D. adelae in macro...

[drosera5150]

Hi All,

Here's some decent macro shots of my Drosera adelae 'red flower' in bloom. A common plant in most collections, but still very uncommonly... beautiful. Please enjoy!

Happy Growing,

Brian.

 

[jimscott]

Wish my camera can do that!

 

[CPlantaholic]

wish my plant would do that! lol

 

[Capensis]

One of the best D. adelae I've seen! Thanks for sharing.

 

[Ant]

Awesome plant! I agree with both jimscott and Cplantaholic.

 

[johnnyfrye]

Niceness. My D. adelae are always small and bronzy on account of bright light.

 

[Tamlin Dawnstar]

Best flower shot for this species I have ever seen!! D. adelae is a great sundew despite its present commonality. Scary thing is, I remember when this was a very rare and sought after species w-a-a-a-y back when. It took me 3 tries and a half year to get one from Australia back in the days of snail mail when it took a month to get a letter delivered. Computers and the internet have made so much more possible than it used to be. I must have sent out hundreds of plants back in the early '70's all from that original (and illegal <blush>) import. Just goes to show that rare plants don't HAVE to be rare, and I hope someday they are ALL as common as lint.

This is a fun species to experiment with, since it is so generous with its offsets. Although most growers seem to opt for the softer lush green and dewy presentation via terrarium growing, it is also possible to acclimate the plant to full sun. Under these conditions the plant can attain a nearly purple color on the leaves, with firey red-orange glands! The trick is to go slowly to avoid sunburning the leaves. I went with broken sunlight around April under a bush, then in an open terrarium in full sun with white garbage bags in 3 layers to cut the sunlight reducing the layers weekly. Once the leaves looked dark and dewy, the plastic went and the plant sat in tray water where it thrived in the full sunlight where it could catch prey. Too bad Drosera schizandra (a close relative) wasn't as ammenable.

Anyone out there growing any of the variants? There are plants with orange, pink and white flowers, and one clone that produces rosettes some 10 inches tip to tip. I yearn for your photo's!

 

[jimscott]

TommyR also has a great shot of the flower.

 

[Ant]

What causes a D. adelae to flower? I my plant has 2 stalks blooming, 3 stalks an inch tall, and 2 more just appearing. Is there any way to get it to stop? I think it is stopping my plant from making the long green dewy leaves it did 2 months ago.

 

[Tamlin Dawnstar]

A sure fire way to get it to stop flowering is to cut the scapes as they form, that'll do it

 

[johnnyfrye]

^Lol. I grow mine in an very brightly lit tropical terrarium, and the leaves are bronzy and almost purple, like Tamlin said. It's just started to flower, but I might cut the scapes off as it's not making as much dew now.

 

[tommyr]

TommyR also has a great shot of the flower.

Thanks Jim! And yes, those photos of his are excellent!

 

[tommyr]

What causes a D. adelae to flower? I my plant has 2 stalks blooming, 3 stalks an inch tall, and 2 more just appearing. Is there any way to get it to stop? I think it is stopping my plant from making the long green dewy leaves it did 2 months ago.

I grow mine in a bright west window, a little very late afternoon Sun too. Increase light and they should spike at the right time. I had one in a tray full of of them throw a flower spike during this winter.

 

[jimscott]

Thanks Jim! And yes, those photos of his are excellent!

LOL! So much so that neither one of us are going to post ones of our own!

 

[Fryster]

Great plant and great photos!