How do you do this? Can anyone direct me to links with info on this? I have ONE bloom left, and I want to get it right. This is not a tropical pitcher plant but a regular one. (Not a nep. Not that I know how to hand-pollinate a nep, either.)
How to hand-pollinate a pitcher plant?
I don't know about a link. I read it in a book. I think that Savage Garden actually has illustrations. I just looked. Page 100.
I use a small paint brush and sweep it along the pollen that collects on the upside down head/hood (the style). The anthers hang above it. Or I sweep the anthers. Then I gently fold back the folded up parts of the style that curve towards the anthers and look for the stigmas which look like little hooks, and I sweep the pollen loaded brush along the hooks. I do this several times to make sure I get seed set.
If that makes no sense, I would take the brush load it up with pollen and swish it around really well inside the hood. :)
Oh, look at this, a picture is worth a thousand words. :)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sarracenia_flower_notitles.svg
Sweep the pollen onto the stigmas (hooks). :)
Thank you, starsplitter7! That is exactly what I needed.
Us stars have to stick together!
What kind of Sarracenia do you have? Can you post pictures of your flowers? I am so nosey. :)
Hi BrightStar,
Have look at the info here...
http://www.terraforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=93602
The above had pictures at one time. You can see a detailed drawing of the anatomy of a Sarracenia flower here...
http://nasarracenia.org/index.php?option=com_deeppockets&task=catContShow&cat=2&id=21&Itemid=33
Good luck,
Ron
Thank you, Ron.
Starsplitter, I'm not sure of my variety of pitcher plant. I got it years ago, I think from the guy at carnivousplantsnursery.com. It has red veins when the weather gets warm, and about 20" tall.
I have both open and closed-type pitcher plants. This plant is the tall and open type.
I know I'm not using the correct terminology, but I have a cobra lily, too, with tongues on it. This is my first year with it, so I hope it survives. It is very small, from Lowes.
Star,
It doesn't matter the species. I love them all and think they're beautiful. I am just nosey. :) S. purpurea is my favorite, but I find "Daina's Delight" easiest to grow.
I would love a Cobra Pitcher Plant, but I am sure it would die in my heat. A friend of mine in Florida bought a Cobra as her first carnivorous plants, and she has done an amazing job keeping it alive. I tell her it is because she didn't know it was supposed to perish in the heat. :) The trick is keeping it in full sun without overheating the plant. I know people use ice cubes made with distilled water and water with very cold water to keep them cool. It appears in their native habitat they sit in full sun in very warm conditions, but generally in cool seepy ground.
If it came from Lowes, make sure you take it out of the cube of death, if you haven't done so already. If it is in the cube, I would prop the lid for a couple days, then take the lid off after a couple days. Check it carefully for mold. Make sure it is in the correct growing medium. Some of my plants from Lowes come in pure sphagnum moss which is often too wet and the roots rot. I am not sure with Cobra plants.
The first thing I did with the cobra with the tongue was to take the top off and keep it off, and pull the plastic thingy off the top of the spag moss. I think it is sitting in pure spag moss. I'll check out what kind of soil it is supposed to have...
I just got a sundew from Lowes, too.
I would do the same with the sundew. Remove the dome of death. Transplant in 1/2 peat and 1/2 sand or perlite.
Here's a care sheet for the Cobra.
http://cobraplant.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=77&zenid=cbde39210d811ca26d1839e20e91deb3
Jeff and Jacob have done a lot of research in the field and at their nursery on Cobra Plants.
Thank you for the link, starsplitter7. Maybe I'll order some things from them...like the CD...
The CD is awesome. I know it very well, since I have been helping with editing it. A new copy will be out soon, and I think the updates with pictures are free. Check with them. Everything I know comes from Peter (California Carnivores - Savage Garden-) and Sarracenia Northwest cobraplants.com. I was a happy customer for years before I started helping with editing. You will be astounded if you order plants, how beautiful they are, and how well packed they are.
Sign up for their free newsletter and also the monthly giveaway.
If you are on facebook.com add Sarracenia Northwest. Jacob adds videos on things like propagation, repotting, . . . really well done and easy to understand.
Here's my happy Pinguicula "Titan" from SN. I have never been able to grow butterworts, and now I know the secret. :)
Thank you for your help, starsplitter7.
Starsplitter,
Here is a photo I took of my pitcher plant last summer.
That sure looks like S. "Daina's Delight" to me. :) One of my favorites. Such a pretty plant. Mine gave me 5 blooms this year. Hope you get seed.
Hi again. I built a "bog" - half spag moss and half paver's sand (all-purpose sand). The one I showed the picture of - Dana's Delight, the cobras (one is Scarlett something-or-another), the Darlington cobra (something like that), the sundew - and some crotons and other stuff.
Do you think crotons will be OK in the mix?
I don't know anything about crotons. Does it like acidic conditons, lots of water and no fertilizer?
I was curious about the sundew. If it is a tropical sundew, you will need to bring your bog in during the winter, or remove the sundew. If it is a filiformis sundew, it will be fine outside. There are few species like the round sundew, English sundew that would be happy in a termperate bog garden. If you leave your bog outside make sure you rpotect it from freezing wind and mulch it well.
Most sundews sold at Lowes are D. adalae (Lance Leaf Sundew), and it would be very happy on a sunny window sill. It will not do well in warm weather outside and doesn't like major temperature changes, and doesn't like cold.
If it is a Cape Sundew, it can take light freezes, freezing to the roots.
Could you post a picture of your bog garden? :) This is something I want to do in the future, and I am always looking for ideas. :)
Well, crotons grow like crazy in Florida - so they like a sandy soil. You live in sunny Tampa - and you don't have crotons?
Are they carnivorous? :) (Or succulents?) I am branching out to a vegetable garden right now. :)
I have a confession to make. I have never been a plant person. But then one day four years ago at a flea market I saw this incredible plant. All day I carried the plant around and had people stop and ask me about the plant. I bonded with the plant. I didn't know what it was, but I thought it might be carnivorous. I brought it home, looked it up and it was a Nepenthes ventrata, and my obsession began. Got "The Savage Garden" read it cover to cover many times, and started collecting.
I just looked up Crotons, and I have seen them. They are tropical, so you will need to bring your bog in the winter. They like to be moist, but I am not sure they would like to be as wet as the CPs. I have a feeling it would be happy in another pot, but time will tell.
What about if I just pull the sundew from the bog during the hot summer months(July, August)? I do have a greenhouse, and I was going to put the whole bog in there over the winter anyway. The pitcher plants and cobras came from there anyway.
If the sundew is a lanceleaf, I don't know what to tell you. I lose all of mine because they are so touchy. They are super easy to grow if you find the right spot for it. I haven't been successful yet. I imagine a lanceleaf would enjoy the steady environment of a greenhouse as long as it isn't too hot or too bright.
If it is another type of sundew like a filiformis or a cape sundew, it would perfectly happy out in the hot sun as long as there's plenty of pure water.
Here's a picture of the sundew:
Looks like a Lance Leaf. :) Would be very happy at steady temperatures and a little less light. I tuck mine under other plants. I would put it on a sunny window. I know outside in Florida is too hot and bright. Keep it moist. If you have better luck than I do, please tell me where you put it. :)
Here's a little info.
http://cobraplant.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=26_15&products_id=11&zenid=9dc1efb4f09fd6b15ea1117ae57f4866