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Petiolaris Complex Dormancy?

Jefforever

A yellow M&M
Hiya


I'm sure there's some threads about this somewhere...I have supposedly one of the most difficult of the wooly sundews to put through dormancy. I would appreciate any info about when and how to do it. Thanks!
Here's a pic of it earlier today:
Falconeri2.jpg
 
Which one? You should not induce dormancy. They will let you know on their own when they are going into dormancy. The leaves start shrinking, some will turn brown, others maintain a green center that grows ever so slowly.

There are several ways to bring them through dormancy. I keep mine moist in a warm humid tank.

Peter.
 
Warm humid tank eh? Sounds good, shouldn't be too hard. I own only a Falconeri, but I plan to get quite a few more varieties. I heard that Falconeri's turn brown when they go dormant. I tried to post a photo I took today but... :redx: :cuss: ...yeah it didn't work...
 
Ok there...pic posted.
 
Hey Jeff, nice pic of D. falconeri! It looks like a 2 crown plant!
Yes, this one tends to die back all the way to the center. In fact i will appear dead.
My suggestion is to put it in a covered container while dormant. I use those clear plastic cups, one on top of each other.
When ready you will see the tiniest signs of life in the very center.
Peter.
 
Like Peter said, this species will die dack to form a dormant bulb. Preceeding it the leaves will progressively get smaller, a process often dubbed "the inward spiral". WHen you notice this you should start letting the pot dry out slowly. In the wild this species is said to encounter full on dried soil basically to the point of being encased in a brick. However, it seems to fare better in cultivation if you leave the media a little bit damp. Peter's method would work fine as would about a dozen others I could think of off the top of my head. My technique is to just raise the pot out of the water in the tank by placing it on a styrofoam block. Dormancy can last anywhere from 1-8 months so be patient. If you do not see anything after 6 months you can gently unpot the plant and look for the bulb. If it is still there then repot it and wait. Sometimes the unpotting will actually stimulate return to growth.
 
How often does D. falconeri go into dormancy? Is it once a year? Every 2 years??? Do they need a dormancy to survive as some types of Drosera do? I am thinking of getting one in the future and looking into. I was told they only go into dormancy when stressed? If so then how long can grow without dormancy??
 
In the wild petiolaris complex go dormant once a year during the dry season. The dry season is winter in the tropical zones of Australia they grow in if I'm not mistaken.

In cultivation they often go dormant when stressed, which for paradoxa and maybe falconeri could be just looking at them funny.

According to Peter D'Amato petiolaris complex does not require dormancy and will continue to grow if kept warm and well watered. AFAIK no one on this forum has confirmed this.
 
Some of the petiolaris group seem to go into dormancy whenever they want! Others normally go in the winter.
I would assume if you can keep them hot (over 95 degrees) at all times you could probably keep them from going dormant.
I can't keep them that hot!!
Has anyone else been able to keep them from going dormant?
Peter.
 
  • #10
I've grown two D ordensis plants since March 2006 without them ever really going truly dormant. Every now and again, they start to produce progressively smaller leaves, and eventually produce very woolly leaves about 1cm long with no functioning traps. I tend to leave them in this state for a few weeks and then repot them. They then begin to grow vigorously again almost immediately. It may also be worth mentioning that, in March this year, I received a D falconeri and a D caduca in the post from Lowrie in Australia (I live in England). Both plants had dried out somewhat on their arrival. I potted them up and put them in warm, bright conditions, sitting in a little water. Both looked completely dead- all that was left of each plant was a small bulb and a few dead leaves. After a few weeks, the caduca began to grow, but the falconeri remained completely dormant for over two months. I thought it was dead, and picked at the bulb, revealing some green underneath the brown outer surface of the bulb. Within about two days, it began to grow, and has looked progressively more impressive every day since. This may have been a fluke, but I suspect that disturbing the bulb in this way may have stimulated it into growth.

Cheers,

Greg
 
  • #11
Sometimes the unpotting will actually stimulate return to growth.
This may have been a fluke, but I suspect that disturbing the bulb in this way may have stimulated it into growth.
I had this experience w/ 2 of my D. kenneallyi's. Both were shrinking & heading toward dormancy. Since keeping petios alive thru dormancy was hit or miss for me, I decided to try & repot. This stimulated both plants and not only started them growing again but both flowered. Pics & original post are over here.

While there are lots of threads on Petio dormancy both here & on CPUK which provide some good reading, here's one that has some info from Andreas Fleischmann that I have not seen duplicated elsewhere.
 
  • #12
As NaN mentioned, in the wild these plants have a simple annual dormancy pattern but in cultivation the pattern can be a little wacky. The oddest one I have had was a plant that cycled 3 times in the course of a year for no reason that I can figure (it was one of 4 of the same clone all grown in the same tank under the same conditions...)

I disagree with D'Amato that these plants do not need a dormancy. I have found that the plants in this group will always go dormant at some point and they come out looking and acting much the better for it. The exception being paradoxa which has a number of forms that never seem to go dormant (my oldest plant was actually my first petiolaris complex plant, I have had it 6 years and it has not gone dormant once.)

What Greg has described for his ordensis is the dormancy pattern for that species. Each species has a different pattern and it can be tricky to catch it if you do not know what to look for. On a broad basis the reduction in leaf size and the loss of traps are good indicators. An increase in the amount of "hair" can also signal dormancy but not always (I have a lanata that only gets fuzzy when it breaks dormancy for example.)
 
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