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I'll be receiving some D. peltata seed from the International Carnivorous Plant Society in a few weeks and I want to know as much about this plant as I can. Is it hard to grow from seed? Does it need special conditions to germinate? From what I've read in The Savage Garden it seems that this plant requires quite a bit of work to grow, seeing as it's tuberous and it has a strange dormancy period. However, Peter talks about taking care of tubers and doesn't really talk about growing the plant from seed like I'll be doing.

D. peltata seems like a really cool plant and I hope that I have what it takes to grow it the right way. Anyone input would be greatly appreciated.
 
I grow it and the plants disapeared during the summer. I think that was their dormancy time. Still waiting for them to re-appear. I believe Seandew can provide a whole mess more information than I.
 
Sure can. Have em growing like weeds not only throughout my collection but in the grasslands and hills around where I live.

Not at all as difficult as you may have been led to believe.

Firstly, the seed should be sown immediately. Ideally you would sow it at the end of Summer to allow the longest growing season possible, but you'll easily get away with it now. The seed appreciates cool nights to germinate well. I find that temps down to around 2 deg C (sorry don't know fahrenheit) are ideal.

The seed (and seedlings when they appear) can be grown quite wet. Filtered light is best but the can handle direct winter sun- so long as the temps remain cool during the day. Anything over 20 deg C and they won't reach their potential.

As I said, I have them appearing all over the place in pots throughout my greenhouse. The don't receive any special treatment and grow in pots that remain wet all year (in my South African species). They always return the following year without any problems. I even have a good number growing in some of my Utric pots which have the water level with the rim of the pot virtually all year- they thrive.
 
Ah, excellent info! Thank you!

Do you think that peltata would be able to grow in one of my terrariums? I'd prefer to grow it in there. Perhaps I should just try and see?

By the way, how do you have sundews growing around your house?! Do you live in nutrient poor soil? Did the seed just ride the wind into the wild or did you put it there? Whatever it is, that's freakin' cool
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I don't exactly have them growing around my house, but not far away though.

I live in south eastern Australia. Drosera peltata is a very common plant down here and can be found in most bushland areas as well as roadsides and farmlands.
 
That is so cool that you have a sundew that grows that commonly where you live! I would love to see a sundew growing on a roadside over here in Southern California, but I don't think I'll be that lucky. I need to move to Australia
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I actually have a number of species that grow just as commonly very close to where I live, probably a 5-10 minute drive away.
 
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