Another Round of Spike or Leaf: Starring Dracula Lotax!

[RandomGemini]

Okay... you know my question... and I'm pretty sure this teeny little thing is a spike, as it is growing from the same area where the old spikes on this plant grew from, at the base of a leaf. I've got like four of these little buggers all over the plant... after seeing it do nothing for six months.

Maybe it was the switch to distilled water that did it. I don't know and I'm not gonna jinx it by changing ANYTHING.

I'll upload some more pics when I find my macro lens... but for now... I got this one shot with my iPhone.

It's the teeny, teeny thin thing that looks sort of like a green needle, next to the leaf.



---------- Post added at 08:54 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:53 AM ----------

Oh crap... that looks awful. How can you tell anything? It's so blurry! Fresh pics coming up as soon as I find that lens.

If you want to try to guess, its the right side of the two pronged fork at the top of the photo.

---------- Post added at 09:22 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:54 AM ----------

Better pics!



You can see two of them in this one, I think these are just new leaves cropping up though... not sure they are spikes.



Then there's this weird thing here that grows... and stops growing.. then grows again... it's sort of a weird shape for a leaf, but the spikes on these are super, super thin... about the size of a sewing needle so I can't really imagine this being a spike... could it?

[WhiteRabbit]

The first one does look like a bud, doesn't it?
The others, I can't say - hopefully some others have an opinion!

[TOMMYMIAMI]

I wish I could help, but I still wait for my little division to grow and spike some day:-) If I do remember seeing spikes on lotax, they are very thin and tiny, so to me it looks more like a new growth maybe?

[nikkik]

I think it's new growth too! Yay! Like, Tommy said the spikes tend to be very thin.

[RandomGemini]

I have seen an old spike on this plant and the spikes are super tiny. Like I said, they really aren't any thicker than a sewing needle. I imagine by the time I actually notice a spike on it, there will already be a flower bud opening. They're so darned tiny!

I'm excited to see new growth after all I have been through with this little plant. I haven't been the best owner of this little guy. I would like to move it to a terrarium and see if it will do better there. New growth is good though! I'll take it!

[TOMMYMIAMI]

Originally Posted by RandomGemini

I have seen an old spike on this plant and the spikes are super tiny. Like I said, they really aren't any thicker than a sewing needle. I imagine by the time I actually notice a spike on it, there will already be a flower bud opening. They're so darned tiny!

I'm excited to see new growth after all I have been through with this little plant. I haven't been the best owner of this little guy. I would like to move it to a terrarium and see if it will do better there. New growth is good though! I'll take it!

RandomGemini try switch! I did have this one last year, huge, but it was suffering outside in our heat so I did pass it to friend up north. Than with all the inside setups I was wishing to try again and Hector send me little 4 leave division, I did mount on hygrolon and grow it in terrarium like setup inside apartment and it seems to LOVE this, it grows 2 new leaves in some 2 months mounted only! I think it enjoys super high humidity in that tall vase on hygrolon, and it is mounted on the very bottom so constant moist too!

[RandomGemini]

That's what I was thinking I would do too. I've had a bad time with this plant, because if life gets complicated, I will forget about it for a couple of days and it doesn't like to be neglected. I was thinking that if I could automate most of it's watering needs with a misting system, it would do a lot better.

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[No-Pro-mwa]

So I am No Pro on this but it looks like what my ignea does. The leaves are having a hard time coming out because, I think lack of humidity. At first I was taking all the out side stuff off, but then some one told me to slit it with a knife.

So I carefully do this to each layer. I hope this makes sense. I have gotten a new humidifier that puts out more and it is right over the top of them. I am so hoping this will help.

[RandomGemini]

I was just seeing this morning that several dracula owners grow these directly in the output of their humidifiers. It seems like a great idea to me.

I've been considering potting it, but I thought I would try the terrarium idea first, I already have the tank and I've wanted to set one up for a while. If the terrarium doesn't work out, I can always pot it later. I just have to figure out where the terrarium is going to live. I need a stand that will take the weight, that my dogs won't knock over... finding that is going to be entertaining. LOL!

[RandomGemini]

Duplicate post: whoops!