You can see the stipular cone already forming in the plants center. These plants don't beat about the bush, they get to it and through it whether it is gemmae production, flowering or dormancy. Now that my plants produced their gemmae and had a brief rest, they are up and going. I anticipate flowering in a few weeks at most. The stipules you see in the plants center will protect the plants meristem over the dry summer. I kept this plant from barely moist to moist, never in water for more than a day at a time over the summer. It has a definite summer dormancy when care should be taken not to wet the top of the plants, or to expose them to summer rains. My goal is to maintain a clean rosette over the summer, not have a lot of dead material (withered lamina and petioles, spent scapes) present in the fall to compromise the meristem with fungus infection. The early fall just before the plants return from dormancy is an especially sensitive period when D. echinoblastus is prone to fungus attack and rot. Last year I tried to keep the plants from dormancy by keeping them wet. Be advised that when they go dormant, no amount of water will restore them: but it can rot them! I am not entirely satisfied with my culture of this (and other summer sensitive) species, and think deeper pots than I can spatially afford are the key to healthier plants. So the challenge is finding a compromise that will work in a 4-6 inch pot. Laterite is a very promising additive to any mix, and although it is pricey the oxygenation it provides while still retaining trace moisture over time is a very positive thing. In closing, you should be aware that this species hates transplant during or after flowering, and any of this activity should be done before the plant flowers. The roots are very long and fine, and easily damaged once they reach deep into the substrate, and they can do this within months of sprouting from gemmae . Pygmy rosettes that are crowded against each other will not produce large and perfect rosettes, so consider which effect you prefer. If you do elect to transplant some plants approach the roots always vertically capturing the root entirely: you must not tug, or the hair will snap, and the rosette will die. The pygmys, much like the Petiolaris Complex Drosera, attain a three dimensional aspect when given optimum conditions...closer to marbles than to wheels
They are also very pretty seen en masse, especially when they flower!
This information is suitable to many of the pygmy droserae. As always, the above observations are valid for me, here. Others, there, may have different results...., you understand? Cultural advice is always local. Please let me know how you are doing with your plants: what works for you and what doesn't.
Well, time for me to echinoblastoff. See ya.
