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Dexenthes

Aristoloingulamata
I promised myself I wouldn't get any more carnivores this season. However, one more has reared it's beautiful tendril and tantalized my addiction.

Drosera regia -
I have read through as many of the old threads I could here on TF and I tried searching ICPS (to no avail ???), so I have done a fair amount of research so far.

I see one available on the web at the moment, and I'll-be-darned if I'm not totally convincing myself to buy it. I just am looking for a little more clarification/input.

So the source is selling the plant potted, as-is in substrate already, so I'm not immediately worried about what substrate to use.

Many of the growing conditions I read about seem to vary. But from what I gather these plants need:

Pretty much as much light as possible.

Good amount of water. (Some saying it can be almost aquatic?)

Humidity ?? (Very mixed info on this)

Temps that could be considered mild Highland temperatures. High of 80 degrees with dips into 50-60's.

A dormancy of some kind, though there appears to be a bit of controversy regarding what kind. Some posts said that their plants go dormant in the heat of Summer, others saying that it is a winter dormancy that is needed.

Heavy feeding.

Questions:

For those of you that grow D. regia, what conditions do you keep yours in or have you found the most success with?

Is a dormancy required?

How tolerant is this plant of high humidity?

Do you think I could have success growing this plant inside of a terrarium with my highland Nepenthes under artificial lights?

Thanks for looking and answering!

If anyone has any tips, experiences, or just wants to shamelessly display their King Sundews, please, do so!
 
A while back I did a comparison of my approximate weather conditions and Cape Town South Africa. The closest weather station to me that was near by and in a similar climatic zone was the Kula Agricultural Experiment Station. It is about 300 to 500 feet lower in elevation that my place. So i am a minimum of a few degrees cooler on the average. I am further to the east so i also get a bit more rain if the weather were normal.

What i found is that my climate is very much like South Africa in terms of temp and rain fall. Figured it would be easy to grow all sorts of South African Drosera. some are weeds but when it came to D. regia, boy was I wrong. i killed about 3 before I realized that it could not manage my direct full sun. Move them to places where they were protected from the noon sun. Still killed them. grew them under a lexan/polycarobonate film that absorbed UV light and bingo can keep them alive. i still need to work on the media part. i have them in a pot that is top dressed with live sphagnum. Pot is deep mostly full of volcanic rock. And watered with a tray. However found most of the roots up in the live sphagnum. So thinking needs tweeking.
 
I grow the normal and the 'Big Easy' forms of D. regia and they both behave the same way in the conditions I give them. They've grown for 2 years without dormancy, and only signs of speeding up growth now. So it seems there is no "need" for dormancy they like the conditions they're growing in.

Dormancy- not required but if given unfavorable conditions it will go dormant during this time (blacken from the tips downward) and form a hibernacula-like bud at the level of the media. If frozen suddenly, it would probably die back to the roots and then regenerate plants if the temps were favorable soon after this.

Temperatures- Mine went to go dormant under lights when I gave them temps right around 85F but others report theirs can handle 90F without going dormant. It depends on the root temp, so this could vary depending on the media. I believe one grower reported that their plants went dormant when the temps drop below a certain temp- I think it was mid 40s or something, but I haven't tried testing its lower ranges yet...

Media- My normal D. regia are growing in the typical 1:1 peat: sand mix and are doing very well. I grow my 'Big Easy' in Joseph Clemens' mix of 1:1 dead LFS: redwood bark topped with live sphagnum. (I'm using Cypress right now, since I don't have any Redwood mulch). I also added a small amount of peat:sand mix in for kicks. The 'Big Easy' is doing very well, too. I think if you substituted living sphagnum in for dead, it may be able to provide a cooling effect for the roots, as has been reported for some heat-sensitive South American sundews.

Humidity- I think that if you are going to have higher humidity, you should use a better draining peat:sand mix. There may be more of a tendency to rot if the media is waterlogged and the plant is in very humid conditions. I know that 2 other growers grow theirs in highland terrariums, and the plants look great, so it can be done.

Lighting- I grow mine so that the leaves are touching the T-8 lights, and they don't burn up except for the very tip. When I grew one plant outdoors in 80F temps, it did pretty well in a partly sunny location that was shaded during the hottest part of the day, but in full sun the leaves quickly lost their dew and it colored up way faster than under lights, so I moved it back into the shade, where it was happier. Mach raises an interesting point with the UV light, though. Maybe they are taking on too much radiation in your location and are getting damaged? I definitely prefer growing it in the basement where the temps and lighting are more controlled.

Roots- extremely long so I like using as tall of a pot as possible. My Big Easy is in a 6" pot and my other plants are in a 4" pot and doing fine, but I only do this because of a lack of space. However, their roots can grow quite longer than a foot when the plant is large, so the bigger the pot, the larger the plant can get.
 
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I grow my D. regia in partial sun. In summer it receives around 4 hours of direct sun and bight light the rest of the day. In winter it receives around 6 hours of direct sun and bright light the rest of the day. Humidity here gets around 15%(daytime) in the summer and around 30% at night. In winter its usually around 30% in the day and around 60% at night. Temps were my D. regia sits can get as high as 95F and as cold as 40F. I have never personally seen it go fully dormant, but it does slow down a bit in extended periods of hot or cold temperatures. My plant is still rather small, only about 5-6 inches tall, but even on such a small plant, it has a massive root system. I actually just repotted it and it had 3 very thick roots, 10+ inches each. (I cut one off and am trying to propagate it.) It went from being in a 1.5 gallon sized pot to a 2.5 tall gallon sized pot. The larger pot helps avoid over watering. Soil mix of 30% peat, 15% perlite, and 55% silica sand. I hadn't repotted it in 2 years, when i first got it; it was tiny back then, about an inch high with roots only about 2 inches and very thine. Huge difference.

A friend of mine had his D. regia in his highland greenhouse and it did very well in there. Very high humidity, but very bright in there. From the sound of it, it was growing a lot faster than mine. So as far as humidity goes, they can handle a lot, as long as it is getting a lot of sun, or light. But they can be grown in low humidity as long as you don't give it so much direct sun.
 
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I can kill them in just about any set of conditions described above! Get a D. capensis... just as majestic and won't die!
 
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Thanks so much for the input guys, it is really invaluable.

So as I have found, it sounds like the conditions for growing these plants can really vary. Now I wonder if it is really worth my spending too much money on getting one!

@Jim - Lol! I have a few D. capensis already. I love 'em of course. :p They are no Drosera regia, though.
 
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I grow mine like most everything else...but a little less sun than my Sarracenia. I wasn't even aware they went dormant. I try to keep it on the drier side, but it can tolerate wet for a bit. I grow mine like a VFT I guess...best way to describe it. But of course, it doesn't go dormant like the VFTs do.
 
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If I were you, i'd wait for spring and see if maybe someone here has extras. I'm sure it would be cheaper if you got one through here, you know, trade for one.

Most ppl say they're fuzzy when it comes to repotting, but I dont think they are. Since i've had mine, i've repotted it 4 times. Have never had a problem with it. In fact, it seems to have recovered from being repotted already. 5 days later the newest leaves have dew on them again, and the new growth has started again. Maybe i'm just lucky, who knows.
 
I had good success with an almost aquatic set up, double potted so the water was a few cm beneath the substrate. Used a base sump of redwoood mulch and pure live sphag run thru the food processor. I know that sounds strange but it worked for a couple of years. My plants went dormant when temps dropped suddenly. I think Mach is right, too much light isn't the best for this species, especially not light high in the UV, and can also say consistently high temps are the death of them...they need cool roots and a good night time drop in temps of 5-10 degrees to stay happy. Humidity here is never below 50% but I didn't find these plants particularly sensitive to variances within 50-100%. I did not flower my plants and so consider my efforts only minimally effective. Since they were large and healthy I suspect that a precise photoperiod with uninterrupted dark might be called for, but I don't know. Some of my gut level feelings are these plants aren't so much sensitive to medium, although I think they are to the acidity of the medium, need deep pots for the roots to reach, need regular feeding, less UV, nightly temp variances 5-10 degrees, cool roots and to be LEFT ALONE in one spot. I have seen them grown fairly well in low light terrariums, as strange as that sounds, at least until they out grew them. A really great species and one of the oldest members in Droseracae.

Transplant shock is the result of poor technique in my opinion, I never had a problem repotting any droserae at any time. It's also a good time to take root cuttings, and this should be done in case the parent plant pulls a Jim Scott :) I wonder what Drosera regia is selling for these days? Is it an arm and a leg or is it just down to a leg now?
 
  • #10
I wonder what Drosera regia is selling for these days?

The only vendor prices I can find are $20 for a small and $35 for a medium but both sellers are "out of stock" and have been for quite awhile.
 
  • #11
I've grown my D. regia for over 7 years and it's been from Cali, to Brooklyn to a few places on Long Island and it's flowered... cool temps are important. constant 80F heat will kill em. They seem to love it in the mid 60's.

I use a perlite/peat mix that's pretty loose and I don't over-water em and I do not let the media get all water-logged. Bigger ones can get thirsty, soaking up lots of water. I kinda let them soak up their water and then add more...

I use florescent lights and they love em, although when they do get sunlight the dew will get much more gobby.

The bigger they are, the less they like repotting. They do spring back though.

They do well in basements under lights... if your conditions are right, they can be pretty easy. If they are not right, then they will be difficult! Sure they might be able to survive 90F heat for a spell, but for an entire summer they won't.

D. 'Big Easy' are definitely more tolerant, but not bomb-proof.

These are great plants and can get quite large. One of my favorites!
 
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  • #12
Dex,
I've only had my D. regia a short time, but I have been giving it around the same conditions you have described aside from the water part. I have been keeping it less wet. More along the lines of how I keep my VFT and sarracenia. Damp but not waterlogged. I am starting to wonder if I should up the water a little.
 
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  • #13
Any plants above 3" or so (or plants from root propagation) have grown like weeds for me but I have had a difficult time growing them from seed the few times I have tried.

John B. has some new seeds in the ICPS seedbank for those interested (I'm going to try again - crosses fingers and faces east - hoping a lot). He also has posted a new writeup with his experiences with the species - very informative / helpful!
 
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  • #14
I saw quogue's D. regia a couple years ago and it really is something else. His advice is gold in my opinion. There are a couple pictures in this post if you scroll down a little of his plant (not a full plant shot).

xvart.
 
  • #15
Thanks for the compliment Xvart! You're gonna have to make it to next years NECPS show you know...
Great link RL7836, there's more links there as well... printed em out for train reading. It really is tough to find info on D. regia!
 
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  • #16
John B. has some new seeds in the ICPS seedbank for those interested (I'm going to try again - crosses fingers and faces east - hoping a lot). He also has posted a new writeup with his experiences with the species - very informative / helpful!

Thanks for the lead! I'm growing some more D. regia now!
 
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  • #17
John B. has some new seeds in the ICPS seedbank for those interested (I'm going to try again - crosses fingers and faces east - hoping a lot).
The seedbank seeds are popping all over. In about 2 weeks, I have over 60% germination. Should be interesting .... :-O
 
  • #18
The seedbank seeds are popping all over. In about 2 weeks, I have over 60% germination. Should be interesting .... :-O

Oooo! Good luck with them. I hope at least some of them will reach maturity for you. Keep us posted.
 
  • #19
Keep us posted.
I sowed 24 seeds on Jan 14 and had 21 sprouts on Feb 2. Great germination imo. Thanks to whoever donated fresh, viable seeds to the seedbank! :hail:

Now comes the part that has been historically difficult for me - keeping them alive ... :0o:

Not much to see - but here they are (2.5" pot):
Dregiaseedlings020411RS21.jpg
 
  • #20
Exciting! I'm holding my breath for these little plants. Hopefully you can rewrite your own history with this batch.
 
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