Heliamphora

Heliamphora or Sun Pitchers are related to American Pitcher Plants (Sarracenia) and Cobra Lily plant (Darlingtonia). And it is dream plant for most of Carnivorous Plant lover, because many of us thought that it is difficult plant since they are found on the remote tabletop mountains in the Guayana Highlands of Southern Venezuela and northern Brazil. Their original habitat is about 6000-8000 feet above sea level.

Few months ago, I have a opportunity to buy heliamphora. So, just get 1 and try it out. Now, the plant is giving me 2 new growing point. 1 of it is shown below and the others still forming…  Few pitcher is break because of my careless. For those asked my my garden temperature and humidity, sorry. I dont have those figure. Once I got them, I will update here.

1 of new growing point

N. mirabilis var. echinostoma & N. ampullaria x sibuyenensis

Last thursday, im off from work earlier. So decided to visit Fauzi nepenthes nursery that located at Ampang. As usual… end up with some spent and hole at pocket.

When we chit chat, and suddenly he said “Come I show you something”. haha… look at his face, exactly like a child got a sweet!!!! The pitcher that he show me is huge N. mirabilis var. echinostoma. That is pitcher is really huge worm color (cannot recall what color) pitcher with a unusual peristome. So far, human still dont know why the N. mirabilis var. echinostoma pruduce such unusual peristome.

Here is the photo that I got from internet.

http://webhome.idirect.com/~bickell/glyncon1/Mirab.jpg

Here is healty S size N. mirabilis var. echinostoma that I got from Fauzi. The plant have a lots of root till I need to repot later.

The others nepenthes that i got from him is N. ampullaria x sibuyenensis that have reddish pitcher

They are nice… Right?

N. bicalcarata, albo, hookeriana, viking x rafflesianas, veitchii x hurreliana, ampullaria

N. bicalcarata
I got this from a kind forumer. When I got it, the plant dont have pitcher. This is 1st pitcher. And now, there is total 3 pitchers at my house.

N. albomarginata ‘penang red’, I like the white ling of the plant.

N. hookeriana ’speckled hot lip’

N. viking x rafflesianas, the matured pitcher is really nice!!!!

N.veitchii x hurreliana is pitchering now

N. ampullaria

N. ampullaria ‘brunei red’ & N. bicalcarata “red flush”

I started keep nepenthes aka monkey cup aka periuk kera long time ago. My 1st plant is N. ampullaria. Under my careless mistake – forget to water them. The plant is die. It only left me a memory.
Here is the only 1 photo that I taken for the poor guy.

Even nepenthes is genus of carnivorous plant, I dont really like them because of their size and they need shaded place.

Few months ago, nepenthes poison is biting me even I tried hard to get ride  of that. I empty my pocket and got a lovely N. ampullaria ‘brunei red‘. I like the red and round pitcher of the plant. Now, the plant have a lovely house and growing nicely with N. bicalcarata ‘red flush’ as neighbour.

N. bicalcarata ‘red flush’ is award that I got from “PetPitcher Plants competition July 2009“.

N. ampullaria ‘brunei red’ & N. bicalcarata “red flush” as neighbour

N. ampullaria ‘brunei red’

1st pitcher of N. bicalcarata “red flush”

Use transparent A4 paper to protect CP from rain

Drosera will doing better if we protected them from rain. But, it is costly, and troublesome to build a wood or metal cover for them. It will be “NO” for stingy person, especially me (always calculate here and there).

With suitable size of square container (im using transparent disposable plastic food containers) and transparent A4 paper, we can build 1 easily. Make a hole at side of container for water overflow purpose. Distance of the overflow hole from bottom of container is 2cm. Fill in the container with wet spagnum moss. Then, plant yours CP in the spagnum moss.

 

 

 Cut the tranparent A4 paper to shape as shown

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Slip the two shorter sides of the cut tranparent A4 paper into the planted container.

Final product. Cheeers…

S. leucophylla, flava red tube, juthatip soper, farhamii hybrid, metchelliana, scarlet belle

To grow sarracenia is not difficult as many people thought. We just need to provide them a lots of sunlight, and give them water tray. Keep the water level for sarracenias  half way up the pot. Then, the plant will doing fine without any problem until they go for dormancy.

Beside S. stevensii that I posted previous, here are some others sarracenia that I have. Tallest sarracenia that I have at the moment is 20inches +.

Propagate Drosera using water method

Some drosera sp. can propagate using leaf cutting. Beside laying them flat on top of media, some of them also can propagate using water method. On January 2009, I try it with D. paradoxa, D. intermedia ‘cuba’, D. spatulatha and D. binata var extreme leaf. The container will put in shaded place and will do water change if it is diry.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After 2~3 weeks, Drosera that produce plantlet is,
D. intermedia ‘cuba’ –> all leaf produce plantlet, each leaf have 1 ~ 3 plantlet
D. binata –> 1 out of 2 leaf produce plantlet, each leaf have 4 plantlet
D. paradoxa –> I have 2 leaf in water and 1 produce plantlet
D. spatulatha –> no plantlet produce

D. intermedia ‘cuba’ plantlet

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

D. paradoxa plantlet

 

 

Propagate D. paradoxa by leaf pulling

 Many people failed propagate petiolaris complex drosera. Honors talking, I also failed initially until I got some tips from expert to propagate the most common petiolaris complex drosera – D. paradoxa. I try to explain it with my lousy English. Hope you all understand that. 

Take out the mother plant from media. When pulling, try to tearing at least 3 or 4 leaves at a time; make sure pulling direction is towards mother root direction. You’ll have much better results tearing one paradoxa plant into many larger clumps of leaves instead of pulling off individual ones, and percentage of each leaf have “white part” will higher. 

Prepare a spagnum moss at a taufufa container or any transparent container that have cover. Make sure the media is really wet until you can see some water at surface of media. Laying flat those leaf at the media and make sure both end of leaf is touches water especially the base of the leaf where the white part is. Cover the container tightly. place it at bright place. You will get plantlet in 2 weeks time or longer. For those half dry leaves don’t waste it. Sometime, you may get plantlet as well.

Cheeerrrsssss… 
 

 

 

 

 

 

This is how I hold the mother plant and will tear leaves at right hand side.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Clump of leaves that tear off from mother plant.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
It is how mother plant look like after tear off the clump.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Poor D. paradoxa.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
It is how I arrangement my leaf and it will become D. paradoxa plantlet camber soon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
End result of the above. (There are some paradoxa that not at the photo and some of them sold out as well)