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Drosera graomogolensis

Hi!

I recently swapped some drosera graomogolensis. I potted it into peat/silica sand (80/20) mix, well rinsed with distilled water. I placed it inside of a plastic container with perforated top. It gets plenty of light and the temperatures are 22(day) to 18(might). The soil is topped with sphagnum moss and the pot stands in water. The humidity is over 60%. The plant was doing fine for few days and then the new leaves stopped unfurling completely and the tips turned black. Here is what it looks like now:
DSCF0002-3.jpg


Can anyone help?
 
Are those the temperatures inside the box? Methinks you probably cooked it.

Mine is just sitting on a west facing window-sill until the night temperatures warm up. I found out the hard way it doesn't like temperatures below 42F (6C). This has to be the fastest growing Drosera I have in my collection.

I have it in a long fibre sphagnum/perlite mix (30/70) with a topping of live Sphagnum moss. I replaced the green Sphagnum with a red Sphagnum between photos. All my special plants get a red Sphagnum topping.

Compare the photo taken today with the one taken 11 Nov. 2008
(observe the interesting helical twist at the ends of some of the leaves)
P3040037.jpg

PB110004.jpg
 
NaN: No way i cooked it. The temperatures are measured with digital thermocouple inside of the tank. First I thought maybe the humidity was too low but that is not a case either. Do you think I should pot it into live sphagnum instead of peaty mix?
Yours looks very healthy:) Congrats!
 
where did you end up getting this species from? i'm very tempted to find one myself
 
Same here. I'd be interested in obtaining a specimen.
 
very nice pics of Drosera graomogolensis. man what a beautiful Drosera!! what i would trade for some south american Drosera.
 
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Then why is it so darn rare and expensive?

Nice looking plants by the way.

Beats me. I've only had it 4-5 months. They're pretty tough to propagate from what I hear. And maybe they have a tendency to crash suddenly like Cephalotus.

Same here. I'd be interested in obtaining a specimen.

The label should give you a clue. Starting last year I've been putting from who/where and the month and year that I got the plant(s).

Sorry, there were stipulations that went along with ownership so trades are not on the table. I may try some root cuttings later.
 
NaN, root cuttings are extremely easy, at least for me. I treat the cuttings just like any other dew: throw in a ziplock bag on top of damp LFS and wait. I've heard that leaf cuttings are tough, roots are the way to go.

Extremely nice plants! Mine don't have the nifty twist like yours.

Crystal
 
  • #10
OK I just swapped another D. graomogolensis....now I have 3 specimens....that gives me some room to experiment to find about the best conditions. If no one has any more tips of how to grow them without killings then I just have to go on trial-error method. Keep my fingers crossed! :)
 
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  • #11
Well, I don't know what your outdoor temperatures are like right now but I suspect they are fairly chilly.

I would grow them indoors under lights which is what most people do. My grow rack is optimized for Sarracenia seedlings and not Drosera which is why I have it on the window sill until it can go back outdoors. If I can't get the signature red color of this plant outdoors I'll have to set up an indoor system for it.

Most South American Drosera grow in tropical highland conditions. To me that demands an airy potting mix (at least 60 percent perlite and/or coarse sand) and a nightly temperature drop of at least 10F (6C) and top watering without a lot of standing water. Most South American Drosera (especially this species) have massive roots which also means a deep pot.

Personally I would lose the "death cube" you've put it in unless of course you have no alternatives.

BTW the previous threads on this species by Tamlin say it is easy to grow and propagate. Perhaps the master will give us some pointers.
 
  • #12
Hi NaN! I dont grow them outdoors because the temperatures can go below zero and it is only 3-7C here these days. I grew D. graomogolensis together with other tropical Drosera (D. affinis, D. slackii, D. dielsiana, D. collinsiae,...etc). In the terrarium there was nice and warm (about 27C day) but maybe too warm for highland tropical....especially at night when I couldnt give her temperature drop (temps around 21C). So now i did 2 things:
1.I repotted 2 of them and used 50/50 mix of perlite and live chopped Sphagnum with Sphagnum dressing
2.I placed D. graomogolensis in a separate terrarium where she gets lots of light and the temps in the day are 24-26C and at night I will put her close to the window where there is about 15C.
This is what the setup looks like (I skipped fan to keep humidity higher)
DSCF0002-6.jpg


Detail of 2 plants (hopefully they will get better):
DSCF0006-3.jpg


I hope this will help:)
 
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  • #13
I was thinking if it still goes down the hill with them my last resort will be to take some leaf cuttings. I found this on french forum...it says that is takes long to get new plants from D. graomogolensis leaf cuttings. The ones in the picture were made in summer and new plants emerged the next spring. Here is the link:
http://www.forumcarnivore.org/ftopic13520.php
They simply laid the leafs on peat covered by live Sphagnum and keep it wet under strong lights while the temperatures are not too high.

Or do you think root cuttings will be better/faster?
 
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  • #14
I wonder if using water propagation on those would work -- That is, just taking the leaf and throwing it in a container of distilled water and leaving it there for a few months to get baby plants.

Might be something to try...
 
  • #15
I have no experience propagating this plant. Butch has had no luck with leaf cuttings/pullings and he tried just about every known method and probably a few new ones (he's very clever). From the looks of the roots, I'd say root cuttings is the way to go which Crissytal will probably confirm.

Let's see what Tamlin has to say.
 
  • #16
I would personally recommend root cuttings. I have read that leaf cuttings are very difficult to impossible. I believe only one person was able to get successful strikes with leaves. Roots however are very easy.

These root cuttings took a few weeks to sprout. I transplanted them from the bag to a pot on 10/23/08. This is what they look like today. Forgive the quarter, it's all I could find for size reference.
IMG_1066.jpg


This is how I get my root cuttings started. These are recent, cut on 2/10/09. No sprouts yet.
IMG_1069.jpg


And my mother plants. The small one on the right didn't like me digging up it's roots. It's nothing it won't recover from.
IMG_1068.jpg


Mine are growing in a mix of LFS and perlite. It was recommended to grow them completely in live LFS but I didn't have enough at the time so I just used a top layer. I was top watering mine, but I now have it sitting in water so the moss will be happier. The temperatures stay below 80F (so far) and no cooler than around 63F. Humidity is low, I took time to get it used to my 25% by placing a bag with hole cut in it (to keep it from cooking) over the top of the pot. Over time the holes were made larger until I finally took the bag off.

Crystal

EDIT: NaN beat me to it :).
 
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  • #17
Wow Crystal your plants look beautiful too! So if I understand your method correctly...you place the root cuttings in a ziplock bag filled with LSM and when you see initial growth then you lay the roots on the sphagnum? How much light and what temps do you give them in ziplock stage?
I gave my plants just about anything they could supposedly need so now I will just wait if it is going to be 2 beautiful plants or 2 ugly plants chopped up and me praying over the leftovers to see some new plants:)
THANK YOU EVERYBODY! :)
 
  • #18
Thanks for the compliment :).

The root cuttings are on the same rack and shelf that the mother plants and plantlets are on, so the temps are the same. I currently have two four foot long shop lights over them. They hold two 36 watt bulbs a piece for a total of four bulbs. The bulbs are the cheapest ones you can get, cool whites. The only thing special I did was line the bottom of the light fixtures with mylar to help reflect the light downward. The bag with the root cuttings are laid on top of another pot making it about six inches from the bulbs. When I start to see sprouts, I move them to live LFS. I make sure I put the LFS all around and on top of the sprouted root to prevent it from drying out. I do my best not to cover the sprouts though, they need light. I also had a cover over them for awhile to help them adjust from the high humidity in the bag to my low humidity. Yep, it's that easy, just throw them in a bag with some LFS and seal it up. That's it. Good luck klasac. I hope they recover for you!

Crystal
 
  • #19
Tamlin has a lot to say regarding the "rarity" of this wonderful Brasilian endemic. Rarity is part of an age old mechanism called "supply and demand". Demand encourages higher pricing for those who would have. In this case, this species is neither overly difficult or requires a lot of growing investment.
From the first collections of seed made available by exploring botanists in the 80's and 90's the species found it's way into private grower's collection through various recipients of the seed brought back from academic exploration of the Tepui's. Since the plants have a value to collectors , capitalism reared its usual ugly head, and the plants were controlled in their distribution to maximize their monetary value. The goal here was making money, and it has been argued also as a means to recoup some of the funds spent on an expensive expidition, or to enable other botanists to continue with their research aided by the funds from such resale. All very noble, BUT there was another alternative which I have preached over the years and herewith present yet again!
First off, repeated collecting of this sort of material is harmful to the populations wherever it occurrs.....Brazil, Australia, South Africa. Initial collections are to be encouraged always simply because habitat attrition is inevitable in the fragile ecosystems where these plants grow.
Once an initial collection is made, a WIDE distribution should be sought for this material, and subsequent collection should be regarded as unethical, no matter how noble the end goals. A wide distribution into numerous private collections would insure that the species may continue into the future even if the native populations fail.
Unfortunately for the merchants, if the supply increases those 50.00 dollah sundews ain't a gonna be selling on Ebay.
The trick then is to popularize the plants, and exert a restraint on the distribution. In effect, create a cartel. Then, foster an air of the "elite" growers of these rare plants not deserved by the common grower, and a reluctance to share outside the club walls. I heard that one major distributor requires a signed affadavit forbidding redistribution from plants he sells.
I know of one population in SA that went extinct other than the guy who had it growing (once) and let the seed rot away before sending the worthless disappointments away as a gesture of his nobility. Oh, he lost that species in cultivation so it's gone now.
Sad fact is, unless the plants do find wide distribution into private collections (like you and me bub) all the placements in botanical gardens are not going to make this material available for your great great grandaughters delight. Private growers are like an individual
organism with a thousand giving hands that share. Individual hands may die off, and they do. They get married, go to college, lose interest, get sick and go broke. The beauty is, like ripples across the gulf og time, their generosity will bring what we cherished to another AGE and most pertinently to grower's in the here and now. See, you can't put seed into a time capsule for a hundred years. You need a crop of growers to grow the plants and share the seeds.
I am all for sharing, and have encouraged selfless sharing. This means, you give freely to the community without regard for compensation. You need not be concerned with compensation, because it WILL come. You open your heart and give and you'll find the world cannot do enough for you. Isn't that beautiful, and isn't it wonderful to be a part of something so good?
I have never been a capitalist, although it's almost an inherited trait in the USA. I don't believe money makes the world go round, that job goes to love. When you have so many like souls that share a love, like we have with our CP, the opportunity to do good and great things follows hand in hand.
When you share freely, you give more than the gift. You prove the world is NOT the stinking cess pit that so many make of it, and HOPE is the name of that seed. My dears, YOU probably have that seed already in your fridge waiting for the right trade. For the cost of a stamp you can plant it in the collection and spirit of a friend you maybe didn't even know you had.
Thank you for hearing the lecture, and I hope I have answered that "why is it so rare" question satisfactorily.
 
  • #20
My Lord, is that guy long winded or what???

My experiences with this species brings me joy. I managed to get some wild collected seed from a very kind and generous gentleman from Brazil (thanks Vitor) who was involved in cytological studies of CP. At the time I was working with the Senior Seed Analyst of the Michigan State Herbarium assing to produce a digital library of seed photos. I needed wild collected seed for the project and wrote to as many internet mentions of this species that I could find and pretty much blown off by all. I even offered to RENT the flaming seed, hahahaha but it was a no go. Happily, sympathetic interests that will forever be nameless allowed me to obtain the other needed samples as well but it was like walking over glass barefoot to find it. I wept when it arrived. Two weeks earlier it had been in a scape deep in the rainforest on top of a needle of rock sticking up into the clouds, and utterly forbidden to me. That, my friends, is the power of love.

I always use pure live milled sphagnum for all the Brasillian species for its antifungal and antibacterial qualities. Seed germinated with more stubborness than other species, so I assume fresh seed is particularly desirable. I found early nutrition to be advantageous, but necessitated removal of the spent particles as these babies were terrarium grown. This species I found very susceptible to fungal blight and I lost several plants to it so removal of dinner was important. It also resents the cold as well as hot nights. The plant grows quickly, for me flowering within a season, but I had no seed from my pollination efforts despite several attempts. Dang.
Plants were rack grown cold months in 45-90 per cent humidity, under twin shoplight fixtures, 8 tubes total, 6 inches from the tubes sitting in constant tray water 3 cm. Water was pure rain ONLY. PLants were top syringed avoiding the leaves every couple of weeks, or when temos were in the 80's in the morning. The Tepui's are pristine beyond imagining and plants seem to succumb to mineralization quickly. Main considerations are to provide a night time drop in temp's at least 5 degrees, and to keep things pure.

I've had totally huge plants flower, prosper and then wilt overnight. I dunno.:-( I didn't manage to keep this one long term and it still amazes me it could go pfft so fast. I strongly advise that leafcuttings be taken IMMEDIATELY, which is always good advise but esp. so in this case. Oh yeah, I also had plants that broke every one of my own growing "rules".
Never did root cuts, and would be a little nervous as the Brasilian's have a rep for not appreciating root disturbance. They have long roots, so as deep a pot as possible. They also like cool seeping down there, so on hot days I used water kept in the fridge and syringed as called for. If the nights were over 80, plants were put in the cool cellar. OK, so there's work involved, lol, but that nightime drop is very important and not always easy to produce.

Plants were put outside and gradualy acclimated to those conditions when DT/NT temps were 50F and above in full sun. Feeding was au naturale, but they are hungry plants! In full sun they turn beet red. Probably the deepest madder red of any Drosera species.

In summary, not a beginner plant, and IMO not really suited to terrarium culture which will keep them alive but not happy. Well worth any effort, that's for sure!!! If you grow Drosera montana tomentosa you likely can grow this one too!
 
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