I'm not that good either. Since our plant has a peristome thinner and
different than both N. veitchii and N. ampullaria, it is probably
mislabelled. Our plant produces cylindrical pitchers, heavily mottled
red, leaves are smooth and lance-shaped like gracilis, and has decurrent
petioles. The plant originally was bought from Bruce Lee Bednar.
Looking at the list of plants Bruce sells, the hybrid that would look the
closest to our plant is probably N. x 'Dwarf Peacock'. This is a hybrid
between N. thorelii (has decurrent petioles and certain clones are very
red like our plant) and N. x 'Savannah Rose', which is a hybrid between
N. khasiana and N. ventricosa. Our plant has thick and somewhat
succulent leaves that reminds me of N. ventricosa too. This is just a
guess.
>Does anyone know if/when the first CPN for 1993 will be out? And for
>that matter, anyone received a CPN seed bank update? I sent Gordon
>Snelling a sase waaaaa aay back in January (Hoping to have enough time
>to stratify some Sarrecenia seed s), and another one in April. No
>response :(.
The first one of the year is probably a double issue and may come at the
end of June. The long-awaited article written by Barry should be
included, titled something similar to "A Slow Day in the Greenhouse".
I'm still waiting for Gordon to respond from a letter sent last November.
----------------
Perry writes:
>1) What exactly is an 'in vitro' culture. Yes, I know what the Latin
>means, and I've had some biology, but I don't know how such a culture is
>made, and, more importantly, how it must be cared for at first.
Jan knows much more about 'in vitro' culture than I do. It just refers
to plants grown in sterile media. I don't know how Uwe will ship the
plants. He mentions that a Phytosanitary Certificate will be needed, but
I am almost certain that sterile-grown plants still in sterile media can
be imported into the USA without a certificate. I've also seen photos of
in-vitro plants growing one each in very tiny test tubes and this might
be the way Uwe grows his plants. Seems a lot of trouble for the grower
to do it this way when he can have several hundred plants growing in a
single larger flask. It would be a safer way to ship the plants though
to grow them individually in test tubes as the plant is immobilized in
the medium and would be safer in transit. The initial culture is
probably made by sterilizing seeds, then germinating them on sterile
medium. I don't know the method used to keep the culture going for
further generations when the initial plants grow too large. Maybe a few
of the sterile plants are chopped up and put in new media, the dormant
buds then break and new plants grow.
>2) Is the survival of such a culture in transit from Germany to the US
>a good prospect? I would be willing to pay extra for a next day
>delivery (or the international equivalent, maybe 2 days?).
There was at least one other taking part in the group sale that mentioned
getting a faster delivery. We should have enough people taking part so
that each person's contribution to the total shipping cost is not
exorbitant. Plants usually should show little or no damage from being in
boxes up to a week if they are not exposed to extreme heat or cold.
After that, they will start growing while in the dark and be a little
etiolated but should recover with no permanent damage.
>3) Does such a shipment get delayed at the airport anyway for an
>inspection? In that case, rushing the order may not help.
I have to send a letter to the Dept. of Agriculture to see how this is
done. The box will probably be inspected in New York and then sent on.
>4) The e-mail said "...I assume these are VERY small plants. If the
>Nepenthes are more than an inch in diamater, I'd be surprised." An inch-
>dia. Nepenthes vine is pretty big in my experience. Are we talking
>about a thin section of the vine, which has been cultivated in a sterile
>environment? What exactly can one expect these "plants" to look like,
>and how delicate are they compared to a fully intact plant?
That's one inch from leaf tip to the opposite leaf tip. Nepenthes grow
in a rosette form when small. A one-inch in diameter Nepenthes seedling
represents a plant six months to a year old. Vines with longer
internodes should be formed when the plants are 2-3 years old. Plants
should look and be treated identical to seedlings.
James writes:
>I'm also curious about this N. rajah in vitro. I never understood
>exactly how much it cost - looked like at least $50. There were some
>others listed that interested me as well. How hard is it to establish
>an in vitro plant in growing medium? How long can it continue to live
>in the tube (or how large can it get before it should be removed?) I'd
>love to have N. rajah but am fairly certain I'd have a tough time with
>it once I potted it up. Could someone who has experience with N. rajah
>repost some cultivation info?
I posted some cultivation info last month. It should be in the archives.
If anyone is buying N. rajah, they should also get the CPN 1983 volume
that contains the detailed cultural info. Jan should be able to help
here with your question about establishing in-vitro plants. I only have
experience with in-vitro as it relates to growing orchids. If Uwe sends
the plants in test tubes and growing in sterile media, then you can make
a choice whether to remove the plant or keep it in the tube. The only
reason to remove it would be to prevent losing the plant in case of a
fungus attack - this can kill a plant in a matter of hours. I would
recommend removing the plant from the tube but the plant would grow
faster if you keep it in the tube until it outgrows the tube or the
medium dries. When removing it, be sure to remove 100% of the agar from
the roots. With an orchid seedling, the whole plant is washed with a
dilute Physan solution (a type of fungicide). I don't know what should
be used with CP. Once the agar is washed off, the plant is treated the
same as a seedling. The plant should be kept very humid after removing
it from the tube for at least a few weeks.