Drosera Flower Stalks - Remove?

[MGarland]

Hi,

My Drosera Capensis are throwing up flower stalks.  I'm in no need of any seeds etc., so like a VFT, should I cut them off before they grow too big to preserve the energy in the plant?

Same question for my Drosera Spathulata - they seem like such big stalks for such a small plant!

Thanks,

MG

[Stu]

capensis and spathulata do not use much energy on flower production and always seem to be generating copious amounts of seed throughout the growing season!

If you're not fussed by them, I'd cut them off now to stop them shedding hundreds of the seeds everywhere - you often find these species appearing in other pots due to the naturally spread seed.

[DeadlyCarnivore]

Capensis will weed like crazy, so I would cut it if you dont want seeds.

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[Yossu]

Whilst not disagreeing with the others (although I quite like seeing pots of taller plants with loads of D.C. growing around the bottom, the flowers of D.C. are quite attractive. I like to leave them.

Personal choice.

[Gaz]

On those in the greenhouse I tend to cut them off so I don't end up with pots of mixed seedlings, same with D. binata.  If any of my less common (than the 3 mentioned) species were to flower I would leave them be and try to germinate any seed.  The few which are outside fending for themselves I also leave to flower and seed freely.

[MGarland]

Thanks for all the responses.  The plants are sat in my unheated greenhouse.

Thinking about VFT and to an extent cacti, where flowering was a huge undertaking, I was coming at it from that angle - but it seems like this isn't an issue for the two sundew types I have.  

I've snipped them off this time around so I don't get overwhelmed, but will be intrigued to leave one in future.   Incidentally, in the pot, there are already tiny sundews growing around the edge so I guess they've flowered before.  Are these little guys easy to transplant?

As to energy, one capensis just caught a medium sized fly by itself and they seem littered with tiny midges so I guess they're doing well.  I'm not sure the Spathulatas have caught much yet but then they're so much smaller.

Thanks again.

Edited June 12, 2017 by MGarland

[Yossu]

36 minutes ago, MGarland said:

Thinking about VFT and to an extent cacti, where flowering was a huge undertaking, I was coming at it from that angle - but it seems like this isn't an issue for the two sundew types I have.  

I've snipped them off this time around so I don't get overwhelmed, but will be intrigued to leave one in future.   Incidentally, in the pot, there are already tiny sundews growing around the edge so I guess they've flowered before.  Are these little guys easy to transplant?

As to energy, one capensis just caught a medium sized fly by itself and they seem littered with tiny midges so I guess they're doing well.  I'm not sure the Spathulatas have caught much yet but then they're so much smaller.

Capensis and Binata are the rabbits of the carnivorous plant world, so you don't need to worry about trying to propagate them, they'll do a fine job on their own! They are very easy to transplant when they are small, you just dig them up with some of the medium around them, dig a small hole in the other pot and place them down.

I don't tend to bother, as I quite like having lots of Droseras growing in my other pots, especially the Sarras, as they are quite tall. My indoor plants have the same thing, they are getting overgrown with D. Alicea, but I've left them there.

[Gaz]

8 hours ago, MGarland said:

As to energy, one capensis just caught a medium sized fly by itself and they seem littered with tiny midges so I guess they're doing well.  I'm not sure the Spathulatas have caught much yet but then they're so much smaller.

It sounds like everything's going well, I'm sure folks would be happy to see some photos of your plants if you care to share.

What's the problem with your cacti flowers?  Once they've reached the required size for any particular genus they should reliably flower as long as they get a winter dormancy by keeping them cool (5 - 8C -ish) and dry from October to March/April.