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By andynorth
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#459278
Santa was really great to me already this year. One of the items I received is this absolutely stunning Darlingtonia Californica Del Norte CO, or Red Cobra Lily. I will be attempting to keep track of its growth here. As of now I just have one question but I am sure more will come to mind as time goes by.
So, other than needing an extraordinary amount of light to keep the red coloration, is there anything different to growing the red species than the green?
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By elaineo
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#459291
I am not an expert, but here are some notes from Mike Wang about those Darlingtonia:
I have mine growing under 2 layers of 70% shade cloth whenever the air temperature is 70F or higher. When it's between 60- 65F(for the high), just one layer of 70% shade cloth. Right now, they're outdoors, completely dormant, and receiving full sun! Anytime the high air temperature here is below 60F, I give them full sun.

The reason you have to be careful with full sun is because even if the air temperature is say 68 degrees, that soil can heat up to 80 or even 90F if it's in the sun long enough and the soil temperature didn't drop very low the night before!

In any case, the very best looking plants in the wild are in part sun: they'll get maybe 5 or 6 hours of direct sunlight at most and then filtered light the rest of the time. in some cases, tall grasses "shade" the entire surface of the soil and keep the immediate soil surroundings cool despite being in full sun. Plants in full sun even in the wild with no protection are often stressed out during heat waves. Generally speaking, Darlingtonia can tolerate lower light levels, so always priortize keeping the soil cool over giving them more sunlight.
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By andynorth
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#459292
Thank you. Great info to have. I am thinking of keeping it in my greenhouse with filtered light for the foreseeable future. The spot it is currently in, along with my other CL seedlings stays just under 70 degreees. I will keep a close eye on it until I am certain I have it right. I do water with refridgerated water. Hopefully the LFSM and live moss will help keep the roots cooled.
By Jade
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#459301
One of the items I received is this absolutely stunning Darlingtonia Californica Del Norte CO, or Red Cobra Lily
Holy WOW that is a gorgeous show stopper right there. I see that’s going to go on my “someday I will save for this after I at least have one of each plant I want” list. I didn’t know there were anything but green. With the windows it’s just *chef’s kiss* so lovely. I have a thing for windows lol. Can’t wait to see you grow this one! :D
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By andynorth
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#459302
elaineo wrote: Sat Dec 14, 2024 6:13 am
I have mine growing under 2 layers of 70% shade cloth whenever the air temperature is 70F or higher. When it's between 60- 65F(for the high), just one layer of 70% shade cloth.

The reason you have to be careful with full sun is because even if the air temperature is say 68 degrees, that soil can heat up to 80 or even 90F if it's in the sun long enough and the soil temperature didn't drop very low the night before!
I left one of my hygrometers right at the media level. It is currently at 73 degrees F. During the night it dropped to 68 when lights were off. I have lights on everything for 23 hours a day. I placed a small ice cube on the moss it is in. Govee sells a meat thermometer that will connect to my app so I am thinking of getting one. It comes with 2 probes so I can monitor it and my other cobra lily starts with them.
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By andynorth
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#459314
Jade wrote: Sat Dec 14, 2024 4:57 pm

Holy WOW that is a gorgeous show stopper right there. I have a thing for windows lol. Can’t wait to see you grow this one! :D
I am also in to amateur photography and this is going to be quite awesome using a macro lens. I normally take photos with my phone for posting online but I will make an exception for this lovely lady!
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By cpgrower126
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#459315
I'm an amateur in photography as well, and have a Nikon camera with a good macro mode. You can get some great shots with a macro lens and plant seedlings, especially sundew seedlings. My current phone camera is crummy and outdated, but for some reason, my new phone still hasn't arrived after 3 weeks.
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By steve booth
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#459352
What a lovely looking plant, I hope it does well for you.

I have no working knowledge of the location Del Norte clones, but looking at the map there are a lot of mountains there, so I guess its a mountain plant and therefore fairly hardy. Do you know if it is a mountain plant rather than a lowland at all? Plus the map said it was -9C at 4.00 AM there, so it will be used to the cold.

The red is of course caused by the anthocyanins which are stimulated due to stress normally, either sunlight or cold and I would guess its the sun in this case. Its going to be a bit of a learning curve to get it the right amount of light to keep it red but other than that there are no differences in the growing requirements of the plants as far as I'm aware. If it is a mountain plant it may like cooler roots as a norm.

I have never seen them in the wild as I have never been to the USA, but have seen plenty of pictures in habitat, and they do seem to grow best in partial shade, but there does seem to be something different with the Del Norte clones. See the link below for some info. You can see further down the post that there are a lot of green ones with the red being the exception rather than the norm.
https://www.cpukforum.com/forum/index.p ... -oct-2014/

I sometimes get one or two 'standard' clones going red for me over here in the UK, in late summer season into early winter. We very rarely get the intensity of light required to turn them red, but occasionally the planets align and the summer light intensity does do some damage to the plant, then when it gets cold that further stresses them and they redden up. A bit like purps also do. I guess (once again) that it is the UV intensity that causes the production of the anthocyanins and hence redness.

A very nice plant, I look forward to seeing its progress.

Cheers
Steve
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By andynorth
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#459359
Yes, a duckduckgo search brings up that same site :D . It seems most pages end up at same location.
Thank you for the detailed post. I currently have in my indoor greenhouse under filtered light. The temp at soil level is 72 degrees. I am going to buy the Govee meat thermometers that will link with the Govee app. It comes with 2 probes and I will be monitoring the internal temps also. I want to keep her as red as I can in hopes that when it reaches adulthood it will still have that stunning red coloration. I am using ice water and ice cubes to keep the soil as cool as I can. I also have several standard cobra lily seedlings that seem to be doing well thus far. The moss started smothering some of them and I had to clean that up. I have third grow tent that I might try to find room for specifically growing CL's and Heli's since both seem to enjoy the temp drops.

Until reading Mcpherson's book I was not aware they are located on the entire west coast of OR. I am trying to locate a site closer to me here in WA that I can visit but have yet to locate. If I am unable to locate any closer to me I will be going to some of the sites, eventually!!
Last edited by andynorth on Mon Dec 16, 2024 6:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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By andynorth
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#459361
cpgrower126 wrote: Sat Dec 14, 2024 11:07 pm Nikon camera with a good macro mode. You can get some great shots with a macro lens and plant seedlings, especially sundew seedlings.
Which Nikon do you have? I have a D5600. I bought in 2020. Does not get as much use as I would like. I have several lenses including a macro lens. I have not yet taken any pics of sundews but they are on my list. I have some really good shots of the inside of Lily's and many other subjects. It is Christmas time so camera is coming out again.
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By andynorth
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#459636
cpgrower126 wrote: Mon Dec 16, 2024 7:04 pm I am not sure what Nikon I have. My neighbor gave it to me as they have an avid photography hobby, and I've been using it for a few years now.
Well a free Nikon camera certainly can't be beat!!!
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By andynorth
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#459637
I picked up the Govee meat thermometer for $17.99. It has 2 probes but they also sell a 4 probe one for 10 bucks more. Root temp is currently 72 degrees. I think this device is going to come in quite handy.
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By madrone
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#459691
andynorth wrote: Mon Dec 16, 2024 5:39 pm Until reading Mcpherson's book I was not aware they are located on the entire west coast of OR. I am trying to locate a site closer to me here in WA that I can visit but have yet to locate. If I am unable to locate any closer to me I will be going to some of the sites, eventually!!
Highly recommend seeing these in situ! I caught some in OR and CA on a roadtrip a few years back - worth the trip!

I also wanted to pass along this resource if you haven't seen it yet - just a really nice AIPC article by a sarracenia maestro!
https://www.aipcnet.it/wp-content/uplo ... e_Wang.pdf
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