What's new
TerraForums Venus Flytrap, Nepenthes, Drosera and more talk

Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Drosera arcturi

JB in Utah

Come To The Light. . .
So I've been doing some research on this species and I'm very interested in its alpine nature, I was wondering if anyone at TF is successfully growing it, I hear it's fairly difficult. I've already found cultivation threads, I'm just looking for any other useful information.

Thanks.
 
I hear it's fairly difficult.
From what I read, that's an understatement. In addition to being picky about conditions, it grows very slowly ...

Best of luck if you try to grow it - share pics...
 
I kept some seedlings alive for two growing seasons. The second season they rarely had dew so it wasn't possible to feed them. I gave them a zero chance of surviving through dormancy and was right.

A couple people were trying to grow some recently (last couple years or so). They never posted anything more other than requesting cultivation tips. Take that as you will. The absence of proof is not proof of absence.
 
I had some seeds this spring. Unfortunately I had them in a small plastic pot on my back porch and the wind blew the pot onto the ground before they had a chance to sprout. I only had them out for a week or so before I lost them.

I do plan on trying these again though and with a larger/heavier pot. Maybe next spring. I too find arcturi pretty fascinating.
 
SO you're saying you like a challenge, hey? I found this to be one of the most difficult species to cultivate in my conditions. Seed is long lasting but difficult to germinate. They need a great deal of direct sunlight to grow well, and this coupled with an absolute need for consistently cool (read cold) roots. Plants grow slowly, producing only a few leaves each season. The plant needs aggressive feeding, but care must be taken to remove prey corpses, otherwise they will moulder and damage the leaf, and there are so few produced so this is often fatal. The plant has an obligatory winter dormancy just at the freezing point, and not below. It is a wonderful species to be sure, but like Drosera uniflora and Drosera stenopetala they need chill conditions to really prosper. My plants lasted 3 seasons, and never had what it took to flower them. Good luck with this one, and please keep us posted as to your success (or more importantly) or failures regarding this attempt!
 
Thanks all for the info, it is very much appreciated. If and when I can grow this, I'll definitely take pics and share with everyone of my successes (hopefully not failures, but that's the risk you take). Might not be this winter when I start growing it, but definitely next winter for sure.
 
Allow two months for stratification and at least as long to germinate. Maybe even longer.
 
Thanks for the tip.

If I plant them this year, I plan on sowing them in Mid-Late November when local temperatures are low enough to do cold stratification outdoors.
 
  • #10
This is about the best mine ever did. The survivors got a little larger the next year but would almost never produce dew. These were the giant form which supposedly was going to be elevated to species status. D. arcturi is supposed to die down to the root for dormancy but these would form a winter bud. I might have some pictures from the second year somewhere.

01720018.jpg
 
  • #11
If I recall there are different populations of this species at different altitudes. The more lowland populations are much easier and forgiving in their requirements. My seed took years of patient waiting before it germinated. Seed of this species can stay viable for decades even without optimal storage so don't throw out any sown pots!
 
  • #12
As I recall the giant form are found closer to sea level but much further south. They are supposed to be easier to grow being lowlanders but being further south means lower temperatures too.

Unfortunately the wind blew the pot off my balcony so if there was any viable seed left it either ended up on the pavement or the garden below.
 
  • #13
I enclose the picture of the "mini" form occuring on location of Gelignite Creek in Tasmania. The adult plant is 2cm in diameter.
DSCF0001-7.jpg


Unfortunately, the 'giant' form from The Druids at Scotts Peak Dam of Tasmania is reluctant to germinate on nutrient medium. I think I will have to cold-stratify longer or play with hormones again.
 
  • #14
2 cm in diameter???? Man, I learn something new every day! Thanks for the photo of yet another incredibly rare plant!

GA2 seemed to encourage germination of my seed. along with a frozen stratification, but even then germination was not prolific, but my seed was a decade old. Perhaps one of the other Gibbrellic acid derivatives might work better, but I never had access to this. The GA2 I had came from sympathetic pharmaceutical company in Belgium after one of my Prof's made an appeal on an academic listserve. The chemical arrived at my door at the height of the Anthrax Scare here in the U.S. when all mail was being allegedly re-routed for terrorist activity evaluation....it arrived wrapped in aluminum foil, no note and it was delivered to my door without incident! (scratches head)!
 
  • #15
This species gets the darkest red glands I've seen on any sundew.

The average of two functional leaves at any time makes it difficult to keep well fed in cultivation. The native habitat must be filled with billions of gnats or other small flying prey insects in order to grow in such a compressed growing season.
 
Back
Top