Some of you were curious as how Pygmy Drosera appear when dormant during the summer. Thanks to the freakish hot weather we have been experiencing some of my D. pulchella have developed the "stipule bud" and shifted to dormancy. The stipules are the white - silvery fibers that grow at the leaf base around the growth point. When the plants go dormant normal leaf growth slows down and halts and the stipules grow to protect the growth point. The leaves will die back but if there is still a speck of green within the stipule bud the plant is still alive. You would need to spread the bud open with a probe but sometimes you can see the green part without disturbing the bud.
Here are some shots of D. pulchella with stipule buds in various stages. You should check that the white bits are not mealybugs.
The appearance of the bud will vary from species to species/hybrid but these should be fairly representative of what to expect.
If move the plants to a cooler location early on you can usually halt the development of the bud and avoid dormancy.
My plants growing on a west facing window sill are particularly susceptible to going dormant because of the brutally hot late afternoon sun during "heat waves". Moving them a few feet away from the window is usually enough to prevent dormancy although the plants may etiolate slightly from the reduced light. I tend to have a 40-50% mortality rate when these plants go fully dormant. A few growers swear that large pots improve the chances but I've found no significant difference in between growing them in 6 in or 3.5 in pots other than the amount of media used.
Here are some shots of D. pulchella with stipule buds in various stages. You should check that the white bits are not mealybugs.
The appearance of the bud will vary from species to species/hybrid but these should be fairly representative of what to expect.
If move the plants to a cooler location early on you can usually halt the development of the bud and avoid dormancy.
My plants growing on a west facing window sill are particularly susceptible to going dormant because of the brutally hot late afternoon sun during "heat waves". Moving them a few feet away from the window is usually enough to prevent dormancy although the plants may etiolate slightly from the reduced light. I tend to have a 40-50% mortality rate when these plants go fully dormant. A few growers swear that large pots improve the chances but I've found no significant difference in between growing them in 6 in or 3.5 in pots other than the amount of media used.
