Jim, since you have (at least) grown them, what do you think you did or did not do that caused their demise?

I had one for about 4 years that got really huge - hung down at least 4ft. from its pot and had great big pitchers. Then I moved it to where it was getting watered with my irrigation water from the well, and it didn't like that one bit. It's still hanging there but it is dead as a doornail.

I now have another that I keep in the pool cage to attract any stray mosquitoes that get in. I've had it for a year or so and have been very careful to always water it with only rain water. It does get a spray with orchid fertilizer once in a while, but a very light spray.

My thinking is that they're really sensitive to water quality.

Mine is still in the same pot with spaghnum moss that I rooted it. Even though it seems happy, should I re-pot with another media and perhaps another pot?

Looks like it's doing really well as it is, Ken. Maybe it will need re-potting at the beginning of the summer though. Mine was very happy in just regular potting mix (the big one) and stayed in the same pot I bought it in for a couple of years.

If they are outdoors where they can catch lots of bugs, they don't need much nutrient from the soil. If yours gets a little bit of orchid fert sprayed over it occasionally while its in your greenhouse, I'd think it will keep it very happy. Once it's outside and the weather is warm, it will take off.

Elaine.

Update on my nice variegated Abutilon - it came c/w buds on it, but a couple of them dropped before I got time to re-pot it.

Today one is opening, a luscious salmon pink with red veins. A couple more new buds coming too!

Mine has gotten tall and wants to flop over on the sidewalk. I need to work on a way to tie it in place.

Jim

Maybe a little strategic pruning will help, too? This one is about 20in. tall with a very sturdy trunk and it has definitely been pruned already.

Does yours lose its leaves in the winter, Jim? I've been keeping these little fellows indoors since they just arrived from Hawaii where it never gets cold . . . but wondering how they will do going forward with our "winter" weather.

No, mine keeps its leaves all year and it has been in the ground for about three years now.

I took advantage of this beautiful weather to rip my pummelo tree out of the ground and planted a palm there. It had been suffering with greening and the high water last summer was another blow. The palm is a Trithrinax acanthocoma, sometimes called a spiny fiber palm. I also removed a sweet osmanthus that was getting too much shade and replaced it with a false aralia. I must get the garden in shape as I'm on the MG tour of gardens again this year.

Jim

Ripping a pummelo out of the ground does not sound like a simple chore. Are you just masquerading as a mild mannered gardener when you are really have super powers? It rained here yesterday and it is supposed to be in the low 30's a couple of nights this week so we sloshed through standing water to pick the last of the tangerines this afternoon. I am afraid all this water we have had will weaken my citrus trees, I am already questioning if the grapefruit has greening.

About 3 years ago I noticed the pummelos were getting smaller. They also became dryer and the taste was a bit off. Then there was some leaf drop and dead wood. I noticed irregular yellow blotches on some of the leaves so I knew the tree was on the way out. Then we had a ton of rain last summer and the water table inundated the roots of two of my citrus trees. I have already removed the Wakiwa tangelolo and the pummelo went today. Both have been replaced by rare palms, giving me a total of 38 palm species in the garden.

Alice, be careful of high water around your citrus. Nothing will kill them faster.

Jim

Prior to citrus being grown commercially in Florida the plantation owners of the sea island where I live brought citrus back from Spain and started growing it here. The plan was that it was supposed to be a cash crop but the "late unpleasantness" in the late 1800's put the kibosh on that idea. I would imagine the occasional cold weather would have done the commercial aspect in eventually.

Our water table is close to the soil surface, about 2' down you hit water on a good day and it is salt water. Amazingly, grapefruits thrive around here, the trees are enormous, I have seen some 40' high with fruit rotting on the trees because no one can get up there to pick it without a bucket truck. They must love the extra moisture. My own grapefruit tree looks good, the leaves have good color and no blotching or dimples, but the fruits all have a brown spot on the skin. It looks like a place where the fruit might have rubbed a branch or something but every fruit has a blotch or two. It is all on the surface, the flesh itself is fine and still tastes right. There is a slight stain beneath the calyx, not sure if that is truly indicative of greening in my case or not.

It is raining again today and the tides are unusually high so the rain has no where to go. This has been an unusually wet year, come spring we will know what has survived and what has drowned. We actually had a weather warning the other night about trees falling from the saturated ground.

See that pink stain on the calyx?

In the 50's and 60's there were citrus groves all over S. LA, MS, and AL and there were large groves of tung oil trees in S. MS. Climate change wiped every single citrus grove off the map and Hurricane Camille wiped out the tung oil industry here. Maybe climate change will enable citrus to grow again in the southern parts of those states. Time will tell. My Corsican Citron grew into a fine tree but I had to bring her in each fall. The neat thing about that citrus tree was that it was pretty much in bloom all year long and was constantly producing fruit. Its gone now but I started a few cuttings before she was sold. I don't know whether I'll let them grow or not. I won't have room to bring them in if I let them grow into trees.

Tung Oil trees are almost weeds here but their flowers are so lovely in the spring.

It has been so long since those tung oil groves were here, I don't even remember the flowers.

The Billbergia 'Marble Rainbow' I got from ken

Such a beauty, Carol and two blooms at once as well!

That is a big Bromeliad!

And now I need to google Tung Oil tree.

Hi Ken,

Is your Nepenthes alata the one that develops red streaks and spots? It looks really good so you must be doing something right.

All Nepenthes need a loose potting medium that stays wet but doesn't hold water, ie: sphagnum moss. You could add perlite or lavarock to it but it's not necessary. Just keep it loose. N. alata is a highland pitcher meaning it can take some colder temperatures. Lowland pitchers drop dead at temps lower than 60. If the pitchers don't develop properly and dry up, the plant needs more humidity. The kind of water really doesn't matter unless its really horrible - it's more a question of how much water. They love overhead watering as it adds humidity but hate sitting in water.

I have just one Nepenthes: N. ventricosa. I chose it because its a highland pitcher and my greenhouse often drops to close to 50 degrees at night. Also, its a very compact grower; it will never have branches 10 feet long (but your's will).


How come we don't have a carnivorous plant forum?

Daisy

Maybe not enough people interested in those particular plants to justify a whole new forum, Daisy but there is a thread about them . . somewhere. I'll go looking and see if I can find it, then come back and post the link for you.

I have a nice Nepenthes right here beside me at my desk since it doesn't like the cold too much, and we're headed down into the 30's tonight. Had to take it outside yesterday while it was still warm and water it with rain water since it also doesn't like our high pH tap water either. A true diva, what can I say?

Found the Carnivorous Plants thread in the Tropicals forum:
The thread "Carnivorous plants" in Tropicals forum