D. capensis "red"

[glider14]

i recently got a bunch of D. capensis "red" seedling(thanks Crystal!) and they started to go orange under my lights. well...now they are back to green. does the red form breed true from seed? or do i need to just wait?
Alex

 

[JB_OrchidGuy]

Not enough light there bro. Give them puppies some sun and they will redden up I do believe. That or a LOT more light than you are giving them.

 

[Joseph Clemens]

Ditto

 

[Drosera36]

Or just move 'em real close to the light.

-Ben

 

[glider14]

they are 2 inches from 100watts of CF. no sun now.... zone 6 weather= not good capensis weather. ill deffinatly put them outside this spring though.
Alex

 

[Cindy]

Alex, what is the temperature of the area where you grow your D. capensis "red" (i.e. being under 100W of CF)?

 

[glider14]

its considered to me(from what ive made observations on) a warm-intermediate tank. cool....yet not highland cool. the max it gets is 75*. my D. burmanni does well in it.... i dono.
Alex

 

[Joseph Clemens]

Is the CF actually 100Watts or just the equivalent of 100Watts?

 

[jimscott]

In my limite experience with this plant, window sill lighting makes it look like a "typical". A 30W fluorescent light over it for 15 hours a day improves it some, but not nearly to the capacity as having it outside, in direct sunlight.

 

[quogue]

Do seed grown turn red? I know Red Dragon's hafta be cloned to be red.

 

[schloaty]

Quote[/b] ]Is the CF actually 100Watts or just the equivalent of 100Watts?

I was going to ask the same thing. I have 65 watt CF's, and they're like mini-suns.

 

[glider14]

its 100w output. the actuall wattage is 26...or around that. that one is directly over top of it. there is another 60watt(output) CF but its on the other side of the 10gal tank.
Alex

 

[Drosera36]

Oh, well that's not gonna do anything to make it red. I'd consider putting it under two 30w fluorescent 5000k CFs. That would do something. Mine colored up like crazy under that (although there was a bit more light next to it). Actually, I think it was mostly under one 30w, since it was pretty much touching one of them.

-Ben

 

[Finch]

Or use lights in combination with windowsill light. I do that, and it works fine.

 

[Joseph Clemens]

Generally, the majority of self-pollinated seed from red Drosera capensis grow to be red like their parent, when given suitable environmental conditions.

 

[glider14]

thanks guys! my other plants in the same tank color up real nicely. so is it just the capensis? i have some pygmy dews, N. sanguinea, D. filiformis, and mexican pings all doing nicely and coloring up. ill move them into my other tank with 2 30watt regular flourescents. thanks!
Alex

 

[Joseph Clemens]

I too find that my Drosera capensis "red" really takes even more light than most other CP to color-up well.

 

[The Griffin]

Joseph,
The way people talk when germinating seed for this plant, it's a crap shoot whether they get true red or not. Do you think it's because they just subject them to their normal conditions and give up whem they don't turn bright red?

Cheers,

Joe

 

[Joseph Clemens]

Joe,
I have had the same thought. You are probably, right-on, this "red" D. capensis really needs lots of light before it looks any different from an ordinarily colored plant. I would guess, too, that lots of people do as you suggest, and wind up believing the seed were producing normal colored plants. If only the use of, too much light, were more common, then those kinds of problems would happen much less often.

I know that it is possible for this not to come true from seed, but in my experience, it rarely happens. I've grown hundreds of these from seed and they've all been quite red under good conditions. Perhaps if the seed were an intentional cross with the normal colored forms, then it might show more variation.

 

[Drosera36]

I received some D. capensis 'Albino' seeds from Bob Ziemer in the summer of 2004 I think, and turns out they were D. capensis (Red), very red in fact, and would color up very easily under 90 watts of light.

-Ben