Post by jonnyq on Aug 18, 2008 21:10:27 GMT
Greetings!
My name's Jonathan and I'm a "molecular technolgist" (ne "lab tech" at a cancer diagnostic laboratory at a New York City hospital. Right now I'm living on Long Island (no, I don't pronounce it "Lon Gailand.") but am in the process of buying a house with my fiancee in sunny Brooklyn.
I have pretty limited experience with carnivorous plants, but was fascinated with Dionaea from an early age. I went the usual adolescent path of buying a store-bought plant, which proceeded to flower. A book I had read around age 10 suggested that I pollinate the flowers when they bloomed. (The same book suggested that I feed my plant lean hamburger meat, so you can imagine how this particular story ends. Looking back, knowing what I now know, I see now the vast and tragic error of my naive and misinformed ways.)
Now I'm trying to get back into carnivorous plants... I'm starting with Dionaea, and as an adventure I'm trying to grow from seed... (*GASP!*)
I frequently (FREQUENTLY) consult Barry Rice's pages, as well as Sarracenia Northwest and a few other online resources as well... I've managed to not screw it up TOO much yet... I'm about two months in; 2 of my first 20 seeds have germinated (from an unstratified batch), and 1 of my recent 20 seeds have germinated (from a stratified batch sown about 3 weeks ago.) Fungus is actively hunting the rest as we speak. The fight does not go well. (I'll scream for help in the Dionaea forums... None of my Drosera seeds germinated, so I've walked away from Drosera for now...)
Somehow I doubt the hard part is over, but I'm so fascinated by the life cycle that I figured I'd at least try to see if I could screw up Barry Rice's advice as little as possible in my attempts... (I suppose that I'm off to a slow start, what with starting with seed and all.)
Anyhow, glad to be here, and glad that these forums are around!
My name's Jonathan and I'm a "molecular technolgist" (ne "lab tech" at a cancer diagnostic laboratory at a New York City hospital. Right now I'm living on Long Island (no, I don't pronounce it "Lon Gailand.") but am in the process of buying a house with my fiancee in sunny Brooklyn.
I have pretty limited experience with carnivorous plants, but was fascinated with Dionaea from an early age. I went the usual adolescent path of buying a store-bought plant, which proceeded to flower. A book I had read around age 10 suggested that I pollinate the flowers when they bloomed. (The same book suggested that I feed my plant lean hamburger meat, so you can imagine how this particular story ends. Looking back, knowing what I now know, I see now the vast and tragic error of my naive and misinformed ways.)
Now I'm trying to get back into carnivorous plants... I'm starting with Dionaea, and as an adventure I'm trying to grow from seed... (*GASP!*)
I frequently (FREQUENTLY) consult Barry Rice's pages, as well as Sarracenia Northwest and a few other online resources as well... I've managed to not screw it up TOO much yet... I'm about two months in; 2 of my first 20 seeds have germinated (from an unstratified batch), and 1 of my recent 20 seeds have germinated (from a stratified batch sown about 3 weeks ago.) Fungus is actively hunting the rest as we speak. The fight does not go well. (I'll scream for help in the Dionaea forums... None of my Drosera seeds germinated, so I've walked away from Drosera for now...)
Somehow I doubt the hard part is over, but I'm so fascinated by the life cycle that I figured I'd at least try to see if I could screw up Barry Rice's advice as little as possible in my attempts... (I suppose that I'm off to a slow start, what with starting with seed and all.)
Anyhow, glad to be here, and glad that these forums are around!
I did try growing new seedlings at my new job, but ran into fungus/mold problems that killed the sprouting seedlings, due to poor air circulation.
