Page 1 of 3
Windowsill darlingtonia?
Posted: Thu Jun 23, 2022 6:03 pm
by VelvetTooth
I live in LA where summer highs are usually low to mid 80s. Even in just 2 weeks of this temperature my cobra has begun developing reddish brown spots which I’m assuming is due to hot temperatures. I used to top water it twice a day, but ever since the mild heat wave of high 80s I’ve been using refrigerated water. Would it just be better to grow it in a sunny windowsill except for winter?
Re: Windowsill darlingtonia?
Posted: Thu Jun 23, 2022 6:14 pm
by Camden
How much sun is it currently in?
Re: Windowsill darlingtonia?
Posted: Thu Jun 23, 2022 6:15 pm
by VelvetTooth
Full sun in the morning and moved to full shade in the afternoon
Re: Windowsill darlingtonia?
Posted: Thu Jun 23, 2022 6:26 pm
by Panman
What does your temperatures drop to in the evening? If it drops below 70, you will be fine. If you are actually moving it from sun to shade, that will stress the plant. You want to put it in one location and leave it. It probably won't get enough light through a window. You may set up a shade cloth to provide shade when the sun reaches a certain point.
Re: Windowsill darlingtonia?
Posted: Thu Jun 23, 2022 6:37 pm
by VelvetTooth
Night temps are low to high 60s in the summer. I will try to find a spot outside with dappled sunlight then.
Re: Windowsill darlingtonia?
Posted: Thu Jun 23, 2022 6:41 pm
by Panman
Someone else will need to add more details, but with those temps, full sun should be fine. The problems happen when the roots do not get a chance to cool down at night. If you are top watering it regularly, and the temps are staying below 70 at night, I think it should be fine. I did kill my outdoor Darlingtonia, but that happened when the temps exceeded 90 during the day and 80 at night.
Re: Windowsill darlingtonia?
Posted: Thu Jun 23, 2022 6:59 pm
by Camden
Re: Windowsill darlingtonia?
Posted: Thu Jun 23, 2022 7:08 pm
by VelvetTooth
Panman wrote: ↑Thu Jun 23, 2022 6:41 pm
Someone else will need to add more details, but with those temps, full sun should be fine. The problems happen when the roots do not get a chance to cool down at night. If you are top watering it regularly, and the temps are staying below 70 at night, I think it should be fine. I did kill my outdoor Darlingtonia, but that happened when the temps exceeded 90 during the day and 80 at night.
I checked the soil temp when top watering with room temperature water and it was around 80. Im not sure why my pot retains so much heat even though it has LFSM and it’s a plastic pot sitting in 2 terracotta pots. With refrigerated water the soil drops down to 74~
Re: Windowsill darlingtonia?
Posted: Thu Jun 23, 2022 7:18 pm
by Camden
Terracotta!? Isn’t that bad for CP’s? I've been told that they slowly leak minerals into the soil. Not sure they would if you said that it's sitting in 2 terracotta's unless the plastic one has drainage holes.
Re: Windowsill darlingtonia?
Posted: Thu Jun 23, 2022 7:22 pm
by VelvetTooth
It is not bad for drosophyllum and darlingtonia because the pot keeps the roots cool. It does have drainage holes, but I am pretty sure darlingtonia can handle that kind of water seeing that so many people just grow them directly inside a huge terracotta pot.
Re: Windowsill darlingtonia?
Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2022 4:21 am
by Nepenthes0260
To be honest, I haven’t found terracotta pots to be harmful any of the CPs I’ve been growing inside them (Drosera, Nepenthes, Roridula, Byblis, Drosophyllum, etc.). I think the fear of chemicals leaching into the soil is overexaggerated.
Darlingtonia can be tricky plants to grow in certain climates. In-situ, their habitats can get very hot during the summer, but the cold water from the seepages they tend to grow in constantly keeps the roots cool. “Squishy” plants is a common sign of overheating- if your plant is firm and growing well but just has red spots on the pitchers, it might be due to too much sunlight or just time for those pitchers to naturally die off.
Re: Windowsill darlingtonia?
Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2022 4:22 am
by Nepenthes0260
A picture would be beneficial as well.
Re: Windowsill darlingtonia?
Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2022 10:28 am
by steve booth
Darlingtonia don't do well on window ledges I'm afraid, you are better off with them outside if you can, and low to mid 80F shouldn't cause any problem to them, even without ice cubes as long as they are wet. Has the plant been acclimated to outside?
I have lots, probably hundreds of individuals, growing in 4" deep trays full of live Sphagnum, as well as deep plastic pots, in the UK for many years, in full sun, and although we are less likely to hit the 80sF than you, we do get there and the plants don't appear to suffer as long as they are wet.
See this from Fred G who has grown these plants for decades, he wondered if the hot roots was hype or fact so did this.
https://fredg.boards.net/thread/27/darl ... s-log-2013
Cheers
Steve
Re: Windowsill darlingtonia?
Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2022 4:44 pm
by VelvetTooth
steve booth wrote: ↑Fri Jun 24, 2022 10:28 am
Darlingtonia don't do well on window ledges I'm afraid, you are better off with them outside if you can, and low to mid 80F shouldn't cause any problem to them, even without ice cubes as long as they are wet. Has the plant been acclimated to outside?
I have lots, probably hundreds of individuals, growing in 4" deep trays full of live Sphagnum, as well as deep plastic pots, in the UK for many years, in full sun, and although we are less likely to hit the 80sF than you, we do get there and the plants don't appear to suffer as long as they are wet.
See this from Fred G who has grown these plants for decades, he wondered if the hot roots was hype or fact so did this.
https://fredg.boards.net/thread/27/darl ... s-log-2013
Cheers
Steve
I have seen Fred’s posts actually. He says he just grows in live LFSM and waters them, nothing more. However, he did go into suggesting a pathogen in the US was causing “weaker” cobras since he has measured 85F + soil temperatures which would normally overheat cobras. These ones have been growing outside, so I did not acclimate them.
Re: Windowsill darlingtonia?
Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2022 4:44 pm
by VelvetTooth
Nepenthes0260 wrote: ↑Fri Jun 24, 2022 4:22 am
A picture would be beneficial as well.