S. psittacina yellow heads Walton Co, FL
Apr 9, 2024 10:04:45 GMT -5
stevebooth, alexis, and 1 more like this
Post by meizzwang on Apr 9, 2024 10:04:45 GMT -5
more than a decade ago, I tried growing some psittacinas from Walton Co, FL and they were amazing! During the spring/summer, they produced these unusually large "wings" on the traps that were unlike most other populations! There are also lots of GIANT forms from this area, and it would be really exciting to see giant, winged psittacinas!
Of course, I eventually lost them all because I didn't have experience back then: I sat them in water for too long and they rotted like a leucophylla would! Many growers still swear by sitting them in water permanently, but they always rot on me when I do that here. I wish I had figured this out earlier: sarracenia.proboards.com/thread/4178/prevent-rot-sarracenia-leucophylla#:~:text=However%2C%20don't%20ever%20let,common%20theme%20in%20the%20wild.
A few years later, I had acquired some seeds but in the vast ocean of the seed library, but I didn't sow them immediately. 4 years later, I looked and looked and looked and realized they were gone forever! I lost them so there was no chance of getting them to go: it seems like sometimes, the opportunity to acquire them is a once in a lifetime event! Fast forward to the pandemic, I was gifted some seeds by dumb luck and they survived the first year, but not without many struggles: the plants grew very small, weak, and were exposed to several deep freezing events. Psittacinas don't like my climate, it's borderline too cold to grow them here and only some years, they do well but only during the fall when it warms up! Even in my old grow site, psittacinas would languish all spring/summer long and put on massive growth for 3-4 months in the fall.
Keep in mind, psittacinas like it warm and are more sensitive to cold than most other species. Despite every attempt to get them to size up, these Walton Co, FL seedlings haven't grown much in the several years that I've been babying them, and last year, there was some weird weather event where it got very cold at night during the late summer/early fall! Almost my entire psittacina collection of several thousand plants got burned from it, I was cursing left and right for weeks! Newly developing fall traps all got MESSED the F up! The fall show was absolutely ruined and there was practically nothing to show: By early winter, most of the psittacina collection had turned brown, which is not normal in my climate: the fall traps usually persist in perfect condition all winter long unless it freezes hard.
Fast forward to a few weeks ago, I started dividing the psittacina collection and a few old traps from the past grow season were still in tact, while the majority were brown to the ground dead looking! Many of the plants looked completely dead but after repotting many populations, the good news is the roots and rhizomes of almost everything were still in perfect shape! My worse fear was over: the plants weren't affected long term and are recovering very well this year! Long story short, it looks like the psittacinas have a great chance to perform well again if we have favorable weather and I'm dividing/selecting out a bunch of new clones so the general public has a chance to give them a try.
This long "rant" doesn't entirely apply to this thread in particular, but figured it should be put out there. Anyways,From several populations, there are a few individuals that are not anthocyanin free but are quite yellow! Here's s. psittacina 'yellow heads' Walton Co, FL, pics taken 3/25/24:
The plants grew so slowly that moss has almost completely covered them! It sometimes takes all day to clean and divide a single tray of psittacinas, they're so much more labor intensive compared to other species:
Of course, I eventually lost them all because I didn't have experience back then: I sat them in water for too long and they rotted like a leucophylla would! Many growers still swear by sitting them in water permanently, but they always rot on me when I do that here. I wish I had figured this out earlier: sarracenia.proboards.com/thread/4178/prevent-rot-sarracenia-leucophylla#:~:text=However%2C%20don't%20ever%20let,common%20theme%20in%20the%20wild.
A few years later, I had acquired some seeds but in the vast ocean of the seed library, but I didn't sow them immediately. 4 years later, I looked and looked and looked and realized they were gone forever! I lost them so there was no chance of getting them to go: it seems like sometimes, the opportunity to acquire them is a once in a lifetime event! Fast forward to the pandemic, I was gifted some seeds by dumb luck and they survived the first year, but not without many struggles: the plants grew very small, weak, and were exposed to several deep freezing events. Psittacinas don't like my climate, it's borderline too cold to grow them here and only some years, they do well but only during the fall when it warms up! Even in my old grow site, psittacinas would languish all spring/summer long and put on massive growth for 3-4 months in the fall.
Keep in mind, psittacinas like it warm and are more sensitive to cold than most other species. Despite every attempt to get them to size up, these Walton Co, FL seedlings haven't grown much in the several years that I've been babying them, and last year, there was some weird weather event where it got very cold at night during the late summer/early fall! Almost my entire psittacina collection of several thousand plants got burned from it, I was cursing left and right for weeks! Newly developing fall traps all got MESSED the F up! The fall show was absolutely ruined and there was practically nothing to show: By early winter, most of the psittacina collection had turned brown, which is not normal in my climate: the fall traps usually persist in perfect condition all winter long unless it freezes hard.
Fast forward to a few weeks ago, I started dividing the psittacina collection and a few old traps from the past grow season were still in tact, while the majority were brown to the ground dead looking! Many of the plants looked completely dead but after repotting many populations, the good news is the roots and rhizomes of almost everything were still in perfect shape! My worse fear was over: the plants weren't affected long term and are recovering very well this year! Long story short, it looks like the psittacinas have a great chance to perform well again if we have favorable weather and I'm dividing/selecting out a bunch of new clones so the general public has a chance to give them a try.
This long "rant" doesn't entirely apply to this thread in particular, but figured it should be put out there. Anyways,From several populations, there are a few individuals that are not anthocyanin free but are quite yellow! Here's s. psittacina 'yellow heads' Walton Co, FL, pics taken 3/25/24:
The plants grew so slowly that moss has almost completely covered them! It sometimes takes all day to clean and divide a single tray of psittacinas, they're so much more labor intensive compared to other species: