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!

D.Spathulata

nepenthes gracilis

Nepenthes Specialist
Hey everyone my D.Spathulata isn't flowering right. It sends up a perfect flower stalk with the flower buds on the end of it then it sorta stops growing to a lenght. It looks good then it either withers and dies away or it stays there and the buds don't open or flower. What's up with this!? I want seed but I can't get any if the plant doesn't open up it's flowers!!! Please help me out. Nep.G.
 
mine does this too NG, and truthfully, I don't know why...

I have considered treating it with a bit of fungicide, in case that is the problem, but I wonder if perhaps the real problem is that yours (I think) and mine, are terrarium grown, and perhaps while we have adequate artificial lighting, it just isn't enough to fuel both the growth of the spath, and it's flower stalk... does that make sense?
 
Weel what is my other choice? Clip the stalks and propagate the Spathulata from leaf cuttings? ( I have a had great results in leaf cuttings ) Or should I increase light to fuel it in growing? Bytheway it is in with my Merrilliana and gets plently of heat and humdity.
 
cuttings dont work on spathulata (peter damato said lol) i haVENT HAD FLOWER STALKS FROM SPATHULATA FOR AWHILE but i did have that prob once. i danno wut caused it. also, when my pplant did flower, i only saw the beautifil red flowers once! it self pollintes. rite now my spathulata is recovering froma wierd growth brood (another spathulata popped out of the middle of the orginal plant! not from soil but from plant!)also, ram....i figured out y it wasnyt dewy,///////////////humdity too low!
smile.gif
 
So I have these long stalks that on the end have these green "buds". Are these the would be flowers? And if they don't open after they dry is there still seed in there? I am a little confused right now. :confused:
 
I believe they MUST open for polenation to take place, so you won't have seed if they dry out, and never set a bloom, basically means all that growth was immature I guess...

It is very common for a spath to grow new plants out of itself, I divided 8 crowns off of mine, and now I have about 6 to 8 plants now...
 
Nep G...I have the same problem and I think it was Cindy who said she did too so you are not alone with this problem. I get flower scapes galore (which mostly I cut off) but I have let a few grow. I get *bright pink* buds but nothing opens into a flower. There was a discussion on this on another post (I think one I started). I believe on the other post the consensus was it might be because of artificial lighting. But I think it was Noah who said the flowers dont have to open in order to make seeds. I might be wrong but check the previous post on this subject and read what people said there.

As for propagation, I've more success just pulling a tiny plantlet off the main plant. My prettiest spath is a nice healthy sparkling red one that started as just a tiny blip of a plant. And it grew pretty fast too. I have taken numerous photos of it but none do it justice. I currently have another flower scape with pink buds on it and will see if it responds to new lighting I have in the larger tank.

It would be kinda nice to see the flowers open though.

suzanne
 
Well maby I'll have better luck with Seperation Propagation. Iguess I'll snip the flowers since they won't open or shouldn't I?
 
well, I guess you never really know if they will open... from my understanding, you will almost always get a larger plant faster, from a cutting, almost every time, though, you can't produce as many to be sure!

I just put brand new bulbs in my tank, so I am letting the current attempt at a flower stalk grow.. just in case... NG, in your pics your tanks look like they are infront of a window with curtains... have you thought about doing an experiment, and while of course closely monitoring temps and what not, expose your spath to full sunlight for a couple of hours a day? It may do nothing, it may burn some of your more delicate plants, and of course, it could make them all very happy!
 
  • #10
Well I moved the Spathulata/Merrilliana tank to on top of my monitor as temps were low and it gets sun there from refaction off the snow but I like producing plants from cuttings better but if the flowers do open....more power to me! But I don't really care what happens as more spaths. are popping up in the pot so I am not concerned.
 
  • #11
Sorry I wish I had joined the conversation sooner

Here is what I have played with...and gotten results!

I have had my VFT's flower ( which they are again right now!) my pings flower and the Sundews are always trying to.

All the plants that I have are grown under artificial lighting. No CP's are grown outdoors ( until the Spring when I get the greenhouse)...anyway.

The cool white tubes DO NOT put out the right spectrum for the plant to flower.

I have found the warm lights ( the red bulbs ) puts out the right color to get the flower to open. So I have mixed cool, warm, and plant lights in my lab. With that mix...I get flowers all the time. Before that ...I was having the same problem...I would get the flower spike but the flower wouldn't open.

The only other way to have them open is to put them outdoors where they will get the full spectrum of light needed to flower.
 
  • #12
that makes me feel good because I now have a mixture of two brand new plant bulbs, and I am about to replace the other two (natural sunlight bulbs) with two new of their kind... so perhaps I will get some flowers this time!
 
  • #13
Well I have 1 15 watt bulb designed from reptiles. It is lighting the N.Merrilliana and D.Spathulata terrarium and really brings out the red color in the Merrilliana!! :eek: It is heat productive so it is about 80-82 during the day and 70-65 at night. But back to the light. It is heat productive for the reptile use and it is also coated in a purple substance called RARE EARTH NEODYMIUM. So the light it emmits is of a purplish hue almost. But it says it is a FULL SPECTRUM DAYLIGHT HEAT LAMP. Also it says the NEODYMIUM brings out the colors of reptiles. So maby it works for Nepenthes too!
smile.gif
 
  • #14
is that all your using NG? It doesn't seem like NEARLY enough to make your plants happy!
 
  • #15
Well the light is about 6-8 inches away from the plants.
 
  • #16
The plant should produce seed even if the flowers do not fully open. This is the case with many Drosera. Many times in order to study the floristics, I must manually open and pin the petals back to observe the parts inside, so don't let the fact that you can't see the flowers deter you. Each bud will become erect, usually one an day or so, working up the scape, and there will most often be seed. Self fertile Drosera don't need to open, and many simply will not do so, as there is little advantage, as no pollinators are needed to transfer the pollen.
 
  • #17
I'm not convinced that light is the problem with your flowers not opening.
I only just read this thread and found myself going "hey!! that's EXACTLY what is happening with my D binata multifida".
My binata is (and always has been) growing out in the garden in about 70% natural sunlight for around 12 hours a day. It has just produced it's third scape and this one looks sooo close to opening but they ALWAYS wither just beforehand?
 
  • #18
OK update!

My D. Spaths are sending up foot long flower scapes, and blooming pretty little hot pink flowers. All this after alteing the lifht in the system. (New bulbs)

Fatboy,

You know, I have two D. Binata, and one just grows real slow, theo ther one throws up leaves like they are going out of style... unfortunately, every single one withers and wilts... the two are planted exactly one and a half inch apart... strange!
smile.gif


They are both yearlings, so have never had dormancy... we shall see next year... though I am not quite sure I am going to do it with such a delicate plant.
 
Back
Top