S. flava var. rugelii (population) Okaloosa Co, FL
May 22, 2018 13:33:25 GMT -5
calen, rmeyer, and 5 more like this
Post by meizzwang on May 22, 2018 13:33:25 GMT -5
There are so many populations and different genotypes of S. flava var. rugelii in Okaloosa Co, FL, so while these plants are from that county, they only represent less than a fraction of a percent of what the plants look like out there!
For decades, I've been growing dozens of different populations of S. flava var. rugelii originating throughout it's natural range, and interestingly enough, up until recently, it seemed like you have to go through hundreds of plants to find a few that perform well in cultivation (ie. only a few clones, when babied for Jesus, seem to easily or consistently produce large traps at vegetative maturity). In contrast, go to the wild and you'll see that in a good year, almost every single plant out there has a gigantic trap!
In Northern California, the difference in trap size from a greenhouse grown plant versus the same clone grown outdoors can be dramatic! California Carnivores grows my S. flava var. rugelii clone A indoors, and a year after they acquired the plant from me, they had the biggest traps on it that I've ever seen! Under my outdoor conditions over a 20 year period, they've never gotten as big as the greenhouse grown specimen, but they do consistently produce an abundance of larger than average traps year after year when grown outdoors. Multiple growers throughout the US have also reported consistent large trap production on this clone when grown outdoors.
Speaking of giants or plants that have performed well in cultivation, I have categorized rugelii's into 2 main groups: genetic giants and hybrid vigor giants ( there's probably a combination of the two, but the lines are a bit blurry). Genetic giants grow slowly and produce only a few traps per season but holy Buh-Jesus, they can produce enormous traps, even outdoors in Northern California! They tend to produce giant traps every other year: one year, they'll have mediocre sized traps, but those traps will catch a bunch of insects and store all the energy in the rhizomes. Come the next spring, the traps are giant! However, the rhizome at that point is completely taxed, so the next spring, the traps are smaller. The lack of vigor suggest these may be somewhat inbred individuals. It is also worth mentioning the presence or absence of flowers in the spring does not seem to significantly affect trap size.
Hybrid vigor giants, on the other hand, produce an abundance of traps throughout the grow season, many of which can be giant or larger than the average rugelii, but since they pump out so many traps, the average size of the pitcher may be smaller than a genetic giant. The first few pitchers of the season from a hybrid vigor giant tend to be very big, followed by large traps but nothing giant afterwards. However, the size of the subsequent pitchers on hybrid vigor giants is highly environmentally determined: Say the first few traps from the plant consume an F-ton of insects, the subsequent traps, when grown under optimal conditions, may all turn out large too! If the environmental conditions are perfect, a hybrid vigor giant can produce nothing but large traps!
So what are these Okaloosa Co, FL rugeliis pictured below? To start, I've grown a lot of different populations of rugelii's from Okaloosa Co, FL, and most performed like your every day flava var. rugelii. However, this particular population of select individuals pictured below seem to be mostly genetic giants! For one, while the traps aren't very tall yet, they have incredible girth considering the relatively small sized rhizomes! Another peculiar observation: some of the giant traps are still developing as we speak, which seems a bit late for Rugelii's. My impression is that they this species usually spits out most of their traps in April/early May around here.... It'll be interesting to see how these progress over the years.
Before I spill the pics, many of you out there in the past year or so have received divisions from these exact plants, so keep an eye on them and feel free to post your experience here! Photos taken 5/21/18:
Note: a few traps in this pic show leaf tip burn, that's from my fluctuating water quality. It got very salty a month ago, but now it's back to normal:
For decades, I've been growing dozens of different populations of S. flava var. rugelii originating throughout it's natural range, and interestingly enough, up until recently, it seemed like you have to go through hundreds of plants to find a few that perform well in cultivation (ie. only a few clones, when babied for Jesus, seem to easily or consistently produce large traps at vegetative maturity). In contrast, go to the wild and you'll see that in a good year, almost every single plant out there has a gigantic trap!
In Northern California, the difference in trap size from a greenhouse grown plant versus the same clone grown outdoors can be dramatic! California Carnivores grows my S. flava var. rugelii clone A indoors, and a year after they acquired the plant from me, they had the biggest traps on it that I've ever seen! Under my outdoor conditions over a 20 year period, they've never gotten as big as the greenhouse grown specimen, but they do consistently produce an abundance of larger than average traps year after year when grown outdoors. Multiple growers throughout the US have also reported consistent large trap production on this clone when grown outdoors.
Speaking of giants or plants that have performed well in cultivation, I have categorized rugelii's into 2 main groups: genetic giants and hybrid vigor giants ( there's probably a combination of the two, but the lines are a bit blurry). Genetic giants grow slowly and produce only a few traps per season but holy Buh-Jesus, they can produce enormous traps, even outdoors in Northern California! They tend to produce giant traps every other year: one year, they'll have mediocre sized traps, but those traps will catch a bunch of insects and store all the energy in the rhizomes. Come the next spring, the traps are giant! However, the rhizome at that point is completely taxed, so the next spring, the traps are smaller. The lack of vigor suggest these may be somewhat inbred individuals. It is also worth mentioning the presence or absence of flowers in the spring does not seem to significantly affect trap size.
Hybrid vigor giants, on the other hand, produce an abundance of traps throughout the grow season, many of which can be giant or larger than the average rugelii, but since they pump out so many traps, the average size of the pitcher may be smaller than a genetic giant. The first few pitchers of the season from a hybrid vigor giant tend to be very big, followed by large traps but nothing giant afterwards. However, the size of the subsequent pitchers on hybrid vigor giants is highly environmentally determined: Say the first few traps from the plant consume an F-ton of insects, the subsequent traps, when grown under optimal conditions, may all turn out large too! If the environmental conditions are perfect, a hybrid vigor giant can produce nothing but large traps!
So what are these Okaloosa Co, FL rugeliis pictured below? To start, I've grown a lot of different populations of rugelii's from Okaloosa Co, FL, and most performed like your every day flava var. rugelii. However, this particular population of select individuals pictured below seem to be mostly genetic giants! For one, while the traps aren't very tall yet, they have incredible girth considering the relatively small sized rhizomes! Another peculiar observation: some of the giant traps are still developing as we speak, which seems a bit late for Rugelii's. My impression is that they this species usually spits out most of their traps in April/early May around here.... It'll be interesting to see how these progress over the years.
Before I spill the pics, many of you out there in the past year or so have received divisions from these exact plants, so keep an eye on them and feel free to post your experience here! Photos taken 5/21/18:
Note: a few traps in this pic show leaf tip burn, that's from my fluctuating water quality. It got very salty a month ago, but now it's back to normal: