I thought I would share a slight saga we had here over a pot of unidentified
Drosera. I learnt something from it and perhaps might learn more..
A friend of mine moved to the Netherlands last year and entrusted his
collection of cps to me (Pings, drosera, Darlingtonia, and a Utric). These had
been given to him and he wasn't 100% sure what was in some of the pots.. I was
delighted anyway as my own collection was quite modest.
There was a small pot of what looked like D.rotundifolia. I didn't pay it much
heed, nice wee plants. I didn't know where they were from so I kept them away
from my other ones as I know their origins.
The plants in this pot didn't go into dormancy during the winter, and I confess
the tray ocassionally went dry. However about a month ago a stalk appeared
from the peat, and grew several inches high. It didn't grow from a rosette. I
was baffled. I e-mailed my friend in the Netherlands, and another Irish
cp-list person Joe Mullins, we conjectured but remained baffled). The next
thing stalks started to appear from the centre of the rosettes of the
'D.rotundifolia'... all the stalks looked the same and had wee flower buds on
them. Then the buds opened and they weren't flowers at all but shield shaped
leaves!
So it looks like I have a pot of tuberas Droseras! Now it is pure chance I
didn't wipe them out in the last 6 months.
I presume juvenile plants have this low-growing pattern, with round, not
shield-shaped leaves. There are quite a few plants in this pot, should I
re-pot them? I know to let the pot become dry when the growth dies off, does
that mean bone-dry, or just moist.. any other advice? I do not know what
species they are. The ones that didn't go into dormancy are unevenly scattered
on the surface of the peat as if they seeded into it. At the moment the
tallest stalk is about 4 inches hight with no branching.
I also have a pot of U. lividia. It has not thrived under my care. A
posting the other day mentioned growing them with the water level within 1cm
or so of the top of the soil, I have it about 1 cm up the base of the pot.. can
an experienced person advise?
well that is about it, if anyone out there has any more advise/ideas send them
this way
regards
Seosamh