Date: Mon, 29 Mar 1999 09:55:49 +1000 From: "Mark T. Bachelor" <bachelor@gateway.mggs.vic.edu.au> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg986$foo@default> Subject: Re: whittakeri question & VCPS
>Anyway, I noticed that Allen has observed DRY dormant conditions for both D.
>whittakeri subsp. aberrans and subsp. whittakeri. Having heard in the past
>that this drosera goes through damp dormancy I had to pause and scratch my
>head. This year is the first for me cultivating the red and orange form
> thanks Peter!). My plants now are beginning to break the surface. Later on
>this season when the plants go dormant I'd like to find out what treatment I
>should give them. Acquiring good healthy tubers like the ones I received
>seems to be more challenging than finding hard-to-get Nepenthes.
>
>If anyone who has either grown this sundew and/or observed it in habitat can
>write a few lines about its proper requirements I would be most grateful.
>Thanks!
The local plants around Melbourne are mostly of the normal green type, but
orange forms do exist not far from Melbourne. From my personal observation
the orange form is found growing in orange coloured sands (iron containing?)
in more open areas of woodland while green forms are found in more sheltered
areas. Some green forms can go reddish in the sun and there area available
varieties that tend to do this more readily than others. I have never tried
finding out what happens to orange forms if you change the soil as I only
encounter them in National Parks and State Forest, and they kind of get
upset if you dig up protected species.
My plants at home are just starting to break the ground just in time for the
start of the Autumn rains. They will grow over winter flower in early
spring and be gone by the time D. peltata is at its peak in late spring.
They must be allowed dormancy over summer or the tubers rot. I have found
that allowing them to spend summer in a cool shaded place results in a
growing population while exposure to the summer heat results in few
survivers. This may be what is meant by a damp dormacy as it results in the
peat staying a little damp, not wet, but definitely not dry and crumbling as
I use to keep it. The areas that it grows in are mostly places that will
not dry out completely every year, so keeping it cool over summer simulates
these habitats.
By the way I have photos of both green and orange forms in habitat if you
are interested.
>
>In a message dated 3/26/99 4:08:37 PM Eastern Standard Time,
>cp@opus.hpl.hp.com writes:
>
>> VCPS
>???
>
Victorian Carnivorous Plant Society
Regards
Mark Bachelor
VCPS
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