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If you are growing any of the Brasilian Droserae I have some questions regarding the sowing of the seed of the follwing species:

Drosera chysolepsis Serra do Cipo, Brazil
Drosera communis Diamantia, Brazil
Drosera graminifolia Diamantia, Brazil
Drosera hirtella Itacambria, Brazil
Drosera hirtella var. hirtella Diamantia, Brazil
Drosera hirtella var. hirtella Moeda, Brazil
Drosera kaieteurensis, Venezuela
Drosera montana var schwackerei Diamantia, Brazil
Drosera montana var. tomentosa Itacambria, Brazil

I am most interested in hearing of methods to ensure reliable germination. This seed was recently collected and fresh, but there is very little of it and I don't want to miss this opportunity to experience these beautiful plants. My main questions are in regard to substrate and temperature required for good germination.

Any help would be deeply appreciated.

I am currently in a state of shock, or I could be dreaming I guess. I've pulled some rabbits out of the old hat, but this one has to go down as "my finest moment". Yahooooooooooooo!
 
as i would like to say congrats on the recept of the seeds and great luck on your journey. at the same time i would say "I am sorry but I don't have the information that you are looking for. I will hound the internet in trying to help in any way that I can." again Yahooooooooooooo!Yahooooooooooooo!Yahooooooooooooo!Yahooooooooooooo!!!!!!
lates,
andrew
 
I replied to Tamlin via email and also sent this response to his post about sp.Emas, but I thought this would be a good place to send this reply as well:

As some of you know, I grow many Brazilian and Venezuelan Drosera successfully. I have seen better specimens of some of the species I've got but my methods work for me, with no losses. I find the Venezuelan plants easier than the Brazilians but neither (with only a couple exceptions) are what I consider very difficult with my conditions. However, they are a lot slower growers than some other Drosera. 50F "max" must be a typo. That's more like a good minimum temperature for them. A high of 75F would be great for many but I believe a normal high of 80-85 would be ok for many. There are exceptions. Keep in mind that most plants growing in wet areas are sitting in cold ground water, even when the air in their habitats can get hot.

I find sp. Emas to be the easiest of the Brazilians to grow. It's also one of my personal favorites. This and communis seed in particular are very short-lived, but some of the others are not, unless they have not been stored properly. If you want to see some photos of some of these plants in cultivation, check out my web page: http://www.sundewgrower.com/growlist.html. Some of these photos are really old and plants have grown a lot since, but this will give you an idea. (Gee, this might be a good time to upload some new pics&#33
wink.gif
Also check out Fernando's fabulous images of plants in habitat (see my links page). If you want additional info on how I grow my plants, check out the rest of my website and Pete Thiels page which includes an interview at http://cpzine.com/article.aspx?cid=3&y=2001&m=8&d=20. Just remember that what works for me might not work for you and vice versa. So, even if you don't think you have suitable conditions for these plants, you might... I have traded and sold quite a few of these so they should theoretically become more common in collections in the future. I've got stuff for trade but my current wishlist is pretty short.

Happy growing!
Matt
 
Wow William, that looks like christmas in august! I wish you good luck germinating those seeds.

Do you plan to put up a website showing the photos you do take of the seeds ypu got?

Joachim
 
Joachim,

Yes, we plan on having a website to host the digital scans of the testa, and hopefully later on, other taxonomic details such as the stipules, flowers and scapes. Right now, it is all a work in progress. Cooperative efforts such as this depend on so many other peoples contributions, and most all of us have other demands on our time and priorities. The website is in process, which is very exciting to me! Right now my main focus is in sourcing accurate material for the reference, and checking it twice. Once I am assured that I have accurate material I submit it to my associate for inclusion in his work which extends far beyond Droserae. As you can imagine, this takes some time, but I am happy to say we currently have a backlog of bona fide seed waiting to be scanned. This recent donation of Brasilian seed is the first we have managed to acquire in 2 years of diligent searching: the material is not common or often shared, so you can appreciate my excitement at being able to include it in our reference. Having it with good collection data saves so much effort and wasted time and is a real blessing. Stay tuned for further progress reports:)
 
Hi SundewMatt,

Thanks for the corrections on the cultural advice: as you know I have had little experience with growing these species, and most of my information is second hand. I greatly appreciate your experience and hope you will chat some more with us on the subject.

Regarding that 50F minimum temperature: do you feel this is a requirement or an option? Could the minimum be, say 70F, or is a greater night time drop required? Robert Gibson mentioned that the plants have a very narrow window regarding temperature and humidity, and I would hate to make a mistake with this seed!

As to the normal high being 80-85F you mention there are exceptions to this range. Could you be more specific (literally) and tell me which species are more sensitive to these high temps, and what the ideal maximum for them is?

I agree that different conditions warrant different methods, but with so little experience I welcome details of your methods, and comments on specific plants. I have found with my plants that all seem to prefer the cooler conditions of my cellar, max 65F and experienced a real growth spurt when moved there. I think this is due more to the cool roots than to the air temp inside the terraria. I imagine the ground water on the Tepui's is pretty chilly. Do you think it ever heats up to 70F? How do you cool the water in your trays.

Thanks in advance for your help!


I have always had poor viability with the Brasilian seed I have received from various quarters. I guess from this fact and my experience with sessilifolia seed from my own plants I assumed the seed was short lived in general, but I guess the seed must have been stored for ages on some bookshelf before finally being passed on.
 
Today I noted subsequent germination in a pot of montana tomentosa seed sowed nearly a year ago. I got scant germination then: 3 seedlings only. since the pot is continually domed, there is no chance that seed could have made its way into the pot from another species. This is another example of why I *never* give up on a pot of sown seed. If I fail to get germination, I always recycle the pot, usually sowing it with another genera of cp.

The seedlings are very different from most montana montana , montana tomentosa that I have seen. I wonder if it is another clone from a different locality, or possibly a different species altogether. There is no collection data, alas! Whatever it is, it is quite beautiful! After a year of growing the rosettes are barely 1.5cm - still juvenille!
 
good example of NEVER giving up... i love the idea of reusing the pots. i have no seeds that are old enough to do this too yet. but if i do i will... (did that make since? :-\ ) any way. congrats! and thanks for sharing the idea!!
andrew
 
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