Pitcher Pollen

The second flower on the pitcher plant has now fully opened.



In the process a couple of the strands bearing pollen fell off. I placed them under my LCD microscope to try taking some closer shots.

The ruler (cm / mm markings) shows how small they are:


The resolution is reasonable, though as expected, the depth of field in shallow:



Those tiny grains of pollen are really minute.



In case you don't remember the LCD microscope I use .......





It works from 5V, has a memory card which can store photographs and video and connects to a PC / laptop so the card content can be copied across.

An Open Pitcher

It has taken nine days but the flower on the Pitcher plant has gone from this



to this



Three of the petals fell off to expose the inside of the flower and its bright yellow pollen. What was fascinating to me was the part which looks like an upside down umbrella. The petals which fell off appear to have been 'guarding' the gap until it was fully ripe.



From the angle of the second new photo you can see this 'umbrella' is growing from the centre of the flower. I guess it leaves a gap just large enough for whatever insect pollinates it in the wild.

A Pretty Pitcher

No - my spelling hasn't gone haywire. A pleasant surprise this morning when I was about to water my Pitcher plants.



I almost missed it as it was facing away from me ...



... a large red flower. I don't think it is fully open as yet but I just had to photograph it. In fact there are two flowers, the other hasn't started opening yet.

I Spy With My Little Eye

I was having a close look at my large pitcher plant as some of the newer pitchers were beginning the shrivel up. Normally it is the oldest ones which dry out and turn brown. Then, right in the centre, I spotted something different ....



What appears to be the beginnings of a flower spike. I had been wondering how they reproduced and on searching t'internet I found out they do flower once they reach three to five years old. Now it is a waiting game to find out what the flowers will look like.

A New Carnivor

Just received a new pitcher plant.
It's quite a baby compared with my original pitcher plant:





Close views of a pitcher:





It doesn't like being in full sunlight so the kitchen window should suit it.

A Popped Pitcher

My pitcher plant is really taking off this year.
The new growths are about twice the size of last years.
The kitchen windowsill seems the ideal place for it.



A first use of the Mac app Tweak Color which enabled me to colour pop the plant and blur the background.

Catching Flies

Catching pesky annoying flies in the home can be done several ways.

Artificial man made catcher.
This is the one I use. No chemicals.
Just a nice attractive, to flies, yellow colour and a very sticky surface.
I have just replaced last year's one as it was well and truly covered with dead flies:



In the past I have tried the yellow sticky sheet type catchers.
Two problems.
Trying to get the paper cover off them without sticking to the darn thing.
Worse, ending up with a sore throat from the chemical used to attract insects.
All you have to do with the Zero In is hold the plastic hook and slide it out of the box as the plastic shapes at each end prevent it from catching on the cardboard.

The natural way with plants which catch flies.
I have had a Venus Fly trap and Pitcher plant in past years but lost them to cold winters.
Now I have got round to replacing them with the addition, for the first time, of a Sundew:



It will be interesting to see which of these works best in the conservatory.

Also tried in the past.
A UV zapper. The type you sometimes see in food shops.
The light attracts insects and a high voltage zaps them.
The almighty crack when one was zapped used to make me jump.
It didn't attract many flies.
It cost money having it plugged in to the electric supply all the time.

A hand held electric zapper. The tennis racket shaped thingy.
I'm too slow to swat the flies. Again the crack when one is zapped made me jump.
Having it handy, with a working battery was a clat.

Much better to have something you can hang up and forget about as it gets on with its designed task.
Just keep it well away from curtains which might blow on to it or heads which may brush against it.