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Volunteer Drosophyllum sprout in the bog

  • #21
I've heard some people say we'll have a mild winter, some that it will be very harsh. We'll have to wait and see.

Yeah, I know. You can't rely on forecasts anymore and just have to wait and see, look out the window, haha. Personally, I would like to see a lot more snow than we had last year and more hard freezes to cut down the bug population in spring...but then I don't have to drive to work so easy for me to wish this :lol:

I also just posted pics of my adult Drosophyllum under frosty conditions outside in a thread called "Frosty Drosophyllum" if anyone wants to see the effect (or lack of, ha) on those.
 
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  • #22
Okay, this is insane. We have had a week of overnight temps down into the mid/low 20s, warming into the 40s during the day. The bog is shaded this time of year and gets no direct sun hitting it, so the surface of the soil does not thaw out each day until late afternoon, if at all. I did not check on the little bog droso for days, assuming it had perished in the freezing temps. Yesterday I checked and incredibly it continues to survive. Photo taken on Dec. 2.

23508574975_b0d1daf037_z.jpg
[/url]Bog droso Dec. 2015 by Djoni C, on Flickr[/IMG]
 
  • #24
just have the magic touch/location.
 
  • #25
just have the magic touch/location.

Location and putting it on ignore (not messing with it).

The overnight freezes have ended, now lots of rain.
 
  • #26
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  • #27
Go, Droso, go!!!!! What a trooper!!:0o:
 
  • #28
I added another shot taken later in the day today as the snow kept coming down. The snow will most likely be melted off by tomorrow, we don't usually get snow that stays on the ground for long. I will snap a shot of it and post when the snow melts.
 
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  • #29
Fascinating...these guys are definitely tougher than most would suggest. I wonder what it is that's letting the drylander survive these "terrible" conditions...
 
  • #30
For curiosity's sake, does anyone nerdier than I happen to know a ballpark for Drosophyllum's lowest average temp in situ?
 
  • #31
Fascinating...these guys are definitely tougher than most would suggest. I wonder what it is that's letting the drylander survive these "terrible" conditions...

I think the jury will be out whether they can survive these conditions all the way through winter, with January usually being the coldest month, so we will see how they look come spring as I have two potted adults outside also.

I wonder if mine, being 4th generation from seed starting with my original plant 4 or 5 years ago, may be adapting to colder winters? Is this possible in such a short period of time? Or maybe they are all just more cold tolerant than anybody thought and nobody has really tested the limits in cultivation, at least I have not run across any literature about it yet.


For curiosity's sake, does anyone nerdier than I happen to know a ballpark for Drosophyllum's lowest average temp in situ?

I have read that higher elevation Drosophyllum in situ can experience lows in the high teens at times with warming to above freezing during the day. In my conditions this winter so far, it has always warmed up to above freezing during the day and overnight is the only time it has been below freezing. Historically, we don’t usually see 24/7 freezing temps until January and some years we don’t at all.
 
  • #33
Looks pretty close to pristine to me.
 
  • #35
Yes, she still lives! I will have to snap a pic to post soon, if this rain ever stops long enough that is.
 
  • #36
That's so dang cool! I'm so curious what the root system looks like... How wet would you say it is staying?
 
  • #37
Well considering its Oregon where it rains nonstop for 9 months out of the year... We did set a new record, or come very close for winter rainfall this year, and I believe we're way ahead on March rainfall as well.
 
  • #38
That's so dang cool! I'm so curious what the root system looks like... How wet would you say it is staying?

WET. The bog soil is a peat/perlite mix, heavy on the peat, so stays pretty wet this time of year. We have had record high rain fall and the bog is completely exposed to the elements. Although it nears flooding at times with heavy rain, it does drain fairly quickly between rain storms but the soil remains constantly just short of sloppy wet with all the rain we have been getting the last couple months.
 
  • #39
March 2016 bog Droso update:

25774782626_f892a8a817_z.jpg
[/url]Bog Drosophyllum update March 2016 by Djoni C, on Flickr[/IMG]
25774782916_b88d812104_z.jpg
[/url]Bog Drosophyllum - March 2016 update by Djoni C, on Flickr[/IMG]

I have not had a chance to look closely at it for quite some time until taking the pics today between rain showers. As you can see, during freezing periods over winter the crown lifted up out of the soil exposing some roots which are obvious in the second pic. I don't know what effect this will have as the weather warms and we get more sunshine, but suspect before that with warming temps it will likely succumb to root rot from below the surface (if that process has not already started). However, I thought that would happen with the rains last fall or that it would succumb to freezing temps over winter but that did not happen, so ya never know. Tough little plant for sure.

For those who may be wondering, it has been very hard for me not to try and rescue this little guy, but for informational purposes I have left it alone to gain more knowledge about my favorite "sundew" (or for HC, sundew-looking plant) :)
 
  • #40
I see a second growth point just below the main one. The plant seems a bit too small to be branching from normal growth, so I wonder how that happened.

I also wonder if it's the soil settling/compacting from the rain, rather than the plant being lifted by freezing weather.
 
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