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Post by gj on Feb 7, 2021 21:01:37 GMT -5
Incredibly excited to have just discovered my first flower (with plenty more to come) on this unique little plant, especially after I put it through a bit of a rough time when I first got it.
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Post by will20013 on Feb 7, 2021 22:03:44 GMT -5
Awesome! does the flower move like stylidium debile?
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Post by gj on Feb 7, 2021 22:07:48 GMT -5
I believe so! This was my first flower and it has just opened sometime after I did my morning rounds, so I can't say I've seen it in person, but there is a video on YouTube that I saw when I first started learning about them:
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Post by bonfield on Feb 8, 2021 10:49:58 GMT -5
Congratulations! I've found the trigger is a lot more reactive by the afternoon hours when it's had more light.
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Post by gj on Feb 8, 2021 12:11:49 GMT -5
bonfield Thanks! That's a very interesting observation. I wonder if it's purely a matter of available energy, or if maybe it is an advantageous development by the plant, perhaps helping it avoid wasting energy on triggering in response to contact from things less likely to be pollinators. I read somewhere that they were pollinated by bees which (from my observation of the hives we have, though I'm sure they it's a different type of bee they were referring to), really pick up in activity once the sun is in full force.
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Post by bonfield on Feb 8, 2021 12:45:57 GMT -5
This conversation had me diving back into my copy of Doug Darnowski's Triggerplants, and it clears up a bit of this. Rica Erickson was one of the earlier botanists to write about the striking mechanism's sluggishness in cooler/less illuminated conditions, and future studies indicated that the column(the fused filament and style which make up the striking mechanism) can store energy and release it when needed, with additional input of energy needed to reset that would not be as available in the less favourable conditions. I'm pretty sure that like most other forms of stored energy, there is some degree of loss over time, which would make it less effective until "recharged".
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Post by gj on Feb 8, 2021 12:53:00 GMT -5
bonfield, Awesome, thanks for the follow up! Sounds like a book worth reading through at some point, though I've already got a wild assortment of books on the shelf to be read that might take me a couple years to work through haha.
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Post by gj on Apr 21, 2021 17:21:04 GMT -5
The roots on these guys are no joke. Had to get the jaws of life out to give it a new home today.
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Post by dvg on Apr 21, 2021 18:25:21 GMT -5
WoW! Those roots are amazing!
How long had that plant been in that pot?
dvg
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Post by gj on Apr 21, 2021 19:02:18 GMT -5
dvg, almost exactly a year! Hopefully it doesn't throw too big a hissy fit now that all those roots that had grown so aggressively out into the tray I keep it in are now contained in a nice fresh pot of peat and perlite.
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Post by bonfield on Apr 21, 2021 20:10:14 GMT -5
They should be fine with a bit of root loss, these plants are tolerant of quite a bit aside from having their substrate dry for even a short time, they quickly desiccate and never come back. They're annuals in the wild(Australia), so they haven't adapted a long-term strategy to drought outside of seed, but can be kept for years as perennials if constantly kept in the conditions of their active growth season(hydrated).
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Post by dvg on Apr 21, 2021 20:38:27 GMT -5
If desiccation equals death with these plants...
...it's little wonder their roots waste little time searching for a dependable moisture source.
dvg
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Hal
Junior Member
Posts: 61
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Post by Hal on Apr 22, 2021 10:59:45 GMT -5
The roots on these guys are no joke. Had to get the jaws of life out to give it a new home today. Nice. When I get a plant like that I usually cut away the pot!
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Post by peatmoss on Apr 29, 2021 22:31:22 GMT -5
Beautiful plant GJ! Mind if I ask what soil mix you have it in?
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Post by gj on Apr 29, 2021 22:41:46 GMT -5
peatmoss thanks! I've just had it in a 1:1 mix of peat and perlite.
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