> 1) I read on Slack's book that [Drosophyllum] plants suffer a lot when
> they are moved, what should I do then??? I mean I would put these
> plants inside for the winter, but in spring I would bring them in the
> greenhouse again, but would these changes be faithfull to them???
>
> 2) in what type of environment in the house should I place these
> plants??
Hi Stefano,
I believe that Slack was mostly referring to how Drosophyllum plants
suffer when transplanted - i.e. have their roots moved and disturbed.
Maybe he had a batch of particulary oversensitive plants, or maybe he
had an especially violent way of moving them, I don't know. It may
ease your mind to hear my experience moving a plant:
When visiting a site where Drosophyllum grows wild in southern Spain
this April, I saw a plant that was growing right in the dirt
shoulder of the road, just inches from where the cars went by, and
which consequently ran a great risk of getting run over or trampled
if someone were to pull over onto the shoulder. The seeds apparently
get washed down the hill by the rain and wind, and many plants had begun
springing up right at the roadside. In view of this, and the fact that
there were lots of plants growing higher up in safer places, I decided
it wouldn't be too bad an idea to try taking this one specimen with me.
I carefully dug up the plant, trying as hard as possible not to break
up the soil around the roots too much, which was extremely difficult
because the soil was rock hard and full of large sandstone rocks.
Invariably, the soil cracked and fell away in several places, exposing
a few of the smaller roots. I transplanted it into a 20cm plastic pot
in its original soil and watered it slightly with some distilled water
to help the soil settle back into place around the roots.
I set the pot in the floor of my car, and soon afterwards the plant completely
wilted, to my despair. I don't know if watering it was the main mistake
or not, but I imagine that the combination of uprooting it, cooling and
wetting it suddenly with water, and placing it into the hot car (with
no air conditioning) was quite a shock to it. Nevertheless, I hoped
for the best and headed home racked with guilt, my plant in critical
condition.
After a 4-hour drive across the countryside, I put it out on the balcony
of my hotel for the night. Happily, in the morning it had perked up
somewhat, and I carried it onto the plane with me for my flight back to
Barcelona. Once home, I set it out in my balcony in full sunlight and
watered it a little bit every couple of days, being careful not to wet
the stem. In a couple of days it had completely recovered from its shock
and started putting out new leaves, and ended up growing much bigger and
catching oodles of bugs before its unexpected demise in a rainstorm while
I was away in September on a trip.
So, in my experience, it's not impossible for Drosophyllum to withstand
quite a beating. I might suggest that you try to make the move from
your greenhouse to inside your house as gradually as possible - i.e. move
it into the coldest room first for a few hours, then into a warmer room,
etc. That might help avoid some of the shock I described. As for what
environment to put it in indoors, just make sure it has full sunlight for
as many hours as possible. I don't expect that heat and dryness is going
to affect it very much at all though, as these are its normal outdoor
conditions. I've never grown it indoors myself though, so don't take this
advice too literally. If the temperature doesn't drop below freezing
where you live, you might consider just leaving it outside, provided you
keep it safe from the rain.
I hope this is helpful.
Best regards,
Gordon Wells
Instituto de Robotica e Informatica Industrial
Edificio Nexus, planta 2
Gran Capitan 2-4
Barcelona 08034
SPAIN