[My Ping Setup and Collection]

U make me wanna grow pings!!! :-)

[tissue culture versus peat substrate]

Hi Naryn,

learning TCing is pretty much in most cases a self-educating process (unless you can take some university biochemistry/biology tutorial on this subject).

I recommend reading any book about TC, just type in keywords of what you are looking for on google books or ebay books or other search engine. I do not think you will find a book specialised purely on TC of carnivorous plants, but luckily we have the internet and forums such as:

http://www.flytrapcare.com/phpBB3/viewforu...a0b3f4385a2a71d

or http://www.labflytrap.com/

or http://www.world-of-carnivores.com/tissue_culture.html

..and so on and so forth.......when you do your research you can start experimenting. Getting neccessary skills and experience is possible via experimentation only, but the reading provides many useful information. So far, not too much research have been done in this particular area, so do not expect miracles! ;-) GOOD LUCK!

[tissue culture versus peat substrate]

Thanx for nice comments everybody!

Peter: You hit the nail exactly on head, in the second paragraph you described what I am trying to avoid by using TC :-) Tedious work with tiny seedlings, endless waiting and slowly bringing the plantlets up, often a Sisyphean task I must say. And you are right, the results didnt come easy, it took some research and losses in the beginning.

Droseraman:

1. Yes, I could have left the plants on medium longer, even for up to 8 months in a fridge if needed. When you mix a good formula it is possible to grow plants at normal temperatures for 2-5 months before deflasking or replating on fresh media.

2. The recipe I used was worked up by trial-error, altough I started with something resembling diluted MS medium, but since I have access to chemicals, I rather mix my own medium, because it is easier to modify the amount of some components. But often, just 30%MS works just fine. South american species from my experience are quite sensitive to ammonium nitrate though and need better dilution.

3. No hormones, no GA3 (it is hormone too). For non-dormant seeds you do not need any pretreatment, just as if you sowed them on regular substrate. In fact, when I tried (just out of curiosity) to use hormones (cytokinins and/or auxins), the results were poor. The seedlings often died soon after germination, or were etiolated and unhealthy looking, with feeble growth rate. The seeds contain neccessary hormones in them already, so generally the use of hormones is not recommended.

[drosera camporupestris in flower]

Thanx for nice comments!

Dani, this is the one I bought from you not too long ago. It started flowering 2 weeks after I repoted it. Perhaps the plant was already contemplating flower stalk when with you, and for me it was just a lucky pick! haha

Binataboy: I treat this one the same way as other south americans, which means strong artificial light, decent temp drop at night and cool days (about 13C at night and 21C day). I do not use the tray method for watering, since I dont think south americans like being waterlogged very much and I water them only from top.

I think that the substrate is important factor too, for they like an easily draining one. I use my recipe of 20%white peat, 20%life sphagnum moss,20%perlite, 20%fine silica sand and 20% coarse silica sand and river pebbles. This substrate they really love.

[tissue culture versus peat substrate]

Hi there!

Many times growers have asked the question, how much faster is the propagation of seedlings in vitro than when sowed on a regular substrate. Well, I got my hands on some high quality seeds (thanx Iggy;-)) recently, so I made a little experiment which would give us a hint about the answer to this question (at least as far as some drosera species are involved). For I was very curious about the outcome myself, I picked 3 species for this experiment and compared the germination ratio, survival ratio and also, most importantly, the size and eagerness of the plants to grow.

Today, 2 months after start, I am capable of submiting a few pictures and can bother you with some figures:-)

Conditions: - the species I picked were:

drosera admirabilis

drosera sp. South Africa (a.k.a drosera sp. Pretty Rosette)

drosera ascendens 'red form'

- the plants grew in environmentally more-less identical conditions (humidity, light levels, temperatures,...etc)

- in vitro cultures contained no hormones, the cultures were not replated

- experiment took 2 months, the all seeds were sown on substrate/medium the very same day

RESULTS:

drosera admirabilis:

germination (in vitro): after 12 days, (ex vitro): after 20 days

germination ratio (in vitro): very high,>95%, (ex vitro): high, apx. 70%

survival ratio (in vitro): 100%, (ex vitro): 10%

size (in vitro): almost uniform size of all plants, median of 10mm, (ex vitro): strong variation in size, median of 4mm

viability (in vitro): >90%, (ex vitro): low, 30%

PICTURES:

drosera admirabilis on peat/sand

drosera admirabilis, acclimatised seedlings from in vitro:

drosera sp. 'Pretty Rosette':

germination (in vitro): after 13 days, (ex vitro): after 13 days

germination ratio (in vitro): very high,>95%, (ex vitro): very high, apx. 80%

survival ratio (in vitro): 100%, (ex vitro): 60%

size (in vitro): uniform size of all plants, diameter 12mm, (ex vitro): almost uniform in size, median of 3mm

viability (in vitro): >95%, (ex vitro): 80%

PICTURES:

drosera sp.'South Africa' on peat/sand

drosera sp. 'South Africa' aclimatised from in vitro

drosera ascendens 'red form'

germination (in vitro): after 10 days, (ex vitro): after 15 days

germination ratio (in vitro): very high,>95%, (ex vitro): very high, apx. 70%

survival ratio (in vitro): 90%, (ex vitro): 80%

size (in vitro): almost uniform size of all plants, median of 15mm,(ex vitro): almost uniform in size, median of 3mm

viability (in vitro): >85%, (ex vitro): 50%

PICTURES:

drosera ascendens 'red form' on peat/sand

drosera ascendens 'red form' from in vitro

Seeing this, I would say, that the benefit of in vitro propagation of drosera via seeds, is not as much in a provision of high germination rate (it does not vary from the regular ones, when fresh seeds are used), as much as in the fact, that in vitro growth is substantial for high survival rate and rapid growth.

The final answer, which was, how much faster does the plant grow in vitro than on soil, I am not able to provide. For this, I would need to measure the time the plant reaches maturity (which can be many months). Unfortunatelly, I cannot provide the numbers since my test period was only 2 months, and the data cannot be reached by mere extrapolation of known figures, simply because the growth is not linear, but exponential function of time. Moreover, exponentiality is influenced by many factors, mainly feeding in the early stages.

Nevertheless, I think the pics give us a pretty good idea about the benefit of TC. I must add, that growing plants this way, also preserves the original DNA spam of the plants since they are not being cloned;-)

[drosera camporupestris in flower]

Good news everybody! :-)

Finally, my new drosera camporupestris opened her first flower today, so i took some pictures of this south american beauty, hope u like them:-)

detail of the flower

the whole plant

[petiolaris complex and Tuberous drosera]

Absolutely fenomenal plants and beautiful pics! Thanx for posting!:-)

[D. schwackei again in flower]

Well done Dani! I am not an expert at this, but according to pictures, the hybrid's seed looks just like transient shape between the 2 mother plants! My guess would be that there is a fat chance of you getting the seeds of hybrid plant. Another question is, how viable the seed will be, lets pray for germination now

I attempted to cross d. ascendens x d. tomentosa var. glabrata and the seedpod was full of seeds, but I didnt take the picture. Now I am waiting for potential germination.

Good luck Dani!

[heliamphora pollination result OK?]

hi, she produced seeds, only 6, but tey did not germinate. Maybe they were not viable enough or ripe enough? DOnt know. Will give it a shot next time:-)

[Wintercollection Drosera]

Hi Iggy!

Beautiful shots and plants! Love your d. alba! The drosera modesta Brookton I had grew "only" 0,6m during the first season after receiving from Australia. How much taller can it get? The place in the groupshot looks like a giant set of greenhouses, do you work in a botanical garden and have spece on your own? Thanx for posting the pics!

[few pics]

Thanx Peter,

Yes, that drosera cistiflora comes from TC as fas as I know. This is her 2nd season on regular substrate. Is a newcomer to me, so I am curious about her behaviour during the growing period. Naively hoping for some flowers later on, but have heard that in culture they are reluctant to do so, especially under artificial lights.

[few pics]

Hi I took a few pics today, hope you like them:

d.cistiflora started to grow recently (the plants look like pitchers- now I mean in baseball terminology)

d.camporupestris 'Serra do Cipo, MG, BRA- you think she is trying to tell me with her leaves that she loves me?

d.admirabilis

d."esmeraldae" 'Cerro Duida, VEN'

d.graomogolensis

h. tatei var. tatei (fast grower, 17cm traps now) beautiful species

[Pictures of the weekend.]

Beautiful plants! Do you grow all your pygmies on live sphagnum moss? Interesting....

[Micropropagation pictures]

Hi Jens!

Very neat cultures you have:-) I have had troubles transfering d. roraimae into in vitro culture via leaf explants, are yours from seed?

I see you grow some tuberous species in vitro as well and would like to ask you if they produce corms without hormonal intervention? I have d. auriculata and d. peltata in vitro and they produce tubers easily enough, but have no experience with other species.

Good luck growing and experimenting! :-)

[My best florarium]

As a joke,,,flawless, LOL I like this kind of humor. thanx for sharing with us

[pictures of my winter drosera]

First of all, thanx for nice comments, I am happy you like the plants.

Fernando: dont get me wrong, I love the fact that new species are being discovered and described with great intensity at such fast pace, I just wish there was one name for one plant thats all:-)

MFS: Speaking of witch, an example of d.coccicaulis/venusta/natalensis.......I am not going to dispute about the correct labeling of this species as there are many opinions what this drosera should be called and whether there really is need for more names. Personally, I sense slight difference between members of this complex, so I distinguish between d. coccicaulis and d.venusta/d.natalensis (I take former 2 as synonyms).

Sean: The plant of drosera peltata var. foliosa is about 25cm tall. The flowers are not on the top of the plant as it continues growing upward. The plant is not branched. It created a massive basal rosette, from each 2-3 erect stems grew later. The plant is green-yellow colour with white flowers. The location is 'Jamieson, Victoria'. Maybe you remember sending me the seeds some time ago (along with other localised peltata varieties depicted above). BTW thank you for them they are my favourite plants! :-)

[pictures of my winter drosera]

Thanx for nice comments.

Fernando: Yes, I meant that one. I wish there was less taxonomy commotion with some species:-)

Droseraman: You are right. it is regular form. I've corrected the mistake.

Greg Allan: tuberous : night:8-15C, day: 17-24C, 10hr light, open terrarium

South American: night:8-15C, day: 17-22C, 15hr light, almost closed terrarium

South African and tropical: night:15-20C, day:19-25C, 16hrs light, almost closed terrarium, in the summer 23/32C

lasiocephala: night:20-24C, day: 25C winter, 37Csummer (some go dormant at 25C-falconeri, ordensis,...)

I use T5 or turbo power save lightbulbs with white fluorescent light and distilled or R/O water.

[pictures of my winter drosera]

drosera peltata seedlings

drosera spatulata (common but beautiful)

drosera collinsiae flowering

flower detail

drosera coccicaulis

Petiolaris complex....

drosera petiolaris

drosera derbyensis

drosera ordensis, falling into dormancy

...and some South American species (some of them newly acquired-thanx Dani:-)

drosera graomogolensis

drosera montana var. tomentosa (a.k.a. glabrata or hairless scape)

drosera ascendens

drosera ascendens flowers

drosera graminifolia

drosera camporupestris

[pictures of my winter drosera]

Hi! We got so much snow today it was hard to walk outside, so i stayed in and took some pics for you. Hope you like them:-)

drosera platypoda

drosera erythrorhiza ssp. collina

drosera menziesii ssp. menziesii (grows like a weed but never flowers for me.....)

drosera peltata and drosera foliosa

drosera auriculata

I have been waiting 18(!) months for these little seedlings of drosera rupicola to sprout!!!

sometimes patience is rewarded:-)

Some of my tropical drosera flower this season and sent up unusually long flower stalks, I think it is due to lack of light in the winter.

drosera madagascariensis

drosera affinis

Recently I got some seedlings sprouting, for exaplme a single(!) plantlet of d.filiformis var. filiformis 'florida all red', a beautiful plant when grown up

...and some sprouting gemmaeings :-)

drosera barbigera 'small southern form'

drosera enodes 'Giant' (not much of a giant yet:-))

[D. auriculata. Grampians, Vic, Australia.]

beautiful! I have this plant but in sand/peat mix, it looks like she is not picky about the substrate. Wonderful tiny gem! :-)

[Mon terrarium]

Speedy, j'ai trois mots pour toi , lequels decrire ton terrarium: WOW, WOW, WOW! :-) Merci beaucoup pour le video!

[09' Survivors...]

I know how you feel, this has happened to me many times. Everytime I get someone else to watch my plants while I am gone....the I become a rescue when I return! The d.graminifolia looks great with many flowers (and seeds later)! That should cheer you up a bit!;-)

[Drosera photos 2010]

Beautiful petiolaris drosera Matthias! Thanx for posting these wonderful pics! My falco is in dormancy now, ordensis about to enter it. So I am left with darwiniensis, paradoxa and petiolaris. Do yours go dormant in different times as well?

[Happy 2010 and a few sundews...]

Beautiful plants Iggy! What kind of mammal do you feed that macrantha?> LOL It is really huge plant! Other pics are stunning as always. BTW thanks for the seeds u sent me, I got germination rates close to 100%!

I wish you much success in 2010 :-)

[carnivorous plants artificial nutrition]

Hi, Carl!

Yes, I am still feeding the mix to heliamphora (minor and tatei var. tatei). H. minor flowered and produced seeds. There was a short period of discontinuation in feeding her the supplement when her growth became stagnant. So I restored the feeding routine. H. tatei is producing new clump of plantlets rapidly. Soon there will be many plants available:-) As for other plants, I haven't had the time to extend these experiments onto other plants since all my spare time is taken up by tissue culture experiments and finishing my phd. When I have more time and above all, more space, I will get back to this topic with the greatest pleasure! How about your potentially new findings? (Or anyone's for that matter:-))