Hi gardeners! Sorry for the lag over the past few days, I was taking my university exams. Hope you guys don’t mind!
Today, I shall talk about adaptation. That is what my theory, it always work for me but I have yet suggest this theory to others. Maybe you can give it a try and comment on my theory. You might unknowingly using some of these methods described below!
Understanding your plants
Understanding your plants’ growing conditions is one of the most important aspects in gardening. If you put a sun-loving plant in the shade, it might not do well and may even die because the lag of direct sunlight. Exposing a shade loving plant in direct sunlight will cause leaf burn and the plant might die from dehydration. High-humidity plants may also dry up and die if they are grown in dry environment. Therefore, gathering information about your plants and giving them the correct growing environment will ensure their survivability under your care.
Dionaea Muscipula ‘Pink Venus’ turning green due to the lag of sunlight
Information about plants are readily available in the Internet like gardening web sites and forums. Books and magazines are also a good source of information, which most gardeners keep them for reference.
The “perfect” environment
Once you gathered the required information, you can now give them the so call “perfect” environment. Always try your best to give them the same environment they have in the wild. Plants are grown in their present state because they undergo evolution to survive in their environment, just like pitcher plants which have modified leaves to trap insects for nutrients.
Adaptation
Any living organism on Earth will always try their best to ensure they survive in their environment and reproduce to maintain their species through time. That is why evolution occur and they “reconstruct” themselves to survive in their environment. This explains why ducks have webbed feet and giraffes have long necks.
This process is known as adaptation. Plants will try to adapt to their environment, they will grow more roots if they are absorbing less water. They will put up bigger leaves to take in more sunlight.
Same goes for carnivorous plants. Pitcher plants will not pitcher if they are grown in nutrient-rich soil as there is no need to trap prey for additional nutrients. Sundews will stop producing dew and grow more leaves if they do not receive enough sunlight.
Extra nutrients produce red colouration to attract more prey
The Theory
So my theory is giving carnivorous plants the correct environment will make them grow more beautifully. Growing pitcher plants in nutrient free media will make them grow more pitchers. Growing sundews in full sunlight give them sufficient nutrients so that they can produce dew and red colouration. So what they do with the surplus of nutrients?
The next step in nature is to reproduce! Additional nutrients will be used to produce flowers and fruits. Some sundews give out flowers when they are only 1cm across!
So understanding your plants and giving them the correct environment will make them grow to their full potential and you get to enjoy big pitchers and colourful flowers!
