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Post by gj on Mar 30, 2020 7:38:38 GMT -5
I have some questions regarding my first Utrics that I received from Bonfield last fall. In both my U. alpina "Henri Pittier" and U. praetermissa, I've got some new growth that I've not seen before. In the U. alpina "Henri Pittier" it has thrown up these thin stalks with tiny bulbous heads on them: Are these little flowers, or something else? Also, as you can see on the right side of the little cluster, some look as if there are drying out, and I was wondering if this was perhaps due to a lack of humidity or nutrition, or perhaps when I was giving the plant a shot of Maxsea, it maybe landed on those heads and burned them. Then the new growth (the two growths in the center of the picture) in the U. praetermissa is thicker, with what look like nodes up the sides: Once again, mostly wondering if this is flowers, or something else.
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Post by dvg on Mar 30, 2020 12:39:29 GMT -5
Hi Gary, I can confirm that you have two flower stalks emerging in your U. praetermissa pot. Congrats!
With your alpina, it is difficult for me to tell from that angle and from the blurriness of the tip shown, to determine if that is a flower stalk or if it is another leaf stolen.
And part of my problem in making that determination, is that my alpina has not flowered yet, so i don't have that first hand experience in recognizing their flower stalks, immediately.
Can you take another clearer shot, maybe a close-up of the alpina structure in question?
I've seen the way their leaf stolens form, so a sharp image of the growing tip could rule them out, thus leaving you with a flower stalk.
dvg
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Post by dvg on Mar 30, 2020 13:40:16 GMT -5
Gary, just curious what photoperiod your Utrics were on over the winter, as well as your daytime and night time temps, if you kept track of them.
I'm thinking some of my Utrics might have been happier if they were kept in warmer conditions over the winter.
By comparing my temperature and lighting conditions with other growers growing the same species clones, we might be better able to dial in the cultivation conditions to allow these species to thrive in our collections.
dvg
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Post by gj on Mar 30, 2020 14:07:15 GMT -5
Thanks DVG! I believe the room that they were in was usually between 20C (Maybe more like 25C on the really sunny days), and around 15C at night. Photoperiod wise, I had looked up the photoperiod in Venezuela (where Henri Pittier National Park is), and it said average daylight at its shortest is about 11.5 hours (source here) so I just kept one of my cheap LED's over it set to 12 hours a day. They are in a pretty sunny window so on the bright days, I covered them so they'd still get an extra shot of light, but not sustained direct sun on top of the LED. In regard to my U. alpina "Henri Pittier" question, here are some more photos: In this first picture, it's the cluster of thread like stems coming up, with little bulbous heads the red/brown ones appear to have dried up. I seem to have misplaced my little gadget for taking macro photos with my phone's camera, so I used a mini magnifying glass to get a close up of the heads in this next picture, so apologies for the less than stellar picture.
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Post by dvg on Mar 30, 2020 14:34:51 GMT -5
Thanks for that cultivation info Gary, my photoperiod was allowing for 9.5 hour nights. I compromised with the shorter night time hours in order to keep the other plants happy and to encourage active growth. But time will tell if my Utrics decide to reciprocate with a compromise in flowers, as well. Gary, I was confused as to what you meant before and was concentrating on the out of focus leaf stolen growing up above, your intended objects, which were in perfect focus - lol. Those are the spore capsules from the moss below, sent up on thin stalks to be clear of the moss, for when the capsules ripen enough to violently explode spores upward at over 100 kilometers per hour, in less than one thousandth of a second, if they were spores from a Sphagnum species. Apparently, Sphagnum spores are expelled in smoke ring-like vortices, that allow them to travel upward much further than it they were just scattered about willy-nilly. www.wired.com/2010/07/exploding-moss/The link had a YouTube video showing a very impressive looking smoke ring being fired off into the sky during Burning Man 2008, to show how effective this smoke ring-like spore dispersal method can be. My "Henri Pittier" clone hasn't flowered yet, but Cole told me that all of his regular alpina clones are either flowering or sending up flower stalks, while growing in open air on a south facing windowsill Might be time to get a regular alpina, put in on a windowsill, and let it do it's thing, naturally. It don't get simpler than that. dvg
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Post by dvg on Mar 30, 2020 16:47:03 GMT -5
Here is link with a photo sequence of the Sphagnum spores being expelled, as well as video showing the explosiveness of this spore dispersal method. phys.org/news/2010-07-mosses-mushroom-clouds-spores-video.htmlAnd i in no way claim to have known anything previous to today about this vortex style of spore dispersal. It really is amazing what a person can learn in an afternoon with a surplus of time on their hands. dvg
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Post by gj on Mar 30, 2020 17:51:07 GMT -5
I was wondering if there had been a miscommunication there haha. I knew it wasn't a great photo but didn't think the little heads were that terribly out of focus. And the fact that they are moss spore caps would explain why I couldn't find anything that looked like them. I was barking up the wrong tree looking for pictures of U. alpina flowers. I kept thinking maybe because it was a somewhat recent division, and I'm just learning, that it was stressed and putting out sad miniature flowers, and then they were dying from a lack of something, so I actually feel quite relieved now that I know what they are!
If Cole is keeping his U. alpina in a southern window, maybe I've been coddling mine a little to much when it comes to light, and perhaps a bit more might be beneficial for flowering. I'll keep it in its routine for now, but maybe I'll try that in the future.
Thank you for your help DVG! I also just clued in now that all this time, I've been anglicising Henri into Henry, so thank you for indirectly pointing that out as well.
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Post by dvg on Mar 30, 2020 18:59:35 GMT -5
Haha Gary! ;D What threw me off was i saw the spore capsules and quickly dismissed them as Utric flowers, and was then trying to focus on the out of focus leaf stolon in the background and above the spore capsules. At one point I even thought to myself "how did he manage to get all the spore pods into focus and miss the flower stalk? in the background?" And that wrong assumption is what has me laughing so hard now, in seeing how miscommunications can occur so easily, even when we are trying to help. On another note, i dropped into Home Depot last Saturday, to pick up some supplies and a pair of T8 four foot tubes -6500k. The new tubes are replacing the old ones, above my Utrics tomorrow, to help stimulate new growth and hopefully more flowers as well. dvg
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Post by gj on Apr 2, 2020 18:54:26 GMT -5
Had a giggle to myself when I went to dig up some hogweed, and stumble across some wild moss with the spore caps: Isn't it funny how it seems like whenever you are made aware of something, all of a sudden, you manage to see that thing everywhere.
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Post by dvg on Apr 2, 2020 20:23:55 GMT -5
It's kinda hard to unsee them now, isn't it? dvg
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Post by dvg on Apr 28, 2020 19:17:47 GMT -5
How are those Utricularia praetermissa flower stalks doing for you GJ?
My praetermissa has sped up its flower stalk growth since the nighttime cool room temps have risen up a few degrees to 13°c.
I noticed yours were a bit ahead of mine, so was wondering if yours are getting any closer to flowering.
dvg
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Post by gj on Apr 28, 2020 19:45:51 GMT -5
Just took a quick picture:
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Post by dvg on Apr 29, 2020 9:47:31 GMT -5
Those flower stalks have really grown fast under your care.
Nice work!
dvg
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Post by gj on Apr 29, 2020 10:29:00 GMT -5
Thanks DVG!
Having looked at it everyday, I didn't think it had really grown that much. But then, after taking the picture, I looked back at the original post and was surprised to see just how far it has come along.
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Post by dvg on Apr 29, 2020 16:59:17 GMT -5
It's kinda like watching hair grow, it just keeps getting longer until it's cut, and then everyone notices. Yours are definitely still ahead of mine. Just measured the flower stalk here and it grows up vertically to just over 3" tall, before it veers off horizontally for another inch and a half, looking like an upside-down hockey stick. My plant survived the cool nights here over the winter, but it appears that it needn't have been that cold. Good to see that your's has thrived quite well with the warmer night time temps. dvg
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