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Drosera regia

  • Thread starter Lauderdale
  • Start date
I have decided to add a Drosera regia to my collection but would like to see a photo of one and info on any special growing conditions that they require. Also...where can I get one?
 
I am currently ecstatic about my plants growth. Mine is grown in 12 inch plastic pot. On the bottom are 3 inches of redwood mulch. The remainder is filled with chopped live LFS. The entire unit sits in an undrained container that keeps the water level within 3 cm of the surface. I change the water weekly and scrub the undrained container. Although this method contradicts most "established" advice regarding this species, my plant is evergrowing and problem free. For me it grows as easily as D. capensis using this method. My source for the plant, Pinguiculaman, has grown his plant like this for some 5 years or more, without any problems or dormancy issues, and has propagated hundreds of plants from the mother plant via root cuttings! To further fly in the face of accepted advice, he produced my plant from a LEAF cutting. Possibly this plant is some sort of superior clone. I know he is registering the plant as a cultivar "Big Easy", but the method should work for you as well. My plant grows outside during the warm months, and is grown indoors quite close (within an inch) under a bank of 8 grow tubes (40 watt each). In the past, following the usual advice of a "gritty well drained mix", I have lost numerous plants, have had fungal problems, etc etc. The redwood (cedar would work as well) has a natural antiseptic quality that discourages anaerobic processes, and this is reinforced by the use of live sphagnum as a medium. Neither Joseph's plant nor mine has flowered: a slight drawback, although I dont discount the future possibility of this happening. I am sure Joseph would have more to say regarding this, but he has been very busy lately with little time to spare for the forum. He may be reached at

DroseraMan@hotmail.com (a man of many names it seems&#33
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if anyone is in terested in hearing more regarding his methods.

Hope this helps!
 
Everything Tamlin has said concerning this Drosera regia is true except I have only had it since June 2000, a few months more than 3 years.

d_regia_sml.jpg


Check out this web site for additional photos:

My Drosera cultivar submissions
 
Grrr....must you draw me further into getting one?...
 
And make me feel sad about the loss of two seedlings?
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Wow! Thanks BobZ for that website.  It has more Drosera photos than I could ever imagine.
Tamlin, what is LFS?  As you can tell by the question I am a little new at this game.
PinguiculaMan, thanks for the great photo.
 
LFS=Long Fibered sphagnum.

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I think I want one too!! It's just that I have a brown thumb when it comes to Sundews..
 
  • #10
Len,

We will green up that thumb of yours! I have a knack for sundews!
 
  • #11
I thought I would share an observation. I speculate part of the "King of the Sundews" fame of D. regia stems not just from its size (although it is the largest leaved rosetted species) but also from the fact that smaller plants present a pointy crown type effect. Check it out! At any rate, this is a really beautiful and easy growing species. The plant is very endangered in its habitat and will not be long with us unless it is in private collections. If you are feeling the call to grow it, your psyche is well tuned!

My highest compliments for our own Pinguiculaman (or is it Droseraman?) for his efforts (and success&#33
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in cultivation and propagation of this outstanding species. Such efforts will lead to the security of this species for future generations to enjoy as something other than an entry on Bob. Z's website.
 
  • #12
Ping'man
surely you just have a new cultivation technique here, rather than a new cultivar?
what trials have you done to show that your clone is any better than any other clone under
1)  your growing conditions &
2)  "standard" growing conditions?
 
  • #13
The only criteria for registering a cultivar are outlined here:
ICPS Cultivars --- no mention of any trials or experimental/analytical procedures necessary to define a cultivar.

= ^ = ^ = ^ = ^ = ^ = ^ = ^ = ^ = ^ = = ^ = ^ = ^ = ^ = ^ = ^ = ^ = ^ = ^ = ^ = ^ = ^ = ^ = ^ = ^ = ^ = ^ = ^ = ^ = ^ = ^ = ^ = ^ = ^ = ^ = ^ = ^ =

Though, as you suggest, perhaps the cultivation technique is the defining factor for my success with this particular Drosera regia.

Also, trials might help define this suspected success factor, but how would we define what we are looking for?

Wouldn't we first need to define this elusive "standard" growing conditions. Which is one thing I've long ago given up trying to do. Cultivating anything, plants included introduces the variable of the "cultivator". "Standard" implies for me that most of the CP community would need be involved in establishing (defining) this "standard". Way beyond me.

What I have done is distribute this clone to quite a few persons in many different parts of this country. It would be good to hear of their experiences with this plant. Has it grown successfully for them and what are their growing conditions and techniques?

I want to invite and encourage anyone who has obtained their Drosera regia from me, PinguiculaMan (Joseph Clemens) to please take the time and answer those two questions for us. Even if you were not successful with this plant, please let us know what your growing conditions (techniques) were when you lost it.

Also, if you are growing Drosera regia regardless of source (identified or not) please post here describing your successful growing technique.

-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

Here is a link to my cultivation instructions page:

My Regia culture page
 
  • #14
Hi Joseph,

Well as you know I am using the technique on the plant you provided to me via a leaf cutting. Since I have never grown any other D. regia from any other source via this method I can't say how they would perform. This one is the first I did not lose, and also the first time I used this protocol - so my inclination is to accept this as a superior method. However, there is much variation in how different "clones" of any Drosera species perform in cultivation. I have always been interested in variation, and have many different varieties of many species: some grow well, some are more problematical. I think, based on the amazing amount of plants generated by your plant via root cuttings that this it may be a superior type. I doubt your protocol could be all that much better, and there certainly has been a lot written on the sensitivity of this species to root disturbance! You probably should try a couple of other plants via this method to see how they do. I was wondering how you were going to be able to describe what makes this particular clone different from any other, which is required for publication as a cultivar. Still, the long and short of it IMO is this plant is endangered in habitat, and a lot of growers have problems with the accepted protocol for growing this species. This species *needs* to spread! You have proven that your protocol does work, enabling you to mass produce this plant. This is a valuable piece of information since with increased supply, the high prices currently being charged for this species will come down if enough growers adopt it. This means more growers will be able to afford to grow it, and it will become more widely spread as they realize the same success that you are having. This is a very good thing in and of itself.

I encourage you to publish an account of your methodology in the ICPN asap. The more folk that experiment along these lines the better!
 
  • #15
Very interesting and informative thread!

Tamlin, i'm not sure i follow. You say it grows in chopped LFS, but then later mention that the live sphagnum it grows in provides ideal conditions. Is it chopped (dead) LFS, the kind you can buy at the garden center, or is it live sphagnum?

What kind of humidity does your plant receive, and what kind of nighttime temps in the summer?

The plant i purchased in the summer died back, each new pair of leaves turning black from the tip down, like the leaf is starting to do in the far left of the photo from PingMan's cultivar description. Each pair of leaves was smaller, until there was nothing left. I think it was either low humidity or the lack of nighttime cooling (the temperature was usually around 80F-85F, i believe), but really don't have enough experience with them to tell.

I believe i've heard rumors of a US TC of 'Big Easy'. Is that just in my dreams, or is progress being made in that direction?

Tamlin, is your lighting situation resolved? I lost the thread somewhere...
 
  • #16
My plant is in live LFS which has been chopped fine. Whn the moss grows too thickly I push it down around the base of the plant.

The plant is under ambient humidity outdoors which averages 40-80% in summer. In winter the plant is inside in my grow room with a humdifier running, so I assume the humidity is about the same.

I believe 'Big Easy' is a name coined by Joseph, and this is not in TC AFAIK.

Thank you for your inquiry about my lighting. I have resolved the issue thanks to the generosity of the owner of Triffid Nurseries in the UK who made me a loan (thanks Andy). The company I bought the cases of non-operational tubes from exchanged them. Yesyerday I mounted 30 new tubes, and they are running (what a job that was)!!! Thanks to Valerie I have 2 units of 4 foot wire utility shelving. I highly recommend these shelves which I purchased at Lowes. The ballast for the HID lights has been returned to the company for re-repair and once it returns I will have about twice the space I had formerly and all with fresh new lights. I can't tell you what a relief this to me.
 
  • #17
</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (PinguiculaMan @ Oct. 14 2003,05:41)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">The only criteria for registering a cultivar are outlined here:
ICPS Cultivars --- no mention of any trials or experimental/analytical procedures necessary to define a cultivar.[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
mmmm....

a cultivar needs to be something special, better than the average plant. otherwise, anyone could raise a few hundred seedlings and register each one as a 'new cultivar'.

it stands to reason that they they should have, for example, unique colouration or growth form that makes it stand out. if you have not compared your drosera regia to any other, how can you say it is better and worthy of cultivar status??
 
  • #18
Here is a thought, perhaps Tamilin ( being a independent 3rd party already using the new method) could attempt to grow another "big easy" leaf cutting via the Standard accepted method. OR alternatively he try growing a D.regia from another source using the new method and compare the results to the "big easy".
 
  • #19
Well, so much for that idea.  I have been informed by a reliable source that Regia requires cool nights to survive...we had five or six of those down here last February.
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well actually  
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My only alternative would be to bring it in every night, turn my AC down to 55 and file chapter 11 with Florida Flicker and Flash.  
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  • #20
That's good to know.  I think i can conclusively diagnose the death of my plant as being caused by high night temperatures.

Time to try again!  No danger of hot night temps now.  Brrrr......!

Anyone who knows of a source for seeds or plants, please PM me. Thanks.
 
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