Some years back I saw a short article in the Carnivorous Plant Newsletter where a grower was describing how they had taken some of the plantlets that are often formed on the old flower stalks of Drosophyllum lusitanicum and rooted them into new plants. However, it seems no one I have heard from was ever able to reproduce that feat. The plantlets just slowly died when cut from the mother plant and placed in moist growing medium. Still, when looking at a stem just loaded with the little devils it seemed like there must be a way.
While I was considering this it just so happened that I had made up a standard-strength batch of gibberellic acid (GA3) solution to treat seeds in an attempt to rouse them from a deep dormancy. Since the already mixed solution was just sitting I took 3 plantlet cuttings and stood them in the shallow container, cut-end submerged, for one hour each. I then planted them into my standard Drosophyllum medium giving them more water than adult plants usually like.
For several weeks I watched the plantlet cuttings and waited for the eventual wilting and death of the little green sprigs. But that's not what happened. In fact I became convinced that they were putting out new growth and getting larger. So I decided to sacrifice one just to see what was really going on.
Circles show the original cut points
Since Drosophyllum hate having their roots disturbed I 'knew' that the plant was very likely hash, but I repotted it anyway. It continued to grow and eventually produced flowers of its own.
Of 3 cuttings taken for propagation 3 survived and became independent plants. I believe that anyone who successfully grows this plant can reproduce these results.
While I was considering this it just so happened that I had made up a standard-strength batch of gibberellic acid (GA3) solution to treat seeds in an attempt to rouse them from a deep dormancy. Since the already mixed solution was just sitting I took 3 plantlet cuttings and stood them in the shallow container, cut-end submerged, for one hour each. I then planted them into my standard Drosophyllum medium giving them more water than adult plants usually like.
For several weeks I watched the plantlet cuttings and waited for the eventual wilting and death of the little green sprigs. But that's not what happened. In fact I became convinced that they were putting out new growth and getting larger. So I decided to sacrifice one just to see what was really going on.
Since Drosophyllum hate having their roots disturbed I 'knew' that the plant was very likely hash, but I repotted it anyway. It continued to grow and eventually produced flowers of its own.
Of 3 cuttings taken for propagation 3 survived and became independent plants. I believe that anyone who successfully grows this plant can reproduce these results.
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