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Sundews in their natural habitat.. Great website.

Brie

Sarracenia freak
Figured i'd toss this up here.. personally, I love finding photos of various plants in their natural habitat, as it gives me a better understanding of what kind of conditions to grow them in, and what type of substrate.. Looking at these photos makes me wonder why everyone swears by growing South American drosera purely in living moss.. Looks to me like they mostly grow in swampy, peat areas, or rocky/drier areas..
http://www.ladin.usp.br/carnivoras/Portugues/Genera/Drosera/first.html

D. ascendens
ascendens_Serra_Mar_01_1992__2.jpg


ascendens_Itarare_04_1995.jpg


D. graomologensis
graomogolensis_Grao_Mogol_12_1994__3.jpg


graomogolensis_Itacambira_03_1997__1.jpg


graomogolensis_Grao_Mogol_12_1994__2.jpg


D.villosa
villosa_Ibitipoca_10_1995__1.jpg


D. graminifolia
graminifolia_Caraca_09_1992.jpg


graminifolia_Grao_Mogol_09_1994__3.jpg


Growing almost like drosophyllum
graminifolia__montana_tomentosa_Itacambira_03_1997.jpg


D. montana in habitat
montana_schwackei_Diamantina_07_1999__1.jpg
 
Oh my gosh, those are super cool! I think I might start up a bog garden for sarrs and dews. :)

Thanks for sharing. :)
 
Figured i'd toss this up here.. personally, I love finding photos of various plants in their natural habitat, as it gives me a better understanding of what kind of conditions to grow them in, and what type of substrate.. Looking at these photos makes me wonder why everyone swears by growing South American drosera purely in living moss.. Looks to me like they mostly grow in swampy, peat areas, or rocky/drier areas..
http://www.ladin.usp.br/carnivoras/Portugues/Genera/Drosera/first.html

Well, my soil mix for Drosera always contains at least 50% coarse builder's sand. I know that where I grew up, D. rotundifolia seemed to grow best in places where it was nothing but pure sand, so I always include a lot of it in my mix.

Thnx for the link!
 
the green live sphagnum moss is used to help raise the ambient humidity around the plant. sure many of those areas look quite dry, and perhaps they are, but what the photographs cant tell you is that these plants come from very humid environments, whether in the grand sabana, where it's hot and sticky to the tepui tops, where cloud, fog, and mist frequently drizzle, these plants are always surrounded by saturated air.

cant really replicate the humid conditions very well in cultivation, so the living sphagnum moss acts as a buffer in the event of temperature/humidity shifts. but yes, it would make sense to use some type of sandy media inside their mix, since they grow on quartz stone more frequently than not.
 
the green live sphagnum moss is used to help raise the ambient humidity around the plant. sure many of those areas look quite dry, and perhaps they are, but what the photographs cant tell you is that these plants come from very humid environments, whether in the grand sabana, where it's hot and sticky to the tepui tops, where cloud, fog, and mist frequently drizzle, these plants are always surrounded by saturated air.

cant really replicate the humid conditions very well in cultivation, so the living sphagnum moss acts as a buffer in the event of temperature/humidity shifts. but yes, it would make sense to use some type of sandy media inside their mix, since they grow on quartz stone more frequently than not.


Okay..
So since I have recreated those kinds conditions in the greenhouse, which media would be best?
Sockhom and I have been talking about the best way to grow graomo, villosa, and ascendens lately. And he recommends and extremely sandy peat mix, as opposed to the fluffy LFS I have been using.
 
Great photos! I like seeing the in situes. It helps.
 
Okay..
So since I have recreated those kinds conditions in the greenhouse, which media would be best?
Sockhom and I have been talking about the best way to grow graomo, villosa, and ascendens lately. And he recommends and extremely sandy peat mix, as opposed to the fluffy LFS I have been using.

I would agree to the sandy peat mix.. Thats what I put my graomo and graminifolia in.. Mix of coarse sand, mixed size perlite, peat and some finely chopped LFS, in 8" tall pvc pots. I think the important thing is to keep em in deep water, and top water them fairly often to keep them aerated. Looking at all the photos, it looks as though they prefer to grow in moving water. Springs, creeks, etc.
 
Thanks for the link. 'Great website. :drool::drool:
 
  • #10
Your repotted the graomo? Does this mean we get a new pic update?
 
  • #11
Looking at these photos makes me wonder why everyone swears by growing South American drosera purely in living moss..
The simple answer is - it works. The recommendation for graomo has typically been live LFS - but I didn't think it was the same across the board. I know I grew my D. ascendens in peat mixes when I had multiple clones (and my last one is still in it).
Looking at all the photos, it looks as though they prefer to grow in moving water. Springs, creeks, etc.
This is true for many plants as they grow beside creeks or hillside seeps. More than 70% of the Sarr sites I found throughout the south were located on seeps (quite different up north).

As an adjunct to Amp's explanation - the issue I've found the past few years (especially with epiphytic utrics), is that many of them abhor anaerobic conditions during at least part of their annual growth cycle. While they don't grow in live LFS in their native conditions, in our attempts to create a non-hostile environment, top watering live LFS may provide the best means to do that. I've had difficulty keeping pots peat-based mixes from becoming septic. Some plants, like Sarrs, don't seem to care much, but others do.
I would agree to the sandy peat mix.. Thats what I put my graomo and graminifolia in.. Mix of coarse sand, mixed size perlite, peat and some finely chopped LFS, in 8" tall pvc pots.
Has this worked for you?
I know that where I grew up, D. rotundifolia seemed to grow best in places where it was nothing but pure sand, so I always include a lot of it in my mix.
Interesting. Other than the NJ Pine Barrens, most D. rotundifolia habitat I've visited in the Northeast has been in sphagnum bogs.
 
  • #12
I have seen filiformis and intermedia grow in pure sand up in montauk, as well as intermedia and rotundifolia grow in really really airy sphagnum mere feet from the ocean up in the islands of maine.
 
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