the U. asplundii I recently mounted on the treefern slab has added another small leaf & two aerial / wandering roots have appeared. The unfurling, longer leaf has continued to develop as the plant apparently was not setback from the disturbance. Hopefully, it will continue to be happy in it's new home hanging on the side of the tank. I recently purchased a few more treefern slabs and may take the plunge to mount the U. jamesoniana on one (all of the new slabs are amazingly dense).
- yesterday, while showing another CP person my crude setups, I took the opportunity to check on the health of one of my U. reniformis pots that I've allowed to become almost bone-dry. The thick, rennie-style rolons were very healthy and firm even as the media was close to bone dry (I'm drying out 3 of my larger ('Big Sister'-esque size) pots of U. reniformis over the winter to try & induce blooms in the spring).
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Later edit / addition: while wandering through Bob's photofinder, I came across this comment
over here from Barry on U. jamesoniana:
I've had something of a breakthrough with this species the last year or so. I've put the plant in a basket, and continue to water it from above. The plant grows well (but slowly) in the top of the basket, but once tiny little stolons made it to the bottom of the basket they are going insane with growth. I've currently got about 7-10 flowers at any time now, all emerging from the bottom of the basket.
I then located a pic of his basket
over here. This would seem to make a strong statement of support for Peter's thoughts on growing U. campbelliana vertically & gives me a push further on mounting my plant on a treefern slab ..... hmmmm...
++++++++++++++++++++++
Later, later edit
Went ahead & mounted the U. jamesoniana on treefern slab (01.09.11). One added benefit was that when removing the chunk of LFS containing the james, I uncovered the largest leaf yet. Here's the mounted plant w/ approx 5 leaves (upper left one was buried):