Tag Archives: Sarracenia Hybrid

Sarracenia ‘Leah Wilkerson’ x ‘Adrian Slack’

Sarracenia 'Leah Wilkerson' x 'Adrian Slack'Sarracenia ‘Leah Wilkerson’ x ‘Adrian Slack’
Cross by Brooks Garcia, 2008
Photo taken 20 October 2012 

Update: Sarracenia ‘Reptilian Rose’ x ‘Adrian Slack’

Reptilian Rose x Adrian Slack

Back in 2010 I had this idea of crossing S. ‘Reptilian Rose’ with S. ‘Adrian Slack’.  Yeah, mos’ def ’twas a CRAY-CRAY idea. Sooooo… I did it. There weren’t a lot of seeds, it was something like under 20 seeds in that pod. And only 10-12 sprouted. S. ‘Reptilian Rose’ for me hasn’t been a plant that produces many seeds, and I don’t really get any pollen from this plant either. Other growers, including Phil Faulisi (creator of S. ‘Reptilian Rose’ reports similar results with S. ‘Reptilian Rose’.) That makes breeding with The Reptile a bit more challenging on our end. Dr. Travis H. Wyman, on the other hand, has had good success with using S. ‘Reptilian Rose’ in breeding. (Dude. I guess Dr. Wyman is just too much of pure awesome. 🙂 )

What I was envisioning when I did this cross was a plant that would have the following characteristics: a jagged nectar roll from S. ‘Reptilian Rose’ with the pitcher structure, color, and elegance from S. ‘Adrian Slack’.  As many of you know, S. ‘Reptilian Rose’ is definately one of my all time favorites. Not just because of the unique structure of the nectar roll and it’s menacing appearance –  but also because of it’s scent. On a warm day, one can smell the sweet smelling rose scented traps. It’s amazing. Sometimes you can even get hints of cinnamon in there. Very rich aroma. (Ugh, listen to me… what next? …Swirl, Sniff, Sip, Spit?)

Below is a photo from last year – 10 February 2011, when the seedlings were only a few months old. These were started under lights.

Sarracenia 'Reptilian Rose' x 'Adrian Slack'
10 February 2011 – Sarracenia ‘Reptilian Rose’ x ‘Adrian Slack’ 

What really frustrated me is that I’ve lost quite a few seedlings from this cross from the sub-par conditions that I was just in from these past few months. Low lighting, poor air, and poor water took a devastating toll and lead to quite a few losses. Talk about FRUSTRATION. I’m left now with only a handful of the seedlings from this cross which I am nursing back to strength. Because of the move that I’ve undergone, the plants have been introduced to slightly stronger (but not direct) light. This cross was one of those that I first moved out in the beginning of June. I had to get it out of there before I lost any more. Anyway, I am happy to report that some color is now starting to show and the plants are getting stronger.

Now the plants are still young and are couple of years old. One finally put up a pitcher showing a little teeny-weeny bit of character. Like I mentioned before, the colors on all of the plants right now are pretty much whacked out… but hey, at least I’m seeing some of that red on the mouth come out only after a couple weeks in brighter light.

I’m hoping that the jagged lips will express itself in the following season. You can’t really see it here, but there is some subtle undulation in the nectar roll. In the years that follow, I hope that the angular jagged nectar roll and more color characteristics will really express itself. I’ve seen it happen in other S. ‘Reptilian Rose’ hybrids that Dr. Travis H. Wyman created. Like this in 2010, then like this in 2011. Here is one other example of another seedling in 2012.

Under stronger light, I am hoping that the lid would exhibit more areas of white. If you look closely, there are very faint white splotches on there. From what I’ve seen in the past with some of my other plants, I anticipate that those splotches really spread out and lighten up. Given my situation and current transition, I’m happy with what I’m seeing. There’s lots to look forward to and will update y’all again once it shows some more interesting qualities.

Sarracenia 'Reptilian Rose' x 'Adrian Slack'
Sarracenia ‘Reptilian Rose’ x ‘Adrian Slack’ – 17 June 2012

Sarracenia 'Reptilian Rose' x 'Adrian Slack'
Sarracenia ‘Reptilian Rose’ x ‘Adrian Slack’ – 17 June 2012

Widemouth Hybrid

Back in 2009, I did a cross using a Sarracenia flava form, informally called  flava “widemouth”, just cuz… it gots a big ol’ mouf!  It’s nectar roll is pronounced more than a typical Sarracenia flava. The pollen parent was a Sarracenia leucophylla “red” x minor var. okeefenokeensis

So, flash forward to 2011, this is what one of the seedlings is looking like.  Its mouth is somewhat pronounced and it has some of those little light window things (areoles) visible around the tube.  It’s only 2 years old, but for this “kid”, I am really hoping that mouth stays pretty big as it grows up.

Sarracenia flava "widemouth" x (leucophylla "red" x minor var. okeefenokeensis)
[Sarracenia flava “widemouth” x (leucophylla “red” x minor var. okeefenokeensis)]

Sarracenia flava "widemouth" x (leucophylla "red" x minor var. okeefenokeensis)
[Sarracenia flava “widemouth” x (leucophylla “red” x minor var. okeefenokeensis)]

Sarracenia “Red Blush” x (‘Leah Wilkerson’ x oreophila)

It was back in 2008  when I just started to dabble and play around with hybridizing Sarracenia.  ’07 I didn’t really know what I was doing, but  in ’08 I started to get the hang of things.  This plant below is from that ’08 batch.  I harvested the seed pod back on August 9, 2008.  Hybridizing and breeding takes time and patience – no doubt. It takes a few years, I know – but the anticipation is always fun!   Here’s that one baby showing a little character now!

Sarracenia "Red Blush" x ('Leah Wilkerson' x oreophila)
[Sarracenia “Red Blush” x (‘Leah Wilkerson’ x oreophila)]

Sarracenia "Red Blush" x ('Leah Wilkerson' x oreophila)
[Sarracenia “Red Blush” x (‘Leah Wilkerson’ x oreophila)]

I’m Repottin’ in the Rain

Sup y”all – It’s been raining.  And even if it’s raining I’ll grab some rain gear, my umbrella-ella-ella-ay-ay-ay and get out there and pot up. Rain. It’s good for the plants. (It just means I don’t have to water… heh heh heh…) Hope everyone is having a good weekend so far! 🙂

***

Just a few shots from my repotting ventures yesterday. The plants may not look like much right now, but they have potential written all over them.


[Sarracenia courtii x ‘Adrian Slack’]


[Sarracenia “Green Monster” F2 – yeah, I self pollinated one last year, and the offspring so far appear as if they’ll be similar to the parent]


[Sarracenia moorei “Orange Glow” x ‘Adrian Slack’  – this one seedling is exhibiting some promising color. We’ll have to wait and see what it brings in a few years…]


[Sarracenia “Green Monster” F2’s spread out]


[Sarracenia courtii x ‘Adrian Slack’ with some breathing room]


[Sarracenia moorei “Orange Glow” x ‘Adrian Slack’, now with growing room!]


Some Nice Surprises

Salutations,
Man, it’s been pretty busy – I would imagine this is so for ALL of us in this holiday season.   My cube day job especially has been pretty busy –  resulting in my recent silence here on the blog.  Honestly, I’d rather NOT have these mini hiatuses but would rather share Sarracenia goodness with everyone. All day. Every day.   These past couple of weeks have  most certainly has been quite the flurry of activity.

Anyway, I just wanted to say a very special thank you to fellow blogger James at Lost in the Landscape!  (If you haven’t done so, check his blog!) He had sent me a few things that really added some awesomeness in my not-so awesome past couple of weeks…  (Thanks James, you ROCK!)

[Some seeds that will have some star potential!  It may not look like much now, but I wanted to start documenting their growth.  A couple years later I’ll probably refer back to this post just to show how these plants started.]


[Sarracenia division, unconfirmed ID at this point, but we’re pretty sure that it is a S. ‘Judith Hindle’]

Surprise
[I’m really excited about this one- Seedlings of S. x melanorhoda, Triffid Park x purpurea ssp. veonsa v. burkii f. luteola. Yes! I will be using these for breeding in the anthocyanin free line. They have that recessive antho free gene in them now!]

[I potted them up a couple of nights ago right when I got home.  It was about 10pm, and dark and cold out, but I still did it! Brrr!]

**Thanks again James!**

Potting up

Expand. That’s what going on with the collection right now. I guess that’s what happens when you hybridize and grow things from seed.   In order to prepare for further expansion, I need to shift some seedlings out and move things around.

I have a lot of pots that were once used for other plants that are just sitting there, so instead of buying more pots, I figure that it would be beneficial to use what I already have. I tweeted about the pots a while back and I really love how fellow blogger Bom Gomez (@plantchaser) from Plantchaser put it:

“@SarraceniaDude how many are we who find cleaning pots a portent of good things to come?”
(Bom, Salamat, pare! 🙂 )

Oh so true... some see crappy empty pots. I see space to grow some carnivorous art.

[Old pots, in need of a good scrub down]

So here I have all these old pots that have been used an abused. I wish I was was one of these gardeners that could keep things kinda clean, shiny, and sparkly, but unfortunately… eh… I’m not.  The pots are still in great condition, but they do need a good scrub down to puuurrrrty them up a bit.  What better tool to scrub the crap off them than the good ole’ crap scrubber…

[OH YEAH! LET’S DO THIS!]

The crap scrubber works great on scrubbing crap off the pots. You know, crap like that old dirt that kinda coagulates mysteriously inside those pots… As you can see, I used a brand new clean and shiny crap scrubber that is dedicated only to the crud that one finds adhering to the pots.  It’s an awesome Clorox brand scrubber with the “Antimicrobial protection of the brush fibers”!!

I cleaned off as much crud off as I can for now, then take the pots and lined em up in the handy dandy utility tubs. These tubs also are used for the water trays that I keep the plants in.


[Getting em lined up!]

Next, I soak the pots a bit to soften up that older harder crap. I scrub down again, and I leave the pots sitting in a slight bleach solution for a day to sterilize them.


[Gettin’ a scrub down and a bleach bath]

So now I have all these awesome pots ready to be filled to the brim with potting media goodness.  But wait!  There’s large draining holes there and the media over time will seep out. So, in order to counter this, I am using up my unused rolls of weed block.  Some people use coffee filters, pine needles, or any other course media to stop the flow of media from seeping out of the drainage holes.  I say use whatever works for you.

[Left over weed block going to be used at the bottom of the pots to prevent planting media-leakage.]

As far as the media goes, everyone has their own special mix to use for their carnivorous plants. Again, use whatever works for you. I will use either 1 part peat moss to 1 part sand, or 1 part peat moss to 1 part perlite.  I’ve also just used pure peat, or a combination of all 3.

If working with perlite, it’s a good idea to wear some type of dust mask. It’s not very good for you to be sniffin’ that stuff.

I like to use the sand because of the added weight, especially when growing in pots outdoors.  Perlite is irritating when it rains and it all floats to the top, however you can use the peat/perlite mix at the bottom and add a nice top layer of pure sphagnum on top to prevent the perlite from floating out. Works for me.

[Ahhhh! Nothing like the fresh smell of freshly hand mixed planting media!]

Today I only got to about 18 or so pots, shifting some seedlings out, have another 50 or so more to go. I still have more pots to do after this set is done. I trimmed off the pitchers from the seedlings that were growing in those little square pots as they’re dormant anyway and separated them in clumps as you can see below.   For me, cutting off the pitchers makes it easier to handle the plant, without those pitchers floppin’ all over the place. The pitchers will come up next growing season and the seedlings now have a little bit more room to grow.

[Room to grow.]