10 gallon tank of CP

rabbit (g-webb@students.uiuc.edu)
Wed, 3 Jan 1996 09:23:14 -0600 (CST)

Hi, my name is Garth and Ive been reading the group for a while
now but this is my first post. I am a student at the university of
illinois and have been interested in all kinds of living hobbies (ie.
fish, lizards, plants, etc). My first experience with CP was from an ad
in the New Yorker magazine. It advertized VFT seeds and it struck me
that they would be fun to grow. Well when I got them they were
pulverized but I didnt know until they sent out another batch with an
appology about the first (I planted the dust that was the first batch
wondering at the extreemely small size of the seeds.)
My second attempt was another VFT and a cobra lily which I bought at a
wonderful science surplus store (american science and surplus.) which
occasionally sells those CP which come in 3 in pots and a clear plastic
dome (cup). I killed those because I actually wanted to see the plants
as a foggy drinking cup on top of a red plastic pot isnt very exciting.
Now I am on my second 10 gal. terrarium and Ive learned alot more
but I'm still no expert. My plants are doing better than any other
attempt, (Im even getting some flowers), but I fear that there is
something wrong long term that Ive never had CP long enough to discover.
Right now (excuse me for using the common names) I have in my 10
gal. 1 butterwort, 5 VFT, 1 sundew, 2 pitcher plants (not sure what), and
something which looks a bit like the other pitcher plants but is red.
The questions I have are these:
1) I know that CP need a dormant period of less water and light.
Are these plants far to different to be placed under the same dormant
conditions?
2) I bought my pitcher plants from peter pauls (both the same
kind, both came as roots) and one developed 3 smallish pitchers while the
other shot up about 8 inches with what i thought were leaves but actually
were very thin long pitchers. Is this right?
3) My plants are sitting in about 2.5 inches of soggy peat
moss. Is that enough for the VFT or are their roots in danger of rotting?

Thanks for any advice. Sorry I couldnt be more specific about my
plant names.

- Garth Webb -----------------------------------------------------------------
A limerick packs laughs anatomical
Into space that is quite economical.
But the good ones I've seen
So seldom are clean,
And the clean ones so seldom are comical.
- "http://www.cen.uiuc.edu/~gw12222/" ----------------------------------------