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Scorpiodes falling over

I have several scorpioides which I started from gemmae in January. They are now about an inch tall, and one has fallen over. The rest are very precarious, as the lower part of their stems are thin. Has anyone else had this problem? What should I do? When I started the gemmae, I simply placed them on top of the soil and let them grow, should I have buried them a little? Will the plants that fall simply just readjust themselves and grow up again (the stem has not broke)? Or should I fill in soil around the plants to hold them up? Any help would be appreciated as I really love these plants!!
 
Uhhh, well it seems nobody else is around (or they just don't know) what to say. Umm, I've only had scorpiodes once and it didn't last long because of mold but I'll give this my best shot.

For some reason I keep wanting to say that it might be the damping off fungus maybe? I think that has a dropping or deformed effect on CPs. That usually only occurs in environments with bad air circulation. It could be a great number of things from the sound of it though. Check for gnats, other bugs, anything that might give us a clue as to what it is. Make sure you are growing it in the correct condition. I'm pretty sure they like it cool with lots of sunlight. That's all I've got for you right now, sorry. Good luck!
 
etoliated?
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]Will the plants that fall simply just readjust themselves and grow up again (the stem has not broke)?
my scorpiodes didn't do that but one of my other pygmies fell over and just began growing again. I wouldn't worry too much
 
It is unusual for scorpioides to fall over at such a young age, but it is common amongst older plants. I always plant several to a pot so they support each other as they grow. The fallen plant will contine to grow, flower and produce gemmae, so I wouldn't worry about it too much. You could try increasing the light a bit and see if that helps to stop any of the others from falling over. Gemmae should never be buried, just placing them on the surface of the peat is the correct way to start them off.
 
The most common cause for this condition would be etiolation: not enough light reaching the plants, leading to leggy stem growth that isn't strong enough to bear the weight of the plants. If the plants are otherwise healthy, increasing the light (not too much too fast!) will result in stronger stems and they will recover with a more normal habit and begin vertical growth. Fiat Lux.
 
Hmm, I have the plants under fluorescent lights.  They are in a 55gallon tank with 4-40watts lights over them.  They are less than a foot below the lights.  Seems I should bring them closer to the lights then.  I'm happy to hear that there is some concensus that the plants at least won't die.  Here is a closeup of one of the plants (sorry, my camera does not do well for this):
fallover.jpg
 
My scorpiodes' stems don't look like that. Yours are definitely very long and stringy...hmmmmm...I have no clue
smile_n_32.gif
 
  • #10
Thanks for the photo. This is definitely a light issue. There is no real need to cultivate pygmy Drosera in terraria, they are best grown outdoors in full sunlight or within 2 inches of flourescent tubes with nothing between them and the tubes. Even a thin layer of plastic wrap will cut the useable spectrum considerably. Terraria also heat up considerably, and in habitat these species are winter growers appreciating cool conditions and good air circulation. Not sure how these would behave with increased lighting, but you should have a chance next season to start again from scratch with gemmae. If interested my cultivation methods can be found here:

http://www.cpzine.com/article.aspx?cid=13&y=2002&m=10&d=12


Drosera_scorpiodes_060503_1r.jpg
 
  • #11
I have never had my plants fall over. They grow in an unheated greenhouse. Here is a recent photo of plants that were started in fall 2002 from gemma. Notice how the old leaves and flower stalks are retained on the plants.
S_scorpioides4yr3279.JPG
 
  • #12
Thanks everyone for your replies, they have been quite educating! Since I've started growing CPs, I've noticed that natural sunlight gives so much advantage to growth and coloring. I live in a small apartment, and have a small 'greenhouse' which gets sun basically a day...but the room is so limited. Growing in terrarium I've found can be hit-or-miss: some do well, some don't.
 
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