Date: Tue, 4 Aug 1998 10:23:17 -0700 (PDT) From: Andrew Marshall <andrewm@eskimo.com> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg2592$foo@default> Subject: more on tuberous Drosera
Hi Jay, Hi folks,
>
>
> Oh, and thanks for answering Mark's question, by the way .. I've got
> D. auriculata doing the same thing .... and I've left them all dry
> (will have to go home and water them tonight ... poor things).
You must be careful about this. I am going to try and remember
the information passed on to me by Allen Lowrie on growing tuberous
Drosera. It is why I am having so much fun with them now, instead of
cursing the maker for inventing them.
When the tuberous Drosera decides to go dormant, let the pots
dry
out VERY slowly. Two months is a good time frame to allow for this
process. In this way it has enough time to retreat to its tuberous
state. (I have begun after much experimentation to regard these Drosera
as animals rather then plants. It helps) Once they resume growth, also
allow some time for them to adjust. I have forgotten how long and can
not find his letter so that I can qoute (yes, I just finished looking
for it).
>
> Anyway, I grow my D. auriculata in a community pot with D. ramellosa and D.
> whittakeri. Wondering if I need to remove the D. ramellosa (will wet
> conditions the dormant tuber). Also having similar (to the D. auriculata)
> issues with my D. whittakeri. The plant went dormant, but then almost
> immediately sent up two additional rosettes. They are also sitting in the
> same pot, under the same (dry) conditions.
> What should I do?
Send them to me. I will adopt them and if you send monthly
donations, I will send you photos of your adopted plants, with progress
reports of plants like yours.
Just joking!
Seriously, D. whittakeri can be treated just like D. auriculata and D.
peltata. Mine nearly always had some growth on it, until recently when
after some 7 years it finally died. Odd thing is that I don't actually
know why. D. ramellosa is indicated in C.P. of A. vol. 1 as requiring dry
dormancy.
Note, I used to grow all my tubers in clay pots to facillitate
drying out more easily. BAD move. They dry out way to fast and the plant
hasn't enough time to put down tubers. I went back to plastic and things
have improved. I actually have tubers in the third growth cycle now. I
am looking at finding pots that are 6' wide (to keep the interior some
what cooler) and at least 8" deep if not deeper. Some of these tubers
will burrow to the bottom of the pot when they decide to go to sleep.
>
> (careful, Andrew .. if you're too helpful I'll start pestering you with all
> sorts of D. cistiflora questions <smile>)
D. cistiflora isn't tuberous. My experiance has taught me many
ways to kill these plants. When they do grow it is becasue I put them out
in the yard, behind a large apple tree, in 2" pots amongst several other
pots, in a tray that is always full of water, and ignore/forget them. In
fact I have plants that popped up in pots I had thought were dead, had
dried out from last year and hadn't yet been removed from the tray. I
would love to see these bloom, but so far I have never been that lucky.
The largest I have seen is 4" tall before it decided it had had enough and
keeled over.
So, based on this, go ahead and ask away. I will happily help,
though it may be more hinderance then actual help :-)
Best wishes
Andrew
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