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D. prolifera and d. schizandra

Hello all,

I was wondering if D. prolifera and D. schizandra are unusually hard to keep?

I was just trying to figure out why they seem to be so rare. I have been collecting cp's for about a year now and have never seen these two for sale, at least not in Canada.

D. adelae the third sister (from the Savage Garden) seems to be readily available.

What's up with the other two?

Thanks,

André
 
Prolifera ans schizandra are pretty hard to find on commercial sales pages, as they are indeed rarer then adeale. Prolifera is not neccesarly hard to keep, but I guess due to the smaller size of these plants, propgation may take awhile until they start sending out their runners...

szhizandra is just plain picky to grow
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I have worked hard with mine to find that it needs a cover over the plant, even when inside the terrarium. It loves it wet and humid. I believe shizandra is hard to propagate without hurting the plant, so that is why it is so hard to find and/or expensive.

I was lucky to obtain my shizandra ( ahuge pot full) at a bacps meeting for cheap, s now single plants, from what I have seen, and go for about $20
 
After comparing notes with other growers on these two very slow growing species, we speculated that the high rainfall in the habitat probably leeches out nutrients to a degree not usually found in cultivated conditions. Something deters their growth in cultivation, some lack or presence of a critical (but undetermined) factor. Alternatively, the presence of a mycorhrizal association may be missing. One thing is certain, both are difficult in my collection: prospering for awhile, and then dying back. D. prolifera always seems to die back after flowering for me, and D. schizandra seems very sensitive to disturbance of any kind. Once I have either growing well, I just let things ride and try not to move them about too much. I know that D. schizandra has been introduced to tissue culture and so should become more readily available in the future. D. prolifera is now protected in Australia. I think the main reason for the scarcity of these 2 species is neither one sets seed readily, or abundantly.
 
Hi,

this is the first time I heard Dr. prolifera would be a slow grower. I know many people who have tons of this plant(s). Put them in a sand-peat mix, switch on the lights and let them grow. After one year without using a machete you won't find the mother plant again! My biggest plant flowers for approximatly 6 months and has constantly 3 flower stalks in grow and 2 plantlets on old stalks, which I cut after some time.

Jan

PS: no shipping to the USA
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i've always had trouble growing the thrid sister of queensland so i'm guessing that the other sisters of sundews are hard to grow too .prolifera and shrizandras are quite hard to find and when theya re found they are quite pricey , the best chance of getting them is by trading .
 
I am not so lucky as to have a schizandra as of yet, but I love my prolifera. I am with Tamlin as I find that it dies back a little during flowering, but it has put off many runner. Hopefully it will produce in the near future.
 
Jan,

It might just be the clone. I have shared this with others, and they all have the same result. I used to have to weed it out of my former collection: I couldn't GIVE the plants away fast enough. Now it just gets to looking really fine, flowers, and pfffft. I have mine in 50/50 peat sand. It does better in the cool weather. Maybe someday I'll find a better clone or figure out what is missing with this one.
 
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