Re: Growing Drosera sewelliae

From: Phil Wilson (cp@pwilson.demon.co.uk)
Date: Sun Dec 31 2000 - 03:37:12 PST


Date: Sun, 31 Dec 2000 11:37:12 +0000
From: Phil Wilson <cp@pwilson.demon.co.uk>
To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com
Message-Id: <aabcdefg3757$foo@default>
Subject: Re: Growing Drosera sewelliae

Miguel,
>
>After growing this species for some months, I see that I'm not doing it
>right. The plants started to grow in Autumn as expected, but the traps are
>not functional, the rosettes consist only of petioles.
>I'm growing them outdoors (the temps are good, around 15degC) with a tray of
>water under the pots. The growing medium is peat, and it is very wet. Is
>this wrong? Do they prefer drier conditions?
>What about their dormancy... this year I didn't provide them the right
>conditions - half of them died during dormancy. Those that didn't die were
>those that I kept a bit humid... the others that I kept dry died.
>
It sounds as if you are keeping them too wet. I think this species does
well in a much sandier soil. Try 50% peat with 50% sand.

While I no longer keep this species I remember it as being one of the
trickier ones to keep alive during their dormancy. I suspect the trick
is down to getting the soil mixture right so you can keep the soil just
barely damp without being over wet. Also deep pots may help as many
species of pygmy Sundew have very long roots.

Regards,
Phil Wilson
Email: cp@pwilson.demon.co.uk
Web Site: www.pwilson.demon.co.uk



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