Re: Introduction

Barry Meyers-Rice (barry@as.arizona.edu)
Fri, 14 Jan 94 10:06:40 MST

>Some time ago I bought quite a lot of "tuberous" Drosera seeds from
>Allen Lowrie. Unfortunately germination rate was extremely low
>(almost zero) though I've trated them with giberellic acid.

>Does anybody know how to break seed dormancy with this group of
>sundews really efficiently?

Andreas: I have no advice for you on this, but a few thoughts which perhaps
our xerophytically inclined colleague M.Chamberland can destroy.

I get the impression that the seeds of plants which grow in seasonally
very dry climates (like the desert plants of Arizona or Western Australia)
are very slow to germinate. Apparently they are very cautious about
germinating, being afraid to germinate during a dry season (sorry for being
so anthropomorphic). I usually do not try to grow tuberous _Drosera_ from
seed for precisely this reason, although I have had excellent luck with a
few species I've ordered. These few species were ones I ordered because I
had heard they were ready germinators, namely _D.huegelii, menziesii
basifolia, neesii neesii, subhirtella subhirtella_. Of course the _D.peltata_
subspecies are also easy germinators...

I have thought that perhaps a fire treatment would be good for tuberous
_Drosera_ to encourage germination...

>For your greenhouse, I'm assuming you used the UV stabilized plastic. Here in
>Florida the UV will last at least 3+ years, while the standard plastic
>fragments very, very quickly.

For those with an unlimited budget, have you seen those sheets of lexan
being produced? This stuff is beautiful! Very hard, very strong, very clear.
It seems to have all the advantages of glass, but it won't break in
a hailstorm. The only problem is the cost.

Tom, what kind of cooling are you using? With a relatively small greenhouse
like yours, it will have a small thermal inertia. It will tend to get very
cold at night and very hot during the day, with much wider extremes than
you get outside the greenhouse. You'll need a cooling and heating system
and thermostats...

Barry