Friday, July 25, 2014

How's it going Drosera filiformis?

Drosera filiformis Florida Red looking so-so.
These two D. filiformis are not nearly as strong as I'd like.
Hmm, not so hot.

I received these Drosera filiformis Florida Red (along with a couple of Drosera binata clones) in a trade back in March. They seemed to be doing alright for a while – I even managed to successfully start a leaf cutting straight away – but lately they haven't been growing all that well. Especially this one in the back.

Drosera filiformis Florida Red dying back for some reason.
It seems to have just given up.
It has stopped producing leaves (that curled one has been frozen in place for a couple weeks now) and all the old growth is dying back. Also note that the offset I noticed in May has died off. It almost looks like it's going dormant for winter, but we're a bit early for that.

The other plant is doing better, but the dew is not particularly strong and it just doesn't look as robust as I would like.

Drosera filiformis Florida Red looking okay.
This plant is at least still growing. It's actually looking better than it has in weeks.
I'm not entirely sure what accounts for the feebleness of these plants. My temperatures are well within their range. My humidity isn't particularly high, but it's not rock-bottom either, and in my experience brighter light can usually make up for lower humidity for sundews. Maybe the soil is too dense? Or perhaps they'd like a higher water level.

Unfortunately I haven't had a great deal of time to spend with my plants lately, so I don't know how soon I'd be able to fiddle around to get them in better shape. Right now I'm just waiting to see what happens. Perhaps they'll just limp along for a season, go dormant, and then wake up vigorous and ready to grow next year. Or perhaps they'll die.

In any case I still have a 3 plantlets from my leaf cuttings. They should see me through in case anything untoward happens to the mother plant.

Drosera filiformis Florida Red plantlets.
C'mon little plantlets, you've gotta carry the torch.

3 comments:

  1. I grow this variant. It's a bit odd in my conditions. One of my two plants went dormant for about a month. The other plant kept growing. As for mine, dormancy occurred at a completely random time. Perhaps yours are doing this as well. Other than that, I think your conditions are very similar to mine (except my filis are outside for the summer). Not sure what the issue could be, but my thought is to wait and see.

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  2. Try some in a significantly sandier mix. Our strategy for difficult plants is to try and emulate the natural habitat as closely as possible.

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  3. Thanks guys, those are both helpful comments. I think for now I'll let them go dormant (if that is indeed what is happening) and see if they revitalize later. I'll also try the plantlets in a sandier mix once they get bigger. Gotta keep learning!

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