Sunday, November 16, 2014

How are things over here?

There's a lot going on in this little tray right now.

Sundew tray.
Each tray is like its own neighborhood.
 First off, it appears I was wrong about that caterpillar on my Drosera burmannii being the only one.

Drosera adelae with caterpillar damage.
Chewed leaves and caterpillar poop. Great.
I found another in my Drosera adelae pot last night. Luckily there are lots of traps open on my Venus fly-trap right now. Also D. adelae is a very vigorous plant in my conditions and I'm sure it will recover just fine. Even if one or two of the plants succumb, there's a lot of root in that pot that will form new plantlets.

Next door, it looks like there are gemmae forming on Drosera allantostigma.

Drosera allantostigma forming gemmae.
Still looking good, although the colors are more orange and less pink than they used to be.
I need to get some media ready!

In the same pot I have a little cleistogamous flower stalk of Utricularia subulata.

Cleistogamous Utricularia subulata flower stalk.
Another charming weed.
I like it. It's got a nice sculptural quality, and the dew drops at the crooks are pretty neat. I've said it before, but I think the weedy Utricularia get short shrift.

This Drosera capillaris seems to also have a bit of humic acid buildup, like the Drosera aliciae over in my community pot.

Drosera capillaris.
It's still pretty, but I need to help it get healthier.
Apparently flushing the pots can help. Another chore to toss onto my list for a day that I have free to spend with my plants.

Meanwhile I can't tell if Drosera filiformis is dormant or dead or what.

Dormant (or dead) Drosera filiformis.
Right now this is more of a "liverwort and moss pot" than a "D. filiformis" pot.
I'm definitely not chucking them out any time soon, but I wouldn't be amazed if these guys aren't gonna wake back up. I think the media is too dense for their taste. We'll see though. Give it a couple months.

My Drosera brevifolia pot is a good example of why you shouldn't give up on plants too soon.

Drosera brevifolia.
I've always liked the organic look of this pot.
See that plant in the middle? This is what it looked like back at the beginning of October:

Drosera brevifolia, apparently (but not actually) dead.
Back from the dead!
Welcome back little guy!

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