Who wouldn't want one of these? Hey, kids let's grow a pitcher plant predator! TPP discovered an entire display of "micro -terraria", basically a plastic egg with a jiffy 5 (? smaller than a jiffy 7) inside and a tiny packet of seeds (2 and a third doubtful one). Well, for under $3 why not try this out for fun? Now the materials here are all of 30 cents worth, so clearly a lot of the cost is in the marketing, a handsome, dramatic display in one of those dreadful hobby shops (TPP had a print to frame.) where kids must be regularly placated to deal with the boredom. The instructions say that this is indeed a Sarracenia, a pitcher plant, probably a hybrid. After hydrating the jiffy 5, planting the seeds, and assembling the micro-terrarium, all of 10 mins of intense fun, the whole thing was placed in a fridge for a 6 week period of vernalization, a cold treatment to promote germination. Yeah, the kids will certainly get a thrill out of this item; imagine their excitement as they check out their micro-terrarium week after week and see that nothing whatever is happening. Heck, TPP has lost interest and it's only been 4 weeks, and you think what the heck is that red egg thingy? Even forgot taking the picture of the packaging. Wonder how long a pitcher plant seedling will take to out grow its micro-terrarium? Sure hope my plant has a nice big red tongue like that so it can be watched eating bugs alive! Okay, kids, TPP hates to burst your balloon, but this trap doesn't move, but watching a fly drown is mighty exciting stuff, just like the rest of the botany. You do have to wonder how much interest this type of hype promotes? Ah, professional curiosity is a weakness.
Books read in 2024
5 days ago in The Curious Wavefunction
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