Date: Sat, 25 Oct 1997 01:10:26 -0400 From: "Paul V. McCullough" <pvmcull@voicenet.com> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg4117$foo@default> Subject: Drosera news!
Hello CP Listers!
I haven't had time to stratify the d. capillaris seeds that my caps
produced, however a few must have worked their way into the soil of my
Klima-gro and they've already germinated. (I have two or three
seedlings!) These aren't root generated (I checked) nor are they leaf
plantlets - I've got two or three of those and they look completely
different- more like miniature adults where as the seedlings are skinny
and tiny (wispy looking) versions of d capillaris. I suppose
stratification isn't necessary for germination in this particular
sundew?
My d. intermedia has produced a bumper crop of seed! I'm about to
stratify these now... they'll join my already chilled d. rotundifolia
seeds (Not in the same container, of course). With any luck, I'll have
a ton of rotundifolia and intermedia plants for a backyard bog next
year. Speaking of my rotundifolia and intermedia, they've both gone
into hibernation in the Klima-gro. The growing points look like tight
little fists... real cool. Reducing their light levels and watering
seems to be working well for their dormancy requirements... they're also
against a cold window. (I've been toying with the idea of putting snow
over just these sundews when we get into the thick of winter- sure,
it'll melt- but it ought to chill and water them... I wonder if ice
chips from distilled water would work?) My VFTs are also slowing down in
the KG... I'll report if they go into dormancy as well.
My rotundifolia did produce a leaf plantlet (Yay!) at the end of
August which already seems to be going into dormancy as well. Talk
about clockwork.
My d. adelae continue to sprout plantlets even though some of the
larger plants died after excessive flowering. I cleared the debris
rather hastily and pulled a few adelae plantlets out of the soil by
accident. I still have more then enough adelae. Never did the baking
soda test- the pups I chose got kinda big and healthy- seems a crime to
do it now. I'll probably put them back into the soil- the dixie cups
are cramping their style a bit. I'd have to say that, in my experience,
drosera adelae is a very hardy plant. Next spring, I'm going to cut
flowers from adelae and see if this results in a larger plant.
Here's a weird thing, amongst the adelae plantlets that were under
the dead adults, I found another kind of sundew- it's very similar in
appearance to d. peltata- long "vine like" trailing stems with tiny
round traps every eighth of an inch. Entire stem is probably an inch
long. These are not rosetted sundews at all. I don't think they are
adelae in any of it's weird infant stages either- I've seen all of
those, believe me. I doubt they're peltata as this is a rare sundew,
isn't it? Since it came from the original soil that the d. adelae were
in, I have to assume it came from seeds that found their way into that
cup. My only fear is that these new little sundews were thriving under
the dead adelae adults. Does peltata like shade? These plants were
also accidently pulled up, but I quickly replanted them and they seem to
be okay.
If this is in fact another type of sundew, it'll be the third
surprise plant from Home Depot's vendor. My d. intermedia came out of
the soil of one of my VFT cups, and some other types of butterworts
sprang from a butterwort cup's soil. For $2.99 these are bargains that
just keep repeating! I sure hope Home Depot gets back in the CP
business next spring! :)
Cheers,
Paul
-- Paul V. McCullough "3D Animation World" http://www.voicenet.com/~pvmcull "CP Page" http://www.voicenet.com/~pvmcull/pics/cp/carniv.htm
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