Drosophyllum wet and cold

[partisangardener]

I forgot some Drosophyllum seedlings last December outside. -15 for several nights and finally thawing after two weeks. I have them growing on floating islands with only a few centimeters of substrate.

After thawing I put them in my frost-free studio. Light level in winter is quite low. I put some aluminum foil behind to increase the light.

Now they start again to grow.

First picture is after the thawing, second from today.

 

 

[partisangardener]

In the end I found out it was even -18 C° for one night. They were frozen solid. Old leafs had dead ends after thawing younger ones just grew on.

I was weeding a bit between the other plants an even accidentally ripped out the smallest Drosophyllum  there. It had only a root stump of one inch left.

I put it back into the wet ground. It has still dew on after more than a week. Maybe it survives which would be impossible under normal conditions.

Since we can`t reproduce hydrological  circumstances deep in the ground and regular mist clouds from the sea; a hydroponic system like mine might be the solution for many problems this species provides  for growers.

I do have substrate layers on these islands of only 1-3 cm thickness.

The older ones which did not have to endure deep frost are now about 6 inches high. They should flower soon.

Edited April 24, 2023 by partisangardener