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Propagating Drosera regia

Joseph Clemens

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<span style='font-size:12pt;line-height:100%'>Here is a couple of photos to illustrate my Drosera regia propagation process:

Stage one: starting plantlets from root segments.
d_regia_1st_stage_A1.jpg


Stage two: growing the plantlets into fully rooted and established individuals. After establishing their own root system they are then traded or potted into individual pots. You may notice that there is a film of water on the media surface. After the first stage most are kept in undrained containers with the water level maintained near or just above the media surface.
d_regia_2nd_stage_A1.jpg
</span>
 
Why does that work so well? Isn't that *ss backwards to use undrained containers for most non-Utric cp? I can't argue with the success, but make it make sense for me, man!
Oh, and it looks like you do not cover the root cuttings at all with sphagnum. Is that true?

Joe
 
<span style='font-size:12pt;line-height:100%'>I had been trying the conventional methods of "well drained" and kept losing them. I'm sure that in nature they may very well be "well drained" most of the time, but nature will surely give them some time where they are not "well drained". So I did too. . . and surprise, they seem to like that even better, or at least this clone does.

When initially starting root cuttings, stage one; I prepare one of these poly containers with a single layer of moist to wet LFS and place 1/2 inch (1.25cm) root pieces on the surface being careful to give them the most contact with the LFS that I can without covering them. I then firmly secure the cover, and have recently taken to setting them on top of the fluorescent fixtures adjacent to the warmth of the ballast. This seems to accelerate the start of plantlets.

propagation_growing_tray_A2.jpg


When I plant them out into stage two; I prepare a poly container with a 1/2 inch (1.5cm) layer of coarse pumice, then a single strand layer of LFS to cover the pumice and reduce media infiltration to the bottom pumice layer. Next I fill the remainder of the container to the top with a 1:1 mixture of peat : pumice and firm it down gently. Next I use a small stainless steel spatula to open a channel in one corner down to the bottom pumice layer, I then fill this with pumice (used later to add water without disturbing the media or plants). After this I add water until the contents are like mud. This makes it easiest to add the plants from stage one. A small dab of rooting hormone powder applied with a toothpick to the junction of plantlet/mother root segment just prior to inserting in the stage two tray accelerates the plantlet forming its own root system and increases the rate of success. These techniques have made it possible for me to turn one plant into several hundred and to share them with many people.</span>
 
This is a rather old post but looks like it has the best results. I was wondering if this the go to method for propagating regia?
 
Should I ever be graced with this species again....
 
It certainly worked just as described. And twice, I even managed to have Drosera regia 'Big Easy' leaves, floating in water to form plantlets, but it certainly was faster and more reliable to pop a large plant out of its pot, snip off a few, two or three inch pieces of root, or more, then lay them out in trays (like those in the photo's above), once the roots grew plantlets, I would snip them apart and plant out in trays. Then, after they had their own root system I planted them into 2-1/4" pots (18 would fit in a shoebox size plastic tray, but it was easier with only 15 pots - more room to water). In the tray below, most are in 100% peat moss, but a few are planted in 50/50 peat/silica sand -->

D_regia_BE_2inch.jpg


I sure miss those days. I'm hoping to reacquire this clone, but in the meanwhile I just got myself a packet of Drosera regia seed from the ICPS seed bank and I'm gonna give it my best shot to grow some of those to maturity.

Here is a photo of one of my "mother" plants. I kept her in a quart size, black plastic pot, the kind used for aquatic plants in ponds (without drainage holes). Most of the pot was filled with actual chopped and shredded Coast Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) bark. I cannot attest to the efficacy of any other bark or bark products. The pot was topped with a thin layer of LFS, which would often sprout and grow. The "mother" plants were grown like this, and every few weeks I would dump them into the palm of my hand to check for suitable root growth to be used for more root cuttings.
D_regia_BE_2002.jpg
D_regia_BE_mother.jpg

Their undrained pots were maintained with a water level at or near the surface of the media. They and the younger plants were maintained, along with all of my other CP, in my plant room where the temperature was almost always in the 90'sF. It was much later that I reconfigured my plant room for lower temps and higher humidity.
 
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Thanks! My D. regia is nowhere near that size but it is getting bigger and is growing pretty prolifically right now. I am hoping I will be able to make some root cuttings in the next 6 months.

Here it is on 1/1/2011...
regial.jpg


And today ...
regia2.jpg
 
Your plant is certainly looking good. Drosera regia is such a nice giant and amazing plant.
 
I never really could get these to grow well for me.
 
  • #10
Just to give a little flavor here, I've planted my D. regia seedling in a well drained media. It was once only 0.5" tall, now it is 6" tall and doing very well.

So success is also possible in a media with more minerals.

I suppose that wet when small is beneficial, however.
 
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  • #11
Just a side note, D. regia seem to do well with a fluctuating water level in my experience. It can be soaked for a few days, then dry at other times...I guess it has to do with what you prefer. Do you want wet D. regia or moist D. regia. From Joseph's post and my plant it seems that they grow equally well in both :)
 
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  • #12
Mine never really did much... it stayed roughly the same size as when I got it.
 
  • #13
bump
 
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