Re: Advise

Clarke Brunt (clarke@brunt.demon.co.uk)
Tue, 23 Jan 1996 20:07:16 +0000

On 22 Jan 96 at 0:47, CK Lee wrote:

> I have been growing VFT's for several years now with success but
> everytime my VFT had flowered and formed seeds, I have never successfully
> germinate the seeds. Also, not all the flowers would form seeds. I would
> usually pollinate them with a Q-tip and only one or two of the flowers would
> form seeds. I had placed the seeds on damp peat moss. Can anyone advise as
> to how to get those seeds to germinate? (lighting condition, humidity, temp,
> growing medium)

I'm surprised they haven't germinated. I too find that not all
flowers produce seed, and some produce a lot more seed than others. I
guess I've had seeds fail to germinate too, but some have certainly
germinated. I don't do anything special with them - just sow on the
surface of peat or peat/sand, stood in water tray, and just keep in
similar conditions to the adult plants.

> Anyways, since I've been growing VFT for several years and I'm getting
> a little bored, I recently got a few Droseras. I have no idea what type of
> Drosera but when I bought them, they had large droplets on the hairs of the
> leaves. After I placed them into my terranium, all the droplets disappeared.
> The humidity in my terranium was 50-60% and I had repotted them into new
> pots. The plant continues to sprout new leaves but only small minute
> droplets form on the leaves. Can anybody give me any advise on how to get
> them to form large droplets again?

I wonder what sort of Drosera it is. D. capensis is possibly the most
widely grow - its leaves are strap-like and upright. Some others form
flat rosettes on the ground. 50-60% humidity seems low for inside a
terrarium - it's often higher than that outside terraria in the U.K.
That's the only reason I can think of for a lack of droplets.

-- 
Clarke Brunt (clarke@brunt.demon.co.uk)