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Drosera falconeri x D. darwiniensis

Back from near death after a winter freeze and a summer bake, this beauty demonstrates the toughness of this Australian survivor. I'm getting great color with the use of my HID lighting: every trap comes more red than the last.

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And here are the proud parents: Drosera falconeri (above) and Drosera darwiniensis (below)

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I wonder if this cross is fertile? Are the chromosome counts known on the parents? Has this cross been made before?

BTW: Superb photos and gorgeous plants.
 
i just love the pic of falconeri. It looks like a sundew being pulled inward by some black hole lol. Your plants look great, Tamlin!
 
Your soil seems very sandy Tamlin, what recipe do you use? Nice plant!
 
I agree that the falconeri is probably my all-time favorite. Beautiful pics.

Cole
 
My mix is 50/50 rinsed perlite/LFS, to which I add a tablespoon or so of laterite along with a couple Tbsp. coarse silica sand. I usually topdress with laterite as well, but the topdressing on the D. darwiniesnsis (and the hybrid of it) is coarse silica sand since I am presently out of laterite.
(Laterite is a great addition for Drosera mixes, in my experience. It can be ordered from dealers of tropical fish and supplies, but it is a bit expensive as a pure potting media).

Since my plants insist on a dormancy despite my best efforts to prevent it, I make sure I can provide a very light airy substrate that I can easily control the level of moisture in: too wet and they rot, to dry and they do not return from dormancy.

Thanks for the nice coments: these plants are among the darlings of my collection. I thought for sure the D. darwiniensis and the hybrid were history after this summer.

No seed has been produced by the hydrid, although pollen donated from it did fertilize my D. paradoxa. So far the resulting seed has not demonstrated viability, but my skills with Petiolarix Complex seed are not good (or else the seed I have gotten in the past is inviable). I am about to try another batch of the hybrid. X X X
 
Gorgeous plants Tamlin! The coloring of the D. falconeri is beautiful
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!
 
I think the laterite is probably a contributing factor to the coloration.
 
  • #10
Thats simply beutiful! Did you make the cross yourself?
 
  • #11
I did not make the cross myself, although I did make the complex hybrid: (D. falconeri x D. darwiniensis) x D. paradoxa Pink Flower. I hope I get some cool looking plants from this seed! The Petiolaris plants are a lot like Sarracenia in that there are no restrictions to complex hybridization between the species.
 
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