A couple of months ago I planted six Drosophyllum seeds in milled
sphagnum moss that was saturated with Captan(a non-systemic fungicide
that controls damp off). The seeds were placed under a "Cool White"
flourescent tube set for a photoperiod of 16 hours per day. The moss
was kept moist. Four of the six seeds germinated. One plant seemed
to grow itself out of the medium and died several weeks later. The
remaining three Drosophyllums grew rapidly. Happilly, I took note of
this.
Meanwhile, outside, my one-year-old Drosophyllum plant was starting to
flower. I cut back on its watering as I was told to do. All the plants
growing points produced a flower stalk. This alarmed me a little. Where
was the plant going to resume its growth from? Had I sealed its fate by
having previously giving it too much water and turning it into an annual?
Fortunately, this wasn't the case.
After flowering, the plant resumed its growth at several leaf axils. It
rapidly put on new growth. During a hot spell, the plant wilted. Alarmed,
I decided the plant was not getting enough water. Its planting medium
consisted of perlite and vermiculite. The vermiculite had broken down.
I started to water it more often. The wilted leaves re-gained their
rigidty. To my surprise and horror, however, all the growing points
began producing flower stalks. This time for sure I thaught I had an
annual on my hands. I cut the watering back to a cup of water per week
(Its in a six inch pot.).
The plant finished flowering all over again. Again, the Drosophyllum
put out new growth from its leaf axils. I have since kept the watering
down to a cup of water per week and the plant contrinues to grow.
This takes us back to those Drosophyllum seedlings.
Two weeks ago, I took a peak at them. To my surprise each
plant, a mere two inches tall, had produced a flower stalk with
a flower atop it. I imediately transplanted the three plants into
peat/sand/vermiculite mixes. I watered the seedlings with a strong
7 drops per half gallon Superthrive solution (sorry Barry, 3 plants
is not enough to conduct a meaningful Superthrive experiment on.) to
hopefully reduce the shock from removing the milled sphagnum from the
plants' root systems.
The seedlings are now outside. They are producing dew, but so far are not
growing. I'm watering them once a week with a small amount of water. It
will be interesting to see what becomes of them.
The basic upshot of all this is that it seems from my experience that
wet growing medium combined with long summertime photoperiods cause
Drosophyllums to flower regardless of age. Has anyone had anykind
of similar experience?
The big unknown here, though, seems to be the effect of temperature.
At any rate, the next time I decide to break the rules and plant
Drosophyllum seeds during the summer, I'm going to set my growlight's
timer for a short photoperiod.
--Zachary--
P.S. I just had a thaught after typing all of this. I used gibberillic
(sp?) acid to cause the seeds to germinate (soaked them for 36
hours prior to planting). I wonder if the acid played a role
in them flowering when they were so small.