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Gemmae Season Is Right Around The Corner

jimscott

Tropical Fish Enthusiast
I took these pictures yesterday:

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The stipules are revealing what's coming.
 
Yay! I hope to get some this year.
 
Aloha Jim. I am seeing similar indications on my plants in Kula. Not sure if the trigger is cold or day length or if it varies form species to species. D. scorpioides almost never produces gemmae for me or if it does it is late spring early summer......
 
I just checked mine and several of the paleacea group are generating gemmae too. Drosera roseana seems to be the one leading the pack.
 
I have had a group of pygmy's growing for almost two years now and have yet to see a gemmae ... :(

I did recently adjust my lighting down to winter photo period so maybe that will be enough to trigger them into producing gemmae.
 
Mine produced Gemmae very late last year... Almost December before they were ready to harvest! But every pygmy I had produced plenty of them. If I get similar results this season I see a hefty giveaway coming :-D
 
Hmm.. haven't checked mine yet but maybe I should. After last time I did a SASE for 'em, I now have scorpioides weeds/volunteers everywhere (burmanii pot, sarr minibogs, etc.).
 
Yet to get good gemmae production here...a couple scorps just decided to kick the bucket instead. The pulchella, pygmeae and 'Lake Badgerup' wanted to keep growing all the way through this season. ???
 
I've got a few species with lots of gemmae: oreopodion, palacea "Cranbrook", palacea palacea and roseana. I started the scorpiodes fresh about 6 months ago and they don't have any yet.
 
  • #10
D. roseanna is indeed the leader of the pack and D. scorpioides should be called D. enigma! I had them outside from late spring through now and although they looked good they never flowered. They do "bring up the rear" when it comes to gemmae production.

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No flowers and no gemmae!
 
  • #11
D. scorpioides has never bloomed for me in my conditions...... Maybe this year
 
  • #12
In an artificial setting is there a good way (ie. light cues) to induce gemmae production?
 
  • #13
My D. scorpioides flower about every other year. They usually croak after flowering or kick the bucket after producing gemmae the second time around and have to start over with a new generation.
 
  • #14
mine always seem to die before or after making gemmae. never get to flowering. Have wondered if I don't have enough cold in the right time to induce flowering. Or their photo period needs are at the very edge of what occurs in my location. Eww might need to test by pulling a curtain over them like forcing mums to bloom in the summer...
 
  • #15
I was looking for Tamlin's article about the lifecycle of pygmy sundews, but didn't see it in the pinned section. I'll bet NAN can find it, though. If I remember correctly, gemmae production is tied into all of the changes that take place in the fall, to include more rain, cooler temps, and lower photoperiod. There was also something about streetlights interfering with the cycle.
 
  • #16
I was looking for Tamlin's article about the lifecycle of pygmy sundews, but didn't see it in the pinned section. I'll bet NAN can find it, though. If I remember correctly, gemmae production is tied into all of the changes that take place in the fall, to include more rain, cooler temps, and lower photoperiod. There was also something about streetlights interfering with the cycle.

yup. I was sort of guessing this as well. Might be part of the reason that certain pings never boom for people also. Only thing for me is that in my area no streetlights so they are getting as long a winter/fall night as they possibly could without me pulling curtains daily..... Hoping it might be more cold related then I could get them to bloom ever few years. We have not had that many nights in the 40's for the past few years now.
 
  • #18
Thanks for finding that NaN!
 
  • #19
Tamlin Dawnstar
10/12/2002

Adventures in Drosera species: Pygmy Sundew


Some of the most wonderful droserae in the world are the pygmy species. Native to Australia and New Zealand, these tiny plants are probably the most powerful and prolific of the entire genus. They are adapted to survive the brutal Australian summers, where their habitat substrates bake like clay in the summer sun. To survive, they have evolved some strategies. In the winter, when they begin to grow, they produce gemmae: small hard reproductive bodies which form in the center of the cone like stipules, like little green eggs in a nest of fine hairs. They look like green seeds, but there is an important difference: these gemmae are exact clones of the parent plant, whereas seed is produced by sexual reproduction. Easily dislodged with the first rains of the wet season, they are propelled out of their “nests”, and can quickly repopulate a habitat, even if 90% of the population was killed off in the summer heat. The ones that survive do so by the formation of extremely long, thin, hair-like roots, sometimes reaching down a meter to whatever reserves of moisture are available in the summer. The gemmae have a high rate of survival success, far more than seeds, and they grow at a much faster rate given wet, cool conditions and good humidity. The process of gemmae formation is initiated by short day length and the above conditions.

(A note to growers: gemmae production will be inhibited if any light reaches the plants after sunset.) The pygmy species can tolerate a wide range of temperatures, but they prefer cool conditions, and many withstand temperatures close to freezing and even occasional light frosts. After the gemmae form into plants, they grow through the winter and flower the next spring. The plants are generally sterile, having evolved stable characteristics, and the clonal nature of their reproduction ensures that they will not lose a “good plan” by random recombination of genes. They require different clones to form fertile seed. The flowers are beautiful and prolific, and the plants bloom continually from spring to early fall. There is a definite summer rest period, and in habitat, a true dormancy. (Most species will forego the dormancy, and this should be encouraged in cultivation, as losses are high during dormancy).

Like all droserae, they require nutrient and salt deficient substrates. For cultivation, good mix is 70/40 washed silica sand and peat. Some growers have stated old peat is superior for good growth, and there is speculation of mycorhizal associations enhanced by aged peat. Drosera pulchella and its hybrids differ from most by a preference for more peat: 50/50. In cultivation, the plants should be grown in as deep a pot as possible, although most will grow fairly well in 4 inch pots. The plants do not mind close proximity with each other. These sit in pure water, rain or distilled, from winter to late spring, which supports gemmae development and early rapid growth, and then are allowed to dry slightly, but not enough to trigger dormancy (there are of course exceptions to this rule of thumb). In early fall, when new growth is noticed in the now mature plants, the pots are returned to the former schedule. Since these plants are light hungry, and cool growing, they are not r

---------- Post added at 10:31 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:30 AM ----------

Thanks, Warren!
 
  • #20
I just got a d. scorpiodes a few deys ago, but it didnt have any dew. other members have said that the new leaves will be all dewy if i take good care of it. but do you think it will produce gemmae?
 
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