D. graomogolensis pics and questions

[adnedarn]

Hello everyone, I wanted to share my D. graomogolensis, it's potted in pure LFS in a tall pot and really seems to do its own thing. The pot constantly goes completely dry (to the point of the lfs being hard) before again being tray watered (shares a tray with some neps and my Cephs). Outside of sharing my pics, I wonder when these guys flower and if they readily set seed? I have tried a few leaves for propagation, but have only gotten one to sprout, which is ready to be moved over to a pot now. Is floating in water the easiest method for propagation?
Andrew

 

[amphirion]

@adnedarn: NAICE! your plant's looking good! from what i understand, the plants can be self pollinated, but are not selfing. they will need help in pollination since the stamens are shorter then the pistols.

 

[RL7836]

I've used roots for propagation, but based on Aaron's success, it seemed like water is more productive. I usually stick Drosera leaves in a test tube of water with a stopper - so it doesn't really float. Actually, I was planning to throw a leaf in a test tube this weekend....

 

[jimscott]

What a nice looking plant!

 

[Not a Number]

Tamlin said he was never able to get seed. Many of the South American Drosera are not self-fertile and you probably need two plants with different genetics to get seed.

This is the technique I've been using. I'm still fine tuning the process:

Take intermediate age leaves. Clean off all traces of insect carcasses. Place in a stoppered tube of RO water. Jiggle it around so mostly the tentacled sides of the leaves face towards the light (up). Place tube in my tropical tank. Temperatures fluctuate from low 70sF at night to mid 90s during the day depending on the season. Strikes begin in about two weeks. In another 2 to 4 weeks the first strikes have at least 4 tentacled leaves. The cuttings with plantlets attached get placed on a bed of finely chopped live Sphagnum in a small souffle cup, the sort that sauces from take-out are often packaged in. I use Chilean Sphagnum. The cup is filled to the brim with RO water and placed on my indoor growing shelf. The water is allowed to evaporate until you need to add water to keep the Sphagnum moist. This method has given me the highest survival rate vs hardening off the plantlets by placing them on a bed of moist LFS in a covered container and slowly lowering the humidity over time. Indeed it appears to stimulate further strikes.

I'm going to cutting out the tube and placing the cuttings on the Sphagnum bed in a covered cup of water. First I need my plant to recover more from the aphid attack.

Many of these puppies are rooted and ready to be transplanted.

 

[Exo]

Oh man.....I think I might need one of those.....

 

[cp-connection]

This is the technique I've been using. I'm still fine tuning the process....
Many of these puppies are rooted and ready to be transplanted.

Nice work!

 

[swords]

Wow! Very pretty and not paddle leaf shaped! LOL

 

[adnedarn]

NAN- Thanks for the rundown, that method seems to work great for you, I'll give it a shot!
Andrew

 

[kulamauiman]

D. graminifolia seems to be able to produce seeds when self pollinated. Might not have the right conditions to get them to germinate. Might be the temp too cool to induce germination in my outdoor setup. Might need to try again inside. Did need to manually pollinate the flowers. Can see another flower stalk starting.

Would this method for leaf cuttings also work for D. graminifolia?

 

[Not a Number]

Butch's plant flowered before it died down to the roots. As I recall he said the flowers aborted so no chance to get seeds. Tamlin said he was working with two clones. D. graminifolia is in tissue culture from Agristarts 3 so finding non-identical clones might be difficult. Since it's readily available I haven't tried propagating D. graminifolia.

Warm temps seem to help with the D. graomogolensis cuttings. Andrew has no shortage of that during the summer. Since the plant grows so quickly you can easily take two or three cuttings a month per plant. At a wild guess I'm getting on the average 8 plantlets per leaf cutting. Do the math...

I treat mine like most highland species Drosera - long fiber sphagnum with perlite, live Sphagnum topping. Top watered daily, seldom with standing water in the tray. It seems to like temperature drops at night and doesn't mind standing water.

 

[CPlantaholic]

Beautiful plant, Andy! And congrats with the success on the cutting.

NaN, looks great! That's pretty much exactly what i do, too. Very nice explanation as well!