New plants

[Cindy]

I'm getting my new sundews soon and I would want to prepare their media. What would you guys/gals recommend? And how should the watering be like?

They are:

Drosera adelae

D. binata var. multifida f. extrema

Drosera binata var. dichotoma f. large

Drosera dilatato-petiolaris

Drosera petiolaris f. all red

Thanks!

 

[rattler]

i have a typical form of D. binata. it grows in pure peat(i recieved it before finding good quality sand, i would throw sand in if i was repotting it) it sits in a tray of water in a south window and has been doing good for about a year now.

 

[The Griffin]

D. adelae probably grows best for most of us in sphagnum.
The D. binata forms will grow in...anything. peat/sand or LF sphagnum will work. Your growing conditions will indicate which is better. If you have both handy , you might try one in each to get a comparison.
The D. petiolaris plants are most commonly grown in peat/sand. Sean Samia (aka Petiolaris Sean to any who know him) recommended using 70% perlite and 30% milled LF sphagnum to me years ago. I am actually trying this(I just potted the plants last night, so nothing to tell you).
Hope that helps.

Cheers,

Joe

 

[rattler]

oh i forgot to add, my D. binata seems to want as much light as i can give it. if its not right up next to the glass in my big south window its not happy, it tripled in size after being moved off and under the flourecent lights and into the sunlight. it really didnt care for flourecents for some reason.

 

[vft guy in SJ]

My D. binata forms love direct sun. Treat them exactly like a VFT or a Sarr. Full sun,tray method, standard 50/50 peat/sand mix and it should be fine. I have the both of the ones you mentioned and they flourish in those conditions.

The D. adelae seems te prefer the softer light of fluorescents and flourishes in my light tank. I keep mine a little on the wet side, usually in about 1 inch deep of water. It will grow just fine in standard 50/50 mix as well.

I dont grow the other 2 so I cant offer any info on those..  sorry.

Cheers
Steve

EDIT: A note as to the indestructability of D. binata.... I recently gave a bagfull of leftover cuttings of D. binata dichotoma that had been sitting bare root and unwatered of over 2 months. Aside from some minor fungus on the roots, the plants were all very much alive and in fact had new mature leaves unrolling in those conditions. I bet you could plant those things in a block of concrete on the moon and it would still grow. lol

 

[Cindy]

Thanks, everyone. The plants are here and they look good. I'll be taking some cuttings if I can.

As for d.binata being indestructable, I guess only time will tell. Here, we can't even grow the king of weeds, d.capensis!

Btw, I've forgotten to ask...how big do the plants grow? I don't want to start with too small a pot, only to have to repot them again soon.

 

[Clint]

i've never been able to keep D. adelae dewey in anything but lfs. it'll live for me in other media, but it wont be dewey.

 

[vft guy in SJ]

Quote[/b] (Cindy @ Mar. 12 2005,7:11)]Thanks, everyone. The plants are here and they look good. I'll be taking some cuttings if I can.

As for d.binata being indestructable, I guess only time will tell. Here, we can't even grow the king of weeds, d.capensis!  

Btw, I've forgotten to ask...how big do the plants grow?  I don't want to start with too small a pot, only to have to repot them again soon.

D. adelae will outgrow a 4 inch pot within 2 years. It produces many many plantlets from its roots. D. adelae  As you can see mine is pretty close to needing to be divided up again.

I have D. binata dichotoma growing in a 3 inch pot of pure LFS, and also in a 1 gallon pot in pure peat. Both plants seem quite happy and the one in the 3 inch pot does not appear to be crowded at all..

My D. binata 'Multifida Extrema' is 2 plants in a 4 inch pot. I've only had mine for a couple months and its just getting to springtime here so I honestly dont know how large it will get, but Savage Garden says that individual leaves can make over 80 points. I imagine it would take a pretty big leaf to do that.

Cheers,
Steve