Re: Drosera burmannii

From: Tassara (strega@split.it)
Date: Sat Sep 12 1998 - 13:13:29 PDT


Date: Sat, 12 Sep 1998 22:13:29 +0200
From: strega@split.it (Tassara)
To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com
Message-Id: <aabcdefg2997$foo@default>
Subject: Re: Drosera burmannii

Dear Scott,

>I just acquired a pot of Drosera burmanni yesterday. I understand that it=
 is
>an annual, and that to keep it up in your collection you have to keep
>growing it from seed.=20
>The person I bought it from said that it takes 6 months for the seeds to
>germinate. Is this true?=20

Maybe it is possible under certain conditions.
Fresh seed usually germinate for me in about two weeks.

>How do you treat the
>seeds - do you just sow them in the pot?

I sow them in a pot full of peat, well watered, in full sun and in a warm
environment (outside, here, from may to september).
They use to fall naturally in the parents' pot from flower stalks and to
germinate there as weeds.

>
>In Peter's book he says that they "die off when the soil dries out" and it
>is "easy to grow during any stretch of warm weather." Will it live longer=
 if
>it is kept wet and warm?

They tend to die off after flowering because the plant becomes weak due to
the flowering effort; the new roots aren't able then to penetrate the thick
layer formed by dead leaves.=20
If you cut away the living portion of the plant and put it on the peat it
will soon recover and soon flower again.
Doing so D. burmannii becomes a perennial for you.

Of course it will die if the soil dries out or if temperature is too low
(below 5 =B0C).

>
>Any tips on this species are appreciated,
>
>Scott Mcphee

I've found this species very fond of sunlight: I never had good results with
terrarium-growed plants.
When they are healthy, don't forget to stimulate (not too frequently, of
course) the long hairs on the leaf margin: they move surprisingly fast!
=20
Hope this helps

Filippo Tassara
Genova Italy



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