Hi.

I've had a little byblis seedling for a few months and I just started noticing that it's starting to grow kind of erratically. I don't know if it's normal or not because this is my first time growing it. Anyways, it seems to put out 2 new leaves just as the past 2 leaves are dying. And the leaves are really shortlived and it seems like there's a new pair of leaves every week. I was just wondering if this was normal or not. It seems like it is growing more up than out right now. I can get a pic if necessary.

-(Kyle)-

A pic would be helpful. It sounds like it might be getting to much water or to little light. Could you please describe your growing conditions and include a pic? To much water can often cause this in my experience.

Hmmm, too much water? I water it every 3 days or so and I thought that was too little. Maybe I should let it dry out more. It's in my terrarium with a flurescent light over top and it seems like that is enough for my other plants so I figured that it would be enough for my byblis.

Oh and here's the best picture I could get. It's still pretty small so it was kinda hard to get a decent one.

The soil looks way to wet. I would water it about once every 4-5 days. I usually don't water mine till the soil starts turning slightly light brown. The light sound good for it. I'm sure other people will chime in, but I think it is too much water IMO. I will try to post a pic of mine flowering if I can figure out how to post it.

*paranoid panic meter rising*

Well I'll start watering it less immediately! It's not going to die is it?? It's my favorite plant! At least it's still putting out new leaves. It actually caught a fungus gnat earlier. I don't even know how. I didn't think there was any dew on the tentacles right now but it's stuck there somehow. It's too bad you can't see it in the picture.

No, it shouldn't die. Just DON'T let it get too dry or it will be die. Just wait till you see a little bit of the soil on the surface start to begin to turn SLIGHTLY brown, then topwater it till the soil is black again and then repeat the above process as needed. Like I said, mine is flowering right now, so if it dies (which it shouldn't) , I might can send you some seed if you live in the USA.

Well that's a relief! I do live in the USA too and I appreciate your offer. I hope I don't have to start over though. It's taken like 3 months just to get this far! Thanks for the help!

-(Kyle)-

No problem. If I get enough seeds I will PM you and send you some. Mine took only ~2 months to get the size it is using the above method. One note, my soil mix starts out pure peat the first inch or so and the is 3:1 peat to perlite the rest of the way. It is in a 3 inch pot indoors in my terrarium.

Ah.. mine is in a 1 quart pot in a mix of 1:1 peat and sand. I think the pot is like..5 or 6 inches though. I was going by what I read in Savage Garden. Deep pot = longer life and it says that they like sandy mixes so I didn't research up on it further. It did say that they don't like to be so wet but I didn't really know how far I was supposed to go with that. Now I do, thanks.

-(Kyle)-

I don't think the wetness is an issue if all of the other conditions are right.

The best looking plants I grew last year popped up from seed in one of my Utricularia pots. This pot was on the floor of my greenhouse where it received full sun for part of the day and had water level with the rim of the pot- at times the base of the plants were inundated. It seemed to appreciate the humidity and powered along until the cooler temps of winter arrived. They were also the last of my plants to die, the others perished about a month earlier.

I think that it is a issue because when mine first germinated I kept it to wet and all but one B.liniflora seedling died. They were growing erratically like silverkiento's were. Another problem might be if he recently moved it and put it in different conditions. Silverkiento, have you recently moved it to a different environment with different light levels, humidity, etc.?

Mine have looked like that in the past when placed too close to the lights in my terrarium. They do better for me further away from the lights than most Drosera. I've mentioned this before & Sean, pointing out that the plants can take the searing Northern Australian sun, has theorised that it may be due to the humidity being too low near the lights, and as he has far more CP expertise than me and is an Aussie, I would tend to agree with him. The main point, however, is that moving them futher away from the lights may be the answer. My plants seem pretty indifferent to how wet the substrate is unless it is completely dry.

Well I started it about an inch-2inches from the light and them moved it when the leaves started to look kinda like..burnt. That was about a month ago. Other than that there have been no changes.

Well, put simply it was not an issue for me.

As I said, for me it is not an issue if all of the other requirements of the plant are met. In nature this species grows in areas that are extremely wet during the growth season, the base of the plant underwater for periods of time. If you can replicate these conditions (humidity, light, temps) you will have no problems growing them very wet.

Just because one grower has a problem growing them in a particular manner does not mean that it is not possible or even preferable in some instances.

Ah...so now it might not be the water? x_x;

It may or may not be. Different people have different growing conditions. I can grow neps in standing water constantly but not B.liniflora. Seandew can grow B.liniflora in standing water but I can't. Most likely I will say that it might be lack of humidity, but I am not sure.

Well humidity is something I cannot help.

What size pot is it in?

It's in a 1.5 quart pot. It's pretty big.

Well, what I wold do to raise the humidity is take an empty 2 liter clear drink bottle (pepsi,dr.pepper,etc.) and cut it in half. Take the label off,and stick the top half over your B.liniflora.Gently push the top half down into the soil slightly to hold it in place. This is what I sometimes do for plants that need higher humidity and it works like a charm.

Alright, I'll try that. Thanks.


-(Kyle)-

I did what you told me to do, I don't really see any difference yet but I even wrapped some aluminum foil around it as well to ensure as much sunlight as possible.

Does anyone think the problem could be caused by packing down the medium too much? I tend to do that so that the peat doesn't get washed around too much when I water it. That's been bugging me for a while, I hope it's not the problem though.

Do you see a fog on the plastic? If so, that means that the humidity is around 80%. If ou packed down the soil, then it is probably to hard and dense for the roots. Also, on the top half of the drink bottle, make sure the little hole at that you would normally pour drink out of is sticking up, and cover the opening with saran wrap.
Happy growing,
dewy

Ah.. oops... I cut the middle section out of the bottle so there isn't a top or bottom. It's just like a tube. And there isn't any fog on the plastic yet. I'll put some saran wrap on the top of it anyways though. I really hope I didn't pack it down too much. It's kinda spongey when I push on it so I think I did...ugh.. I knew I'd screw up...

-(Kyle)-

I think it's doomed. It got mold from the lack of humidity so I washed it out and accidently repotted it without disturbing the roots. That's good cuz now I have more room in my terrarium. It's still green but I'm not really sure if it's gonna make it. It's now in a 3 inch pot and I took everything else off of it. Hopefully the problem was the packed down soil which I think I fixed while repotting it. I just took the circle of soil about 2 inches deep that was caused by the soda bottle and put it in a new pot. So I'm kind of happy but worried as well. Wish me luck.

-(Kyle)-

hey,

i grow mine in pure sphagnum moss and in an undrained container. The sphagnum is filled to the brim of the container and i just allow the plant to grow freely. when the container is filled with water, water will just flow out from the brim...maybe it's the humidity, singapore gets a frequent humidity of close to 100%. i give it partial shade though.

And those are pretty much my conditions: sand & peat mix, with live LFS on top, kept like a swamp, at a SW window sill. They are currently flowering.

RIP
Byblis Liniflora
07/22/05 - 10/07/05

I have just bought some Byblis Linifolia seeds and was wondering about the best way to germinate them. The instructions mention about giving them the fire/smoke method but my book (Savage Garden) says that they should go in the fridge and then sow as usual on the soil.
Slightly confused as the best thing to do. :?

Thanks

No pre-treatment is necessary for successful germination of B. liniflora. As long as warmth is provided (and they are viable) they will germinate fine.

I can't say as I know the best way and I have had consitently inconsitent results from 4 batches of seeds received over the past year, but.....

.... I currently have four flowering plants that were started from seeds in a plastic tray of live, swampy LFS, sitting on a layer of sand & peat, open tray, SW window sill. The plants are 4" tall, full of dew, and aren't flopping over (yet). Seems to work, in spite of not exactly being textbook.

Thanks for that info. Will admit to having a poor record with growing CP seeds but as have sucessfully managed to germinate a Dewy Pine I thought I would have another go.
It is still OK though to start growing now or should I hold on till next year? The best it will get is a warm and sunny windowsill 8)

I'd wait until spring if I were you. I'm just about to sow mine for this season.

Will the seeds be Ok until then? Should I store them anywhere special?