I second this. The number of outlets and variety of plants I have
access to is very limited. I would love to find more places to get CP
from.
Perhaps what we need is an "infomercial" page in the WWW page so that
people who want to buy plants can browse this. Anyone interested in
buying plants could be pointed at the WWW page.
> I do not have a collection with which to trade specimens
>against, and must rely on the offerings of other established collectors
>and growers.
In my experience this is always a problem. New collectors cannot
offer very much in terms of a trade so unless someone sells the plants
then it is very difficult to build a collection. Seed is one way but
most new growers need to get a bit of confidence with an established
plant before taking on raising a batch of delicate seedlings.
Established collectors giving away plants is another but there is only
so much one can do especially if you suspect that some people may be
sticking their hand out because the plant is free.
When I read about the pros/cons of selling vs trading my mind was
taken back to a conversation I had with another collector. This
collector was commenting that the display of pygmy drosera at a show
was not very good and that he "had much better at home" - for a start
I was disappointed that the collector (a member of the society holding
the show) did not bring any plants along. He then went on to say that
he had many of the same plants which lead me to ask why he did not
have some on the trading table, "oh no, I don't sell my plants. I
only trade" was his reply. I knew that this guy had been collecting
for a long time and there was not much that he would be interested in.
So where does that leave the beginners? With nothing, basically.
Trading plants is fine but it only really works well between "peers"
that is people that have collections that are complementary. People
that are starting out need to have some access to plants. Being able
to buy plants is very popular as the trading table at some shows I
have been involved in clearly shows. The most gratifying bit is to
have someone come back the next year and tell you the plant they
bought is doing well and they are back for some different plants.
Oh, and so this is not 100% pure rant :-) I have a problem that I was
wondering if anyone can help me with. The problem is weeds. I have a
couple of varieties that seem to be endemic in my collection and no
matter how hard I try I cannot get rid of them! One weed is, I
believe, called liverwort - it is a thick green leaf that sits on the
top of the peat, the underside is a mat of fine roots. Ripping this
up is fruitless as it's very difficult to get it all out but if I
leave it there the rotten stuff starts choking my CP. About the best
I have come up with is to bury the weed under some peat which it seems
it cannot cope with. The other weed I do not know the name of. It is
a rosette of thin stalks with small spiky leaves arranged in bunches
up the stalk, mostly decumbent up rises up at the end of the stalk
where the flower/seed head is borne. This weed has very long fine
roots and will quickly take over a pot crowding out the CP (and I
suspect it does something to the peat making it unsuitable for CP).
The best treatment for this weed I have found is repotting and then
followup by ripping our the young plantlets that come up.
Unfortunately if I don't do this very regularly the weed gets to the
point where I cannot do this. Anyone got any good ideas about how I
can cope with these pests?
BTW most of my plants are either in peat or peat/sand/whatever mix if
this makes a difference.
-- Brett Lymn, Computer Systems Administrator, AWA Defence Industries
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"Also, it takes a lot longer to get up North ..... The slow way"
- "Clever Trevor" Ian Drury