Re: Stapelias

John Taylor [The Banshee] (rphjt@minyos.xx.rmit.OZ.AU)
Mon, 10 May 93 09:34:13 +0000

>I grow my _Stapelia_ in hot yet humid conditions, about 20cm from my
>_Sarracenia_ trays. I grow them in plain old garden soil, which is a mix
>of sand,peat,sharp pebbles,humus, in a ratio of about 1:2:1:1. I must be
>doing something right because I don't pay attention to them. I just
>water them from time to time and they do great. If I send you a package of
>CP sometime, remind me and I'll throw in some hunks of a few species.

I grow mine in what I think is ordinary (premium quality) potting mix - I
just found a pot with mix in it from a failure and used that! At present,
my S. hisputa has only the original cutting stem and a half-grown new shoot.
I also managed to pick up a cutting of S. gigantea on the weekend - the
display plant had a flower on it - but it was only a mere 10" or so across...
;-) Not has hairy as my other one, and it lacks the spectacular coloration
of some of the smaller species, but is still very impressive (I didn't even
think about smelling it!)

BTW, I also picked up a Paphiopedlum (spel?) insigne - a common, hardy species
of the Slipper orchids that were mentioned earlier on the list. These have
leaves which are quite different from the fancy hybrids I've seen, being plain
green, and much narrower than the others - more like a Cymbidium leaf (though
shorter). Most species seem to have pretty spotted/striped leaves which are
quite wide and fleshy - like those of the Moth orchids (Phaelopsis spel?).

>John T: If you run out out _Genlisea_ when I get back I can send you
>some _G.hispidula_ seeds.

That would be fantastic, Barry! What are your secrets to growing this thing
properly? Mine were planted in pure sphagnum in a couple of inches of water
(about half-way up the pot) in the fish-tank in the glasshouse.

Back to CPs - my Cephalotus's seem to be dying off again. Top layer of mossy
peat has shrunk away from the edge of the tray I'm growing them in which has
revealed large numbers of "fuzzy" white roots. I haven't yet determined if
these are from the Cephs, or from the few D. whitakeriis that are also growing
it the same tray (they're growing so well, I don't want to move them...) which
seem to multiply vegetatively via rhizomes (?) a la D. erythorhiza. In any
case, I'm sure that very large pots are one of the keys to success with
Cephalotus.

| John Taylor [The Banshee] | Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology |