D. schizandra photos

[adnedarn]

Thank you Brian! Joseph had also mentioned that he noticed great increases in the plant when he fed them, come to think of it, his too was in bags where the humidity was very high. This is an older picture but I think it is the last one I had of my plants before the disaster...





Now I have this from the green pot, all in the black pot are gone.



Maybe I'll give your feeding solution a try on one of them and see if it sizes up quicker than the others, since I have some fresh frozen (not freeze dried) blood worms for feeding my killies. My humidity is not as high as yours, but my temps are quite a bit cooler.

Andrew

[thez_yo]

Not quite the same topic but related, does the same thing happen with D. prolifera and D. adelae? (ie. should I be force feeding them instead of letting them do their thing with whatever's flying around?)

[jimscott]

Thanks for the growing tips. Hopefully, someday, I will be graced with one again.

[RL7836]

Hi Brian,
Thanks for sharing great pics of some very healthy, well-grown plants!

I do believe in feeding, especially with D. schizandra as I can definitely tell the difference!

Ditto. For years, I grew them and they wouldn't get past 3-4" iirc but once I started feeding, the size increased dramatically (and they flowered for the 1st time).

Here's a few growth tips for this picky "sister"... Feeding; I use a primordial soup of sorts, consisting of crushed fresh (frozen) bloodworms mixed with a little RO water and the "soup" is applied to the leaves with an eyedropper every two weeks. The liquid is absorbed directly, without risk of mold and each leaf gets two drops of liquid only.

Wow! I need to try this and see if I also get no mold! That would be fantastic!

Watering; I've heard of some growing them wet and some folks growing them drier. Here in tropical Florida, mine respond best when the media is kept just barely damp at all times. I may water once every week or two and never saturate the compost. Just enough to keep the dampness present... and nothing more. I also grow them inside under a T5 lighting system on a red and blue spectrum bulb mix, in one of my Heliamphora chambers. Photoperiod is 12 hours with bulbs residing 12 inches or better above the plants.

More good info - thanks! I'll need to try keeping some with less-wet conditions.

Very interesting on the lighting also. I had a tough time keeping the plant cool if the lighting was that close. Looking at your plant from the auction (same plant - right?), the increased light intensity seems to make the leaves less elongated / wider - a nice look.

Temperatures; Winter = 60F - 73 F. They grow best in Winter for me. Summer = 72F - 78F. I never let them go above 80F at any given time. In my conditions, it doesn't work. I have to constantly think "highlander" to be successful... ; )

Each summer my plants struggle even though i keep them in the basement all summer. If mine regularly see temps around 78*F, I can expect at least some to crash (Hmmm, maybe because mine are kept 'wetter'??)

I also grow D. prolifera the same way with great results, although they tolerate temps above 80F much better.

D. prolifera is a much more tolerant plant for me. I allow plants to grow in the live LFS between pots in my tanks and they soon grow everywhere. Since they are not as aggressive as D. adelae, there's no real worries about them showing up where they are not wanted. I suspect that they would love to grow in the top dressing of live LFS in highland / intermediate Nep pots...

I hope these tips help those interested in growing this magnificent gem!

Absolutely! Thanks for the info - much appreciated!

[Baylorguy]

Beautiful plants... really wish I had the conditions to grow them!

[Tamlin Dawnstar]

Very nice advice Brian! Considering the woodland nature of this species, the loose medium makes a lot of sense. I had the best results in a similar medium as yours, although I added some leaf mould. Mine did best in larger pots and mine were kept wetter so that there would be a good evaporation rate. Feeding was always a problem due to fungus issues from spent prey so I used a dilute orchid fertilizer spray. I can tell you, although not from personal experience alas that individual leaves of this plant can be as big as grapefruit half - the example I saw was grown in low light (like 1 40 watt grotube) deliberately and then periodically and carefully exposed to harder conditions to toughen the leaf epidermis, then returned to low light in a continuing cycle.

All the sisters will respond to these protocols, and feeding is probably best done with care for their sensitivities. Drosera adelae grows new leaves quickly, but D. prolifera and D. schizandra are slower growing, and they need their leaves to be kept safe. Feeding seems especially important for these woodland species otherwise they just don't grow.

These are very beautiful plants. The ones you see in habitat are always covered with litter, and they probably extract nutrients from that too, possibly more than prey even.

[CPlantaholic]

Brian, I've trying to find a way to speed up the previously tedious process of feeding all my sundews by taking crushed Beta pellets and individually tweezering small amounts of powder onto the leaves (while trying to drop as few pieces of food as possible), and your eyedropper method is exactly what I've been looking for.
It took 1/4 as long to feed them all!

Also, thanks, everyone, for sharing all the valuable info!

[Jefforever]

Keep as a highland, temp drops unnecessary, never feed, and water once every 2 months.