Hi from South Africa
 

Hi, my name's Johan and I'm fairly new to carnivorous plants. I live in Durban, South Africa with a hot and humid subtropical climate which works well for my plants. I currently have Drosera, Dionaea and Sarracenia. I hope to get hold of some Nepenthes species early next year as well. Will post some photos soon.

I've already found a lot of useful info on the site, and will probably bug you with species ID soon, as a lot of the nurseries around here don't have a clue on what they sell and I have some plants feeling a bit lost without their name tags!

Here's me with my other hobby, radio control gliders:

http://www.moelich.co.za/images/johan-toko-300.jpg

Cheers
Johan

Re: Hi from South Africa
 

Friend, welcome to PP.

May I know what you means by "humid subtropical climate". :shy:

Re: Hi from South Africa
 

Hi caseyhoo, thanks for the welcome.
The weather here is mostly hot with a lot of moisture in the air, and the winter doesn't get very cold. There's a lot of rainfall in summer and less in winter. Does that explain it well? :smile:

Re: Hi from South Africa
 

welcome....base on your description, you may grow a lot of cp with that condition, congratz!!

Re: Hi from South Africa
 

except those which prefer dormancy, i guess, welcome!!

Re: Hi from South Africa
 

Welcome to PetPitcher ....

Re: Hi from South Africa
 

Hi and welcome to PP.. :)

Re: Hi from South Africa
 

Thanks for the welcomes. :1thumbup:

Re: Hi from South Africa
 

hi Johan...welcome to PP.....Sundews are indigenous to South Africa right ? in Malaysia, we have a lot of wild nepenthes ( although shrinking rapidly due to poaching & development ) & the occasional sundew in East Malaysia.

Btw, how does a radio control glider take off ? it`s motorised propellors keep it in afloat ? it doesn`t look light but i`m sure it has to be.

cheers,

Tarence

Re: Hi from South Africa
 

Tut, tut Tarence, notice Johan is holding his glider standing on high ground. *biggrin2*
Correct me if I am wrong, you can make gliders gain altitude using updraft.

Re: Hi from South Africa
 

Yes, several of the Sundew species are from South Africa, such as the Cape Sundew, Alice Sundew, and some others I can't remember now.

The slope soaring gliders you throw off a cliff and hope it comes back in one piece! The wind that blows against a slope or cliff creates the updraft that keeps it flying without any motor. Just search on Youtube or Vimeo for "slope soaring" and you'll see how it's done.

Re: Hi from South Africa
 

Moelich, you are lucky then to have the sundews there. Have you seen them growing in the wild ?

Haha, radio control gliders sounds like fun.

Re: Hi from South Africa
 

Yes I've seen sundews in the mountains of Cape Town and surrounding areas. I think it was Cape Sundew and Alice Sundew that I've seen, although that was several years ago before I had a real interest in them. I'll try and find them again and take some photos.

Johan

Re: Hi from South Africa
 

We await patiently for your photos. Maybe if you can also take photos of the general landscape to show the area it is growing in, water, shade etc description. Tried several times to germinate south african sundew seeds but none viable. Of course if there is a picture of D. regia be a super bonus!

Thanks you before hand.

Re: Hi from South Africa
 

D.Regia is big!

Re: Hi from South Africa
 

If I make the trip up the mountain I will definitely take photos.

D.regia can apparently only be found in Bainskloof Pass, which is a bit far from me and I'm only in the Western Cape for 2 weeks on holiday so won't have a chance to do that trip. But I'll do my best to find the other species in the Cape area before I go back to Durban.

Re: Hi from South Africa
 

Western Cape is beautiful. Love the wine region especially. You have a beautiful country.

Re: Hi from South Africa
 

I was lucky enough to grow up in Stellenbosch, which is 30km away from Cape Town. I now stay in Durban, and visit the Cape from time to time.
Outside Stellenbosch is the Jonkershoek Nature Reserve, where Drosera can also be found. Here's a previous post from one of your members with photos of Drosera in Jonkershoek:
https://archive.petpitcher.net/forum/showthread.php?p=33754

Here's another Drosera from Jonkershoek:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:SundewSwartbos.jpg
What species is this?

Re: Hi from South Africa
 

Was in Paarl, Stellenbosch and Franshhoek for a holiday. Wasn't interested in CP then otherwise would have hunted and shot D regia on location with my camera.

Re: Hi from South Africa
 

Gee, i don`t know what sundew that is. Pretty exotic looking. I bet it doesn`t grow well here in M`sia though. Heheh.

We are all fascinated with D.Regia...absolutely the king sundew. *smile*

thx for sharing.....i guess you mightl be interested in seeing our nepenthes in the wild yah ? the highland ones are amazing in colour, size & shape.

Re: Hi from South Africa
 

i googled drosera trinervia & it does bear some resemblance to the one you asked to identify.....but i`m not sure.

Re: Hi from South Africa
 

The identity, I think will have to wait for a while.

Side tracked, anyone here is growing D Regia? Yes that's my christmas wishlist.

Re: Hi from South Africa
 

Haha, a friend from South Africa!!! A big welcome :laugh:!!!
Hope to see your CPs and the photos soon. You have a beautiful country. :1thumbup:
Again, welcome to Petpitcher! Have fun!

Re: Hi from South Africa
 

drosera trinervia??? i just order two pack of seed to try. that is very common spesies in south africa....

Moelich, pepole here cant wait to enjoy your photo now? :1thumbup:

Re: Hi from South Africa
 

Unfortunately I didn't have time to go look for Sundews while I was in Cape Town on holiday. I've also been quite busy with other things lately so I'm not very active on the forum.

Re: Hi from South Africa
 

It all right moelich. we all part time for this hobby as well :biggrin:.