Newbie on sundew plants
 

Hi All,

Greetings ! This is my first thread in here, also my first experiences on growing Drosera plants.

Here mine's so far, only got 3 different species for now, all from Brother Caseyhoo :1thumbup:

My Burmanii which recently just start flowering"
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3046/...c34d7356_o.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3185/...61355167_o.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3063/...1b2047c7_o.jpg

Intermmedia 'Cuba' ? izzit? forgot the name for this liao
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3153/...14d10e52_o.jpg

& also the bug sucker, Adelea :
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3209/...6d50981b_o.jpg

feel free to comment, cause i think my plant not really doing well..:tongue:

Re: Newbie on sundew plants
 

Welcome Foxngn. Your plants look to be growing very well. It is a sign they are growing well and enjoying the conditions when they are forming new leaves and have plenty of dew.

D. burmanii is an annual plant and so you need to make sure you collect the seed from the flowers.

Re: Newbie on sundew plants
 

Thanks.
Now i only knew Burmanii is an annual plant after you told. Any symptoms i shall be aware that the seed is ready to be pluck out ? It won't drop itself one right ?

Re: Newbie on sundew plants
 

Cool... yours plant like yours place... But, if can, give them more light... Yours plant will enjoy it under more light and will show you how happy they are when you do so...

Re: Newbie on sundew plants
 

The sign to look for in a mature seedpod is it turn brown. With burmanii the lower seedpods will mature before the top flowers have finished. The seeds which do reach the surface of the pot will germatate in about 6 - 12 weeks depending on the temperature.

Re: Newbie on sundew plants
 

What Khaos said is correct... Once it turn brown, I personnally will wait for 1 or 2 days before harvest it. Becuase, sometime, the seeds inside it still green color.

BTW, the 2nd photo is D. intermedia 'cuba'

Re: Newbie on sundew plants
 

I've been experimenting plucking out the flower shoots of one particular pot. So far that fellow is still growing. Wanna see for how long.

Re: Newbie on sundew plants
 

I hope so, but currently only that got 1 place available to put the plants, somemore that's the place where i can get most of the afternoon - evening sunlight. Maybe when i found another spot to place the flower, will setup a light system for them.

erm, sorry Khoas, not quite get this part, the lower seedpod u mean is below burmanii, or the one which are below the flower within the stalk ?

thanks for the clarification again. :tongue:

Wow...! so the plant already reach the 'child' stage ?

I heard that some people actually cut off the flower stalk when it grow up til some certain size, to avoid the burmanii plant to shrink. How is it going on, why the plant will response like that by shrinking ? :confused:

Re: Newbie on sundew plants
 

No strinkage. Plant just normal. I feed them with small insects very often. But I do keep a set of for seed producing purpose.

Re: Newbie on sundew plants
 

Welcome to the forum, foxngn.
Your plants are growing happily at your place, provide them with more sun light if you can. All your sundews species will turn more reddish if they get more sun, especially the D. intermedia 'cuba'.
As for D. burmanii, the plant normally shrink after flowering. I normally cut away the flower stalk to "keep" that healthy look. :laugh: But if you want seeds, then you would have to risk the plant to death by letting the plant to flower then get seeds to start the 2nd generation. It doesn't mean that the plant will surely die, it could survive if the plant is strong enough before it flower.
D. burmanii eventually become weed, they invaded almost every nearby pot in my garden! :crying:

Re: Newbie on sundew plants
 

Oic, thanks for the explaination.. i think i will wait for the seedpods to get more seed to start another batch of burmanii :tongue:
Geez, yesterday raining i think my plants had been splash a bit by the rain since i'm not home, i wonder is that going to give a big effect. Since is working time is hard to predict the rain falls. I think i need to come up on how to make a small auning or something to cover it up when rain.:unsure:
More picture could be view thru the attach files..I suspect my Intermmedia is ready to flower also.:smile:
Anyway, here's some updates on the plant. Btw, on the leaf of adelea it seems to have some white thingy attached on it, i didn't remove, what possible could be that thing ?? Also some of the extra plant that grew within those pot in the burmanii & intermedia, i don't know what plant is that, do i need to remove them ?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...ts/adalea2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...flowerpod3.jpg

Thanks

Re: Newbie on sundew plants
 

Seems you have a new pet on the Adelae. It is called a mealy bug. Get ride of it quick and please check other plants for contamination.

Re: Newbie on sundew plants
 

OMG !!! I still leave it at there for a period liao.. ok, will go back home & get rid of it first.
Usually it just stick on the leaf right ? Cause i'm afraid it hide within those mosses :crying:

Re: Newbie on sundew plants
 

One thing I would like to share about D. burmanii is they can cheat death after flowering. Like what TS said if the plant is strong before it flowers it may survive after flowering. But what I do to make sure it does not die is I feed it alot of insects (I live in an apartment, so have to hand-feed them) and give it lots of clean water and sunlight (in my case artificial lights) after it flower. They will continue to grow for me and try to flower again. The trick is to cut off the 2nd or 3rd consecutive flower stalk after it first flower to help it recuperate.

After that I allow it to flower again and cut of 2 consecutive flower stalk again after that. So far I've done this over and over again with no ill effects on my plants.

If you do this long enough, after a while the plant will look like (TS calls his "mini coconut tree") a celinder growing out of the ground as the old leaves die off and grow taller. The living leaves will be about 1cm above the media supported by the dry leaves below. So usually I'll just fill up with more media to the level of the living leaves so it does not look so odd.

Re: Newbie on sundew plants
 

OMG !!! Disaster strike me liao.. As today i saw some of the pod got some seed is dropping off.. then i use my scissor thought just want to cut that particular, accidentally i cut the whole stalk of the flower.. there's still got a few pod not flowering yet. :crying:
Then i quickly took a 4cm pot, to place some spagnum moss below, & peat moss as the first layer, then pour all those seed [which i hope that i really sharp sharp pour in inside the pot] :crying: that are available to it, i also use a plastic transparent paper to wrap & cover the top of it & poke a few holes on it, but i got sprink a bit of water in it to make it more moist. I hope the seed will grow. This is my first concern.
My second concern is, does the flower pod that i cut off, will still grow ?:crying::crying:

Re: Newbie on sundew plants
 

i doubt that the flower stalk will continue to grow. however those unripen pods may continue to ripen(darken) and you may still get more seeds.

Re: Newbie on sundew plants
 

Have to try this. Maybe this work with D. indica.

Re: Newbie on sundew plants
 

Its been a long time since last post, & my seed still got no sign of growing.

Any way what is the proper way of harvesting the seed? cause it seems like my intermmedia is going to be flower also. I scare i make mistake like last time.

Any guide to help on ?

Oh ya, btw.. those dead leaf from adelea, do i need to trim it ?

Re: Newbie on sundew plants
 

Wait for the seeds pod to go black, be careful intermedia release seeds easily. I would trim the black leaves off the adelae they potential source of fungal infection.
It takes around 6 weeks for some sundew to germinate.

Re: Newbie on sundew plants
 

usually how u take out the seedpod? cutting it or plucking it by hand ? cause the seedpod even a lil bit of shake, there will be many seed that been released also.

Re: Newbie on sundew plants
 

Bend the flower stalk slightly over a large envople or a sheet of paper to catch any split seeds. Cut the seedpod, I found tearing will pull the whole scape out of the plants a lot of the time.

Re: Newbie on sundew plants
 

Oh.. thanks for the info.

Will try to do that next time, cause the intermmedia still not yet flowering, but it got many of the pods :eek:
Now the burmanii is start to growing flower stalk again ! Quite fast from my what i see :P

For the other 2 burmanii seed POT, 1 of the first pot which are the 4cm small pot that one, i already saw the got growth significant on it already, really happy with that.
But for the 8cm pot, still got no improvement yet, hopefully those seed didn't been wash away by water or whatever.


This is the updates of mine :smile:

Re: Newbie on sundew plants
 

Look at all the seeds I collected from my crazy intermedia flower frenzy. Not sure whether viable or not but 98% the seedpods already black in colour so I press them gently and the seeds pour out.

Re: Newbie on sundew plants
 

that's madness !

so you pluck out the seedpod & put together in the picture, right ?

my intermedia still not yet flowering, & my burmanii new flower stalk is growing taller & taller.
still got no sign of growing on the 8cm pot, i wonder does the seed still growing there or not. dunno is there any concern of i use more of spagnum moss or not, cause just a thin layer of peat moss above, below those spagnum moss i make the pieces smaller & fill in the pot.
On the other note, the 4cm pot is growing nicely.. but quite pack.
I wonder should i need to wait it grow a bit bigger only re-pot it to another pot or not.

Re: Newbie on sundew plants
 

Btw, if those plant grow flower stock, but the flower didn't open, it instead been a long time then dried out itself . what is the cause of that?

Re: Newbie on sundew plants
 

Normally a change in the enviorment wil cause this. Large changes in humidity, light levels or water level can cause the flowers to abort.

Re: Newbie on sundew plants
 

ic, do high level of humidity will bring side effect too?

But im suppose in my case, should be sunlight problem, anyway, i already remove the dead flower pod to another container, leave it for a week first before pluck it out the seed.

On another note, last time those burmanii seed already grew out their plant, really glad of that, question is i already can remove the plastic bag that wrap before it right? i mean previously the plastic bag which are use to protect the seed from rain drop.

One more doubt is, does those newly grew up plant is ready to prey those bugs

Re: Newbie on sundew plants
 

If I got this right you have Drosera burmanii seedling that have just germinate and you have used a plastic bag over the pot to increase humidity.
If so don't take the bag straight off, the sudden drop in humidity could be bad, instead slowly take the bag over a period of couple weeks to allow the seedlings time to adjust.
Start by lift the bad up just enough to leave a little gap and after couple of day increase the gap by a little bit. If the seedlings start to wilt put bag back over until they strengthen up and try again.

Re: Newbie on sundew plants
 

yeah, you got that right about the condition.
Now i got the point, cause previously i thought of just taking it off, but still feel un-secure, lucky that i ask this here before doing that.
Thanks :smile::1thumbup:

Re: Newbie on sundew plants
 

Anyway, here's my burmanii which readily to be re-potting to a bigger pot

http://img513.imageshack.us/my.php?image=young1cv7.jpg
http://img513.imageshack.us/my.php?image=young1cv7.jpg

Re: Newbie on sundew plants
 

Don't try seperate each of the plants. Pot them up in small clumps, more will grow on. With annuals species I find sowing directly to the final pot easier.

Re: Newbie on sundew plants
 

Ok... Plant re-potted. But not so perfect, cause some of moss from the big pot was attached with some of the burmanii leaf, some of the small burmanii was drop out also.

But i suppose with moss attached on leaf shouldn't be a big fuss. Well, i think after re-potted i should monitor it closely, especially on rainy day.

Re: Newbie on sundew plants
 

OMG !!! i dunno what happen, 1 of my burmanii plant, suddenly dead ! it was still very green yesterday, today when i check, it already dead.. man, damn sad

Re: Newbie on sundew plants
 

Did you let it flower? Flowering may kill it.

Re: Newbie on sundew plants
 

Yeah, did it flower? Burmanii is an annual, it shouldn't live for more than a year. If it did flower, then collect the seeds and grow them.

Cheers

Re: Newbie on sundew plants
 

Edward,

D. burmanii does not necessary die off after a season of growth. If you have grown D. burmanii for at least one year you would realise that most of the time it does not die after it flowers. A few growers here have been growing burmanii in the tropics for many years and the plants do not die after flowering.

If you check the archive, there is an article on this. There are also things you can do to guarantee that your plant do not die after it flowers. It can grow for you year in, year out without dying. If you grow your plants in the Garden like TS does, where it receives lots of sunlight and food, you will find that it does not die.

Also I noticed in your Growlist that you are stratifying yoru burmanii seeds. D. burmanii is a tropical plant that grows in Malaysia as well. Therefore, it does not need stratification.

I hope members would only despense advise or information from their own experience growing the plants. If you do not have the experience and read about it some where, then please quote the source where you got the information from. Some information on the internet is also not suitable for our cultivation in the tropics as its from a different country with different climate.

PetPitcher should provide accurate and practicle information for its members and visitors and should not just parrot what books or other website says. It must be practicle advise or information that growers in the tropics can use.

Re: Newbie on sundew plants
 

I always remove my burmanii flowers. They tried to flower 5 times. I'm not taking any risk.

Re: Newbie on sundew plants
 

David.....

Thanks for teaching and correcting me. I must have misunderstood the meaning of 'annual' that I saw in any article regarding drosera burmanii. In the future, I shall be much more careful.

So, it means that drosera burmanii does not need stratification? Will the seeds be killed if burmanii is stratified? I have taken the seeds out of the fridge three days ago.

Thanks again, and sorry for my mistake.

Cheers

Re: Newbie on sundew plants
 

Hi All...

If anyone recalls, my one and only sundew died in mid-October but I managed to get some seeds. Now, anyone got any pictures of very small baby burmaniis? I've got something growing in my moss but I'm not sure what it is.

Anyway, dunno if any of them are still alive at this point coz I've not been home since Monday morning already. I live in condo near the landslide on B.A. Filled the tray with lots of water before I let though.

Oh, and anyone know anywhere in Kepong or thereabouts that I can shop for some new plants... since I'm staying in that area temporarily. Wanna have another shot at growing with some adult plants...

Re: Newbie on sundew plants
 

You did not misunderstood the articles that you read. That info is based on their growing conditions in temperate climates. Somehow in temperate climates, the plants only last one season for most of them. But for us in the tropics, it is different. The plants might become weaker, but we can strengthen them by giving them lots of sunlight and insect prey.

I am not sure whether the seeds will still be viable after cold stratification as I've never tried putting my burmanii seeds in the fridge. You could just sow them and let us know the results. This information will be handy when we want to send burmanii seeds to our fellow CP buddies overseas who live in countries with winter. That way we will know if it's ok to send during winter.

I think it'll be good to know. So, please do the experiment for us so we can all benefit from the information. Thanks Edward.

Re: Newbie on sundew plants
 

Sorry for the late replied guys.
My Burmanii didn't flower yet, It just grown some stalk with new grown seedpod.
Previously it had flower for quite some times without dying already.

Re: Newbie on sundew plants
 

Here's another quote from the Savage Garden book by Peter d'amato.

'The Wooly Sundews-Northern Australia has a warm, tropical climate marked by six months of rain and six months of droughts. This sundews grow in sandy areas that are wet to waterlogged during the rainy seasons. When the soils dry out during the annual drought, most of these plants die down to their thick, often hairy, bulblike stems for several months of dormancy. However, in cultivation the plants remain in growth if they are kept wet.'

Since our country does not have any drought season as long as northern australia, Drosera paradoxa shouldn't have any dormancy.:1thumbup:

Cheers

Re: Newbie on sundew plants
 

Ken,

In the wild, D. paradoxa goes dormant during summer when it is extremely hot and dry. With our conditions, keep the plant in bright and warm year round and it should be fine. However, sometimes it does go dormant on its own and with D. paradoxa, it does not seem to recover well from it.

Re: Newbie on sundew plants
 

geez, my thread suddenly become a price discussion topic already.

Anyway, back to the topic, i already throw the dead burmanii, does the substrate still suitable to use for trans-planting adult drosera ?

Re: Newbie on sundew plants
 

Sorry bout that

Anyways well by substrate you mean the media??? No so good with words but if thats what you meant then you have to see probally how long has that been used...If its a couple of years then you can use it but not so good though......New media are normally better....But i've also heard that older media is suitable for germinating seeds.

Ken

Re: Newbie on sundew plants
 

Seriously, I get my best results for seeds germination from 'old' substrate!

Whenever I use fresh new media, I get almost next to no germination.

You can always transplant other plants to the old media provided you make sure it's pest free. Otherwise you might end up infecting the new plants too :)

Just my 2-cents worth.

~A~

Re: Newbie on sundew plants
 

* Off topic discussion has been moved to the appropriate board. Please help keep to the topic of discussioon guys. Thanks.

Re: Newbie on sundew plants
 

Well, Athene, maybe thats why my burmanii seeds aren't showing any signs of life at all. I used newly chopped sphagnum moss for germinating the seeds.

Cheers

Re: Newbie on sundew plants
 

Yeah that makes sense athene......My germination nep seeds out of hundreds has only about 20+ germinations.

And sticking with the main topic....Anyone thinks that using a media of a dead burmanii which has been taken away can still be used for other plants? Same goes with mine if one pot has no germination can i use it to plant other neps?

Ken

Re: Newbie on sundew plants
 

Ken, it depends on how the burmannii died. If it died of old age, then no problem. But if it died of pest infestion e.g. mealy bugs, then don't re-use the media.