flycatchers Posted November 15, 2003 Report Share Posted November 15, 2003 Hi My D. villosa that I got at the EEE looks rather sick Its stopped growing and the heart of the plant is brown! Its kept in my warm house with my slackii in a water tray. The night time temp is held at 50f. There is a very small offshoot growing alongside. Should I try repotting that or leave it where it is? What is the best compost mix? I see that Peter D'Amato in his book Savage Garden saids that he is unable to over winter this species. Is it really that tricky? I don't want to lose my first attempt at growing this lovely looking sundew- help! cheers bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Sheila Posted November 18, 2003 Report Share Posted November 18, 2003 I have been keeping mine in a heated propogater, in as strong light as the season allows. The propogater doesn't get too warm, the winter minimum is about 12C, though I am not sure what the lowest/ highest temperature has been the last couple of weeks. It stands in water, but I let the tray dry before refilling it. This picture was taken this morning. It seems happy kept like this, but it is my first winter keeping this as well, I bought mine in about June of this year, so whether it will remain happy once the coldest weather is here, remains to be seen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flycatchers Posted November 18, 2003 Author Report Share Posted November 18, 2003 Your villosa looks very happy Sheila. Alas mine is now a brown mess :cry: I have repotted whats left today, along with a couple of small offshoots. But as they are brown rather than green/red I don't hold up much/any hope I had mine in a water tray, drying out between watering and in my heated greenhouse to night-time min 50f and whatever it reached during the day 60-80f, in full sun. Oh well I wish you good luck and I will try again next year cheers bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
byblis Posted November 18, 2003 Report Share Posted November 18, 2003 I am pretty sure the plant on the foto is not D. villosa, which is very very rare in cultivation, but D. graomogolensis. I keep my plants of the let me say "D. villosa complex" in my coldhouse together with the tuberous Droseras at 6-12 degrees Celsius. I have never had problems during the winter except some cases of Botrytis. Hope this helps Stefan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob-Rah Posted November 19, 2003 Report Share Posted November 19, 2003 Ah, and the joyful little U. subulata that gets everywhere I see has invaded your plant too! (or is it a diffent Utric?) On another note, I have found that D. villosa var. ascendens (the plant usually sold as D villosa in the UK) appreciates a very low mineral content in the soil. I tried it in peat and sand, but it wasn't happy as I stood it in the same water tray as some pots that had vermiculite in them. The main crown turned brown from the centre and stopped growing, eventually dying. I guess the minimal salts from the vermiculite upset the drosera. Fortunately, a side-shoot stayed alive and it's now in pure sphagnum moss (about the best substrate there is for purity of salts and bacteria) and doing fine. I have been giving it a 10C minimum. Plants in habitat can grow in very wet places indeed, with the water at the soil level, so the issue is not one of dryness but of purity; at least that's what I feel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellis Posted November 19, 2003 Report Share Posted November 19, 2003 Hey. How do people grow these beautiful plants (D.Villosa var. ascendends in particular)? It seems to look like temperate climates but then Slack says no? What seems to be succesful? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fernando Rivadavia Posted November 20, 2003 Report Share Posted November 20, 2003 Hey Guys, Forget that these Drosera come from "tropical" Brazil and remember taht they are all highland plants found between ~700-3000m altitude! Here's something I just posted somewhere else: It's true you can't formally use D.villosa var/subsp. ascendens, but the name D.ascendens is legitimate. This is how Saint Hilaire originally published them, as 2 separate species (D.villosa and D.ascendens). They are similar in floral parts, but the leaves are different in that D.villosa has petioles longer than the lamina while D.ascendens has petioles usually much shorter than the lamina, but in shadier habitats they may be almost equally as long. D.villosa usually has narrower, more upright leaves too. D.ascendens is extremely variable in the wild. The larger plant on the right in taht 1st picture seems like the form from the Serra dor Orgaos (or Orgelgeberge, or something like that in German), which is the one most common in cultivation (and not the one from Caparao, William). As for D.graomogolensis, the rosettes are almost identical to some forms of D.ascendens. Here the differences are in the floral parts and seeds. The seeds of D.graomogolensis are rounder, the flowers fewer, pedicels longer, sepals smaller, petals parger, stamens larger, styles longer, and scapes longer too I think. And there's a 4rth taxon to this complex, but I think it was lost in cultivation... Fernando Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellis Posted November 20, 2003 Report Share Posted November 20, 2003 Ahh. Thanks Vic, Fernando! No wonder I couldn't get those D. Ascendens seeds to germinate. I was indeed trying to grow them as sub tropical. If anyone has got any spare propogated material to swap or sell please PM me! Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flycatchers Posted November 27, 2003 Author Report Share Posted November 27, 2003 UPDATE! Since repotting new growth is now emerging! cheers bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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