Flowering Detrimental to Health?

[EvoWake]

I've read in various places how flowering is detrimental to the health of Dionaea, and my question is a simple one: do Drosera suffer similar consequences when flowering?

 

[jimscott]

Generally speaking, it requires a bit of energy to flower and for VFT's, especially ones that haven't had a dormancy and/or adequate lighting, it has the strong potential to do it in. However, from what I have observed, the worst I've had are a haggard looking plant (capensis, primuliflora). In some cases, the stalk comes up and the flower aborts (U. tricolor, P. cyclosecta). Only in the case of G. violacae have I seen both plant and flower mysteriously croak.

Bottom line... I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[EvoWake]

Wonderful, as I just potted a new drosera, and it has grown stalks, but not yet flowered, and I was considering clipping them so as to allow the plant more energy to establish itself.

 

[jorick]

For some species I would say no...
I have a paradoxa that was dying and still it did put up a flower stalk and that weakened the plant even more... So now i've cut the stalks of and my plant is improving a lot.

So my conclusion would be that flowering could also be a last attempt to spread before the plant dies...

Well thats what I think...

 

[jimscott]

Yeah, it flowers when very happy or about to die... but mostly when it's happy. My paradoxa flower for several weeks (months?) and I know it's not out of survival. This colony is happy!

 

[tommyr]

I let one of my new D. adelae bloom and it's doing fine. Growing like a weed. The flowers were tiny (1/8th inch) red little beauties. Now the seeds are still there, I guess maturing. I want to try germinating some now.

When are they ready? Do they just fall off?

Tom

 

[jimscott]

I've tried hand-pollinating the flowers and waited until the pods were black. I rubbed the pods and wasn't sure if I saw any actual seeds. Fortunately, this species perpetuates itself nicely through the roots.

 

[Est]

Quote[/b] ]I've tried hand-pollinating the flowers and waited until the pods were black. I rubbed the pods and wasn't sure if I saw any actual seeds. Fortunately, this species perpetuates itself nicely through the roots.

I believe that you need more than one clone to successfully pollinate D. paradoxa... That's what I was told, at least. When my plant perks up and establishes, maybe we can trade shoots so we can get some seed going.

 

[jimscott]

I know. I think they also propogate from the roots, because as many as I have sent out, the colony still has smaller plants on the perimeter. I've got multiple choices for the paradoxa.

But the adelae has ceased flowering. One thing I have observed is that there were a few of usposting about adelae flowering, all at the same time. Same thing held true about D. aliciae. I'm thinking it's a time of year / photoperiod thing.

 

[setep]

Jim - Lovely paradoxa colony!

 

[jafvortex93]

@tommy, i also have the same question. when will i know when the seeds are ready? do they just fall off or must they be harvested?

 

[CPlantaholic]

Hey guys, you know the seeds are ready once the flower buds have dried out/ turned brown. The seed should pretty much fall out when you tip the buds upside down, but for some species, you'll have to coax them out by rolling the buds gently between your fingers.

In the case of D. capensis, the flower buds overflow with seeds and many will fall out on their own. This is true with D. spatulata and a few others too.