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Some South American Drosera


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Hi,

for a long time I am spending my time in creating a new website . At the moment I want to complete

the Drosera rubric - that's why I try to take photos of all the species I cultivate. In my opinion Drosera

is the most difficult species to photograph. I took a while to get a nice shoot of them. Here are some

results...

D. montana var. schwackei 'Diamantina'

D_montana_schwackei_1.jpg

D. roraimae 'Mt. Roraima'

D_roraimae_Mt_Roraima.jpg

D. viridis 'Parelheiros'

D_viridis_Parelheiros.jpg

D_viridis_Parelheiros_1.jpg

D. felix 'Gran Sabana'

D_felix_1.jpg

D_felix.jpg

Best regards,

Matthias

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Beautifully grown plants Matthias, well done! :)

Many growers, myself included, struggle to grow most S. American sundews well. Could you tell us a little about your growing conditions? Lighting, temperature, soil mix etc.

Thanks for sharing.

Cheers

Vic

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Hello Matthias,

Very nice photographs of well grown plants!

Christian, it's strange that D. viridis has been such a slow grower for you. Mine have grown from seed to flowering plants in about one year, and I remember that Sundewmatt even managed to get flowering plants just a few months after sowing the seed! I have noticed that D. communis and relatives (like D. viridis and D. grantsaui) prefer much higher humidity than most other Drosera (maybe comparable to the 3 "Queensland-Drosera"). That's why plants of those species usually look much better and are more vigorous when grown in a terrarium. My greenhouse plants of D. communis and D. viridis have been quite weak and unhealthy until I started covering the pots with petri dishes to get higher humidity.

Vic, I experienced that most greenhouse grown South American Drosera will suffer from short daylenght in European winter, I had some losses in the past as well. That's why I would recommend artificial lights in winter, or terrarium cultivation. Try to keep the temperatures as cool as possible, at least during the night, and give some good air circulation if you want to get fertile seed from the flowers. In my opinion, South American Drosera are some of the easiest under terrarium conditions, as they can grow under the same light and temperature conditions all year round, but perennial greehouse cultivation of these plants has been difficult to me as well. (In South African Drosera it's just the other way round ;)).

Maybe that hint helps you growing this species,

Andreas

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Hello,

i am growing another form of D. viridis (from Serra Do Ponta Grossa). This plant has grown much faster. In fact, it has grown to the same size as the "Parelheiros"-Plants in about 2 months! Maybe i did something wrong when starting the "Parelheiros-Plants"!? At least, they are now growing well and I hope, they will flower soon. I think, they now have what could be called flowering-size. Btw, are the seeds similarily short-lived as those of D. communis?

Some South American Drosera have proven to be quite easy plants under my conditions. Those are primilarly Drosera tomentosa, Drosera ascendens as well as D. roraimae. I am grwoing these plants year round in the green house (at a minimum temperature of about 7°C) without problems. During winter i use some additional artifical light. All the forms of these species i have did already survive a winter in the greenhouse (i always have some "backup-plants" in a terrarium, though).

Christian

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Btw, are the seeds similarily short-lived as those of D. communis?

I stored some seed of the Parelheiros plants for about 6 months at 8°C, and they are still viable. D. communis, in contrast, has really strange seed viability: It's the fasted germinating sundew I know, germination usually occurs in less than one week after sowing the seeds! But the seed looses ability to germinate really quick, just 2 months storage and I got less than 50% germination. No germination in seed that was older than about one year (which is no problem in most other Drosera seed!)

Yes, D. roraimae, D. montana-complex and D. ascendens are some of the species which I keep in the greenhouse in winter, even without artificial lights, too. But I doubt you will have much success with South Americans like D. graminifolia or D. chrysolepis, they are easily infected by Botrytis in winter, which usually leads to plant loss without artifical lights.

Andreas

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Hello Matthias,

What beautiful plants!!! :):) Your D.m.schwackei look so healthy, I don't think I've ever seen such large plants in cultivation, grown from seed. The D.viridis are also exceptionally healthy, as can be seen from the reddish color of the petioles. They very rarily acquire this coloring, I guess it must be your lights.

I'm not sure how long D.communis, D.viridis, and D.grantsaui seeds are viable for, but I have had seeds last only a month. Although I can't really remember if D.viridis is short-lived like the other 2. In fact, although D.grantsaui shares similar seed shape & strategy (little food reserves, for quick germination in habitats that are always water-logged) with D.communis & D.viridis, I don't think they are closely related, but more like a case of convergent evolution. Don't forget that D.grantsaui has 2n=40 (while D.viridis & D.communis have 2n=20) and it hybridizes with D.tomentosa.

Andreas, I enjoyed reading your comments about cultivating these S.American plants, very interesting!

Best Wishes, Fernando Rivadavia

Edited by Fernando Rivadavia
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Thanks for the nice comments!

...Many growers, myself included, struggle to grow most S. American sundews well. Could you tell us a little about your growing conditions? Lighting, temperature, soil mix etc...

Hi Vic,

I also think that many South American Drosera species are very demanding. I had to try different growing methods until I found the right conditions for those plants. I grow my South American Drosera 'mini-greenhouses' (I don't know the right word for it) or in aquaria (50 x 30 cm) that are covered with plexi glass to provide a high humidity. In my opinion it's important to keep the humidity always above 80%.

For two 'mini-greenhouses (50x35cm) or two aquaria I use 2x54W T5 fluorescent bulbs (combination of the light colours 840 and 865) which have a length of 1,20m. The lights are fixed appr. 20 cm above the plants. The photopheriod is about 14 hours. Day temperatures range in summer between 25 and 30 °C and drop down to 15 - 18 °C at night. In winter the temperatures are about 20 degrees at daytime and can drop to 8 - 10 degrees at night but I must admit that I grow species like D. camporupestris and D. felix under warmer conditions in my flat.

I grow some plants pure dead sphagnum-moos (e.g. D. chrysolepis, D. roraimae) and others (e.g. D. ascendens, D. communis, D. viridis) in a mix of peat, different sized (quarz-)sand and perlite.

...very nice plants! How long did it take for you to grow the D. viridis from seeds to flowering plants? Mine have only now started growing well (almost 1,5 years after sowing)...

Hi Christian,

the first batch of seeds I got also needed a long time to grow to mature plants. I sowed them on pure dead sphagnum and this might also be the reason because under my conditions these species germinate and grow much better in a mix of peat and sand. The next seeds I got needed about 8-9 month to reach flowering size.

...What beautiful plants!!! Your D.m.schwackei look so healthy, I don't think I've ever seen such large plants in cultivation, grown from seed. The D.viridis are also exceptionally healthy, as can be seen from the reddish color of the petioles. They very rarily acquire this coloring, I guess it must be your lights.

I'm not sure how long D.communis, D.viridis, and D.grantsaui seeds are viable for, but I have had seeds last only a month. Although I can't really remember if D.viridis is short-lived like the other 2. In although D.grantsaui shares similar seed shape & strategy (little food reserves, for quick germination in habitats that are always water-logged) with D.communis & D.viridis, I don't think they are closely related, but more like a case of convergent evolution. Don't forget that D.grantsaui has 2n=40 (while D.viridis & D.communis have 2n=20) and it hybridizes with D.tomentosa.

Andreas, I enjoyed reading your comments about cultivating these S.American plants, very interesting!...

Hi Fernando,

thank you for the nice words. D. montana var. schwackei is a very tricky plant in cultivation. I got a few small plants from tissue culture two years ago. In my opinion the species benefits from a 'low-dose-fertilisation' unlike to the most other Drosera.

D. viridis is a quite easy grower under my condition and it flowers most of the time. This species tolerates a wide range of temperatures.

Best regards,

Matthias

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Hi people.

In first place: Beautiful plants and shots Matthias! :)

They are beautiful plants, in special the Drosera montana var. schwackei that I never had seen growing in culture. Only in the expeditions of the Fernando.

Only as a small contribution: The temperatures of "Serra de Ponta Grossa" they vary between -2°C and 28°C, with high humidity (80% or more). As it is well more to the south that the too much species the D. viridis of the Christian must support lower temperatures.

The mother of the plants of the Christian is here supporting low temperatures has three months in my garden (-3°C and 18°C). They diminish of size but they come back to grow in the spring.

My best regards.

Carlos.

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Beautiful plants! Your D. montana looks so different than my D. montana-tomentosa. My plant has shorter, stubbier leaves.

AF002001.jpg

Edited by jimscott
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Thanks for all the useful cultivation advice guys.

I guess I ned a new terraium if I want to cultivate most of these species. They don't like the extreme heat of my indoor, Petiolaris tank or the cold conditions of my conservatory in winter. Perhaps a lighted terrarium in the conservatory is the way to go?

Thanks

Vic

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