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Transplanting Drosera Seedlings?

Vbkid

Getting There...
I have a small pot os D. aliciae, among other varieites, I sowed on chopped LFS. They are maybe 4 months old now, with about 3 carnivorous leave each, but only maybe 2-3 mm across. A very small portion of the pots has some fungus growing, but mostly I am just nervous that the plants are being able to develop roots and such.

How/should I transplant them anytime soon? Worried about feeding with ground food at the small of size for fear of mold.

Thanks,
Kyle
 
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D. aliciae is a plant more concerned with deep roots than a lot of surface space, so if the pot is at least a few inches deep, no reason really to transplant, unless the whole soil is only LFS, since they'll do better in a peat/sand mix. Overall seedling are not an issue to transplant though, so if you need to they can just be taken off the soil and moved, the roots should go along with the main plants. And at really small sizes I don't feed with hard food items, but instead small drops of dilute fertilizer.
 
D. aliciae is a plant more concerned with deep roots than a lot of surface space, so if the pot is at least a few inches deep, no reason really to transplant, unless the whole soil is only LFS, since they'll do better in a peat/sand mix. Overall seedling are not an issue to transplant though, so if you need to they can just be taken off the soil and moved, the roots should go along with the main plants. And at really small sizes I don't feed with hard food items, but instead small drops of dilute fertilizer.

+1
 
When transplanting, I just use a spoon and scoop out plant and media, below the surface of the roots, and place 'plug' in a prepared put, with a depression, to accommodate the plug. Then water from above to meld the media.
 
Whenever I'm transplanting small seedlings, especially if they're crowded together, I find it easiest to gently tease them apart with a dissecting needle (a pointed metal probe, mounted on the end of a pencil shaped piece of wood or plastic). The needle is also used to lift each individual seedling and place it in its new home.
DM09.jpg
 
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does it make me weird that i shudder and drool with delight at the sight of those awesome tweezers? :0o:
 
I'll suggest you can pull the lsm around the roots. It's a safer way if the roots are deep. Hope this helps
Cheers
 
I'll suggest you can pull the lsm around the roots. It's a safer way if the roots are deep. Hope this helps
Cheers

I gotta know. What is an "lsm"?
 
  • #10
One quick followup, some D. tokaiensis [this name is not valid, an alternative name that is valid for this same plant is, D. 'Kansai'] I separated out are already flowering, and are about an inch in diameter max. Is it safe to let them flower? They look plenty healthy, under humidity dome and 24h lighting.
 
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  • #11
Sorry I wasn't so direct... Lsm is live sphagnum moss. Sorry I thought I would get the spelling wrong:)
Cheers
 
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  • #12
fredg,
I have used needle nosed forceps. It's a hazard for me, my old hands have a little bit of tremor, so I have trouble avoiding putting too much pressure on the tiny seedlings - unintentionally. I often pinch them too hard and cause them damage. So, the dissecting needles are my compromise - at least I can avoid pinching them, when I don't intend to.
 
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  • #13
So the seedlings are a few months old now, and the the pots that were way too small to move, but have TONS of seedlings in them, are still only like 2-3 mm in diameter. Is this normal? I can't really feed anything that small, and am concerned they won't continue to grow!
 
  • #14
I have 14 species of sundews and some seem to grow slow then others even it the same species I wouldn't worry about it yet till there bigger. And on the feeding I have killed or stunted the growth off several species be vary careful feeding seedlings I stopes trying to feed them till the about a half inch or biger
 
  • #15
fredg,
I have used needle nosed forceps. It's a hazard for me, my old hands have a little bit of tremor, so I have trouble avoiding putting too much pressure on the tiny seedlings - unintentionally. I often pinch them too hard and cause them damage. So, the dissecting needles are my compromise - at least I can avoid pinching them, when I don't intend to.

Joseph, sorry for the delay in replying.
The reason I use the curved points is so they can be hooked underneath the seedling. If you do happen to press too much there is nothing to damage. The seedling complete with medium around the roots sits above the points.
 
  • #16
So the tiny seeldings just seem kinda in suspended animation? How can I even tell if they are alive when they are a few millimeters across? Any advice or has anyone else experienced this? Only the Konsai have taken off.
 
  • #17
So the tiny seeldings just seem kinda in suspended animation? How can I even tell if they are alive when they are a few millimeters across? Any advice or has anyone else experienced this? Only the Konsai have taken off.

If there is doubt of whether they are alive or not I would try a magnifying glass. I use mine a lot when dealing with Drosera. If they are fleshy-looking when magnified you are in business.

When I am working with tweezers, which I seem to a lot, I try to grasp the soil around the small plants' roots and not the plant directly. If I absolutely must remove a plant separately I try to cradle it between the tips of the tweezers rather than put any direct pressure on it. They do squish easily. For what it's worth.
 
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