I'm growing Drosera peltata for only some months but I have some years experience with Drosera auriculata which was once thought to be a subspezies of Dr. peltata and is very familar with this spezies.
Sow seed in autumn on the surface and don't cover them as with all drosera. Keep them on a cool (!) an bright place and the seed will germinate very easy without any special treatment.
(Drosera auriculata is a "weed" in my collection as it produces almost as many young plants as Dr. capensis or spatulata)
The plant will grow a basal rosette first, which looks a bit like a small Dr. rotundifolia (ok, there are differnces but the shape is similar). Keep the plants on a very bright place (as with most Drosera) because it is winter and sun is very rare. The plant will eventually start to build an errect stem until spring, mostly 1-3"big. (I had some Dr. auriculata seedlings, growing in my darlingtonia pot (it is a weed ;o) ) and the plants reached 10" from autum to spring and even made some flowers. But this is NOT usual)
From autumn to spring keep the plants wet (tray system), bright (photoperiod < 12 hours !!!! but as much sun as possible, I now use additional artificial light, but keep the photoperiod at 10 hours) and COOL. This plants are wintergrowers !!! Temperatures around 15°C are very good. 20°C will work, too. Cool nights are appreciated.
I don't know how much humidity they need, but I grow them on my windowsill.
Than in spring, when days get longer and hoter keep the plants only moist and let the soil slightly dry out. the plants will turn brown and form a underground tuber. After the first year the tuber will only have 1-2mm in diameter !
In March/April I will place my plants in the greenhouse where they get as much sun as possible and can catch some prey. (maybe the nutrients will help the plant to build bigger and additional tubers)
They are very effective catchers !
In May/June the plants die back.
I than store the pot in a my room at home until the next autumn when I slightly start to water the pot from the top. The new plants will start growing in October till December.
A new cycle starts.
I use a mixture of 2 parts course sand to one part peat. Use deep pots for big plants and if you want to look at the tubers or collect / repot them wait at least 1 month after the plant died back.
Drosera auriculata and Drosera pelatata can survive damp conditions during dormancy (most tuberous drosera spezies will rot if kept damp during dormancy) So I would recommend to keep the soil a BIT moist during the first year (this will help THIS species to survive)
I made an experiement and kept some Dr. auriculata seedlings on the tray system during the whole year and almost(?, didn't count them) all of them survived. The plant died back because of daylength and temperature even if kept very moist.
A month ago my two plants in the darlingtonia pot also started growing. I tried to remove the tubers during the summer but couldn't find them.
Now, two thick stems are growing through the sphagnum moss.
In Allen Lowire's 3rd book Drosera auriculata is decribed as reaching 25cm in nature.
My biggest plant reached 70cm last spring !!!! (this will take 5 years)
Look at the picture :
<img src="
http://www.drosophyllum.com/Bilder/dr_auriculata01.jpg">
<img src="
http://www.drosophyllum.com/Bilder/dr_auriculata02.jpg">
(Edited by Martin at 7:43 am on Dec. 1, 2001)