RE: Zombie VFT flower stalk

From: KenC@casadyg.com
Date: Thu Jan 23 1997 - 14:37:29 PST


Date: Thu, 23 Jan 97 14:37:29 PST
From: KenC@casadyg.com
To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com
Message-Id: <aabcdefg343$foo@default>
Subject: RE: Zombie VFT flower stalk

Gary,

You wrote:
<To my surprise, the flowering tip perked up and
is now bending upward and the buds have noticably swelled and are taking on the
characteristic whitish hue of buds about to flower.>

When I read this I couldn\325t help but chuckle a little. I had the very same
response (for the same reason). However, I had one bud actually flower before
the whole stalk suddenly went black. Very odd!

<My four other VFTs are STILL producing new leaves. As the elder
daughter in _Poltergeist_ screamed: "WHAT'S HAPPENING!?">

Although there will be many who disagree with me, I firmly believe that VFT do
not need a complete dormancy (no growth at all). I have 5 large pots full of VFT
outside and they have been thriving now for about 4 years. The closest to
dormancy I have ever seen is the loss of the longer, larger leaves in favor of
much shorter, closer-to-the-ground types every Fall. None of them have ever
stopped growing altogether, and yet each Spring they come back bigger than ever
(in fact, I may have to divide & re-plant this Spring). Usually, I do cut back
on the watering a bit, but this year we have had so much rain it has been almost
impossible.

Hope this helps!

Ken Cusson, Secretary/Treasurer
ICPS



This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Tue Jan 02 2001 - 17:30:58 PST