Sundews Etc. one year in

One year ago today I made my first post here on the blog, about my blooming Drosera capillaris.

D. capillaris, 3-7-2014, from Flowers and D. capillaris "Alabama".

Things were so much simpler back then.

Here are some Fun Facts about the Sundews Etc. blog:

• Around 17% of my traffic comes from Ukraine. Thanks for tuning in, Ukrainian growers!
• Both of my Grower Interviews are among my top 10 most popular posts. I guess I should do some more.
• Based on the labels (to the right) I talk about Drosera burmannii more than any other species (big surprise), but pygmy sundews as a group are a close second.
• There are just shy of 1100 photos of carnivorous plants on this blog for 153 posts, around 7 per post on average.

Now, let's look back at some old posts and see how far we've come.

March

Dionaea muscipula, 3-12-2014, from Things are growing!

April 

Drosera scorpioides, 4-3-2014, from Pygmies and D. adelae.

May

Drosera 'Marston Dragon', 5-26-2014, from The Housefly and the Dragon.

June

Drosera allantostigma, 6-20-2014, from I really love Drosera allantostigma.

July

Drosera capensis 'Albino', 7-4-2014, from Repotting a few sundews.

August

Drosera helodes and Drosera allantostigma, 8-26-2014, from Checking in on various plants.

September

Drosera adelae. 9-11-2014, from Drosera adelae is offset crazy.

October

Praying mantis and Sarracenia leucophylla, 10-25-2014, from A thief among the Sarracenia.

November

Pinguicula laueana × emarginata. 11-21-2014, from Pinguicula roundup, November 2014.

December

Utricularia calycifida flower, 12-6-2014, from A few new blooms.

January

Drosera ultramafica × spatulata, 1-27-2015, from Some progress shots.

February

Drosera venusta, 2-9-2015, from Random pictures of pretty sundews.

Finally, here are a few more posts I noticed looking through the archives that might be of interest to newer reader.

• BACPS Annual Show and Sale Part One: The Juried Show
• Field Trip: California Carnivores
• 100th Post! I photographed the whole collection!
• Field Trip: Nepenthes at the Conservatory of Flowers

And of course, there are Plant Profiles, Cultivation Guides, and Grower Interviews on my Blog Series page.

Thank you all for reading – sharing pictures and talking about my plants with fellow growers makes everything a lot more fun. Here's to another good year!

Building an apirator to harvest gemmae (gemmae for sale!)

I needed to harvest the gemmae from my pygmies (especially Drosera allantostigma and Drosera callistos), so I decided to build an aspirator.

Total cost of this project: $6.

It was pretty easy! I started with an old Tupperware, then drilled 2 holes in the lid with a Dremel. After that I threaded in a couple of lengths of plastic tubing.

It's not elegant, but it's functional.

I then sealed the tubes into the top and bottom of the lid with silicone caulk. If you inhale through the short tube it creates a vacuum that sucks the gemmae through the long tube and deposits them in the Tupperware. Don't test it until you're sure that the silicone is dry and you've vented the vapors from the Tupperware. I made that mistake and had a headache for a couple hours.

It worked really well!

This is over 150 gemmae. That's a lot of potential plants!

However, I did end up accidentally ingesting a handful of these D. allantostigma gemmae. Most aspirators will have some sort of screen on the inhale tube. However, I solved the problem when harvesting my D. callistos gemmae by lining the Tupperware with a wet paper towel. The gemmae ended up sticking to it nicely and not bouncing up into my straw.

The D. callistos look so different now.

They look like a puppy with a fresh haircut.

After harvesting the gemmae I packetized them and they are now ready for sale in my shop. If you missed out on gemmae earlier in the season now you can get in on that sweet pygmy action. $5 per packet, plus $2 shipping on your order. Get 'em while you can!

So many gemmae!

Gemmae production is rough on pygmies

Gemmae season is in full swing for my pygmies, but man, some of them are taking it hard. Especially Drosera allantostigma.

These plants look wiped out.

 These guys are absolutely wrecked right now. I remember back when I interviewed bluemax he mentioned that he didn't like his Drosera scorpioides producing gemmae because it set them back several months. I can totally understand that position now.

Just look at my prized D. allantostigma in the community pot!

Wow. What a change from the glory days.

It looks like death warmed over. This is my first season putting my pygmies through gemmae-making, so hopefully it's not as grim as it seems. I want to feed these guys,but there's no dew on the leaves. I guess I'll wait a few weeks and see what happens after I harvest all those gemmae. That's gonna happen soon, btw. Watch this space.

I did end up harvesting a bit of D. allantostigma for a new proper pygmy pot, btw.

There is nothing wrong with more pygmies.

I'm going to eventually transition all of my pygmies into nice neat sand-topped pots. I'll just need to get another set of lights to accommodate that, hahah. I also have a new order coming from Drosera Gemmae. Four new species – Drosera spilos, Drosera nitidula, Drosera leucostigma, and Drosera oreopodion. Now I'm just waiting for Drosera gibsonii, Drosera mannii, and Drosera x Lake Badgerup to become available and I'll be done for the year (maybe).

I've been talking about pygmies a lot lately, but I guess it is the season. To cap it all off, here's a progress shot of the Pygmy Garden.

Go ahead and click the picture  – there's a lot happening in there!

It's coming along!

Gemmae explosion

Happy Christmas Eve everyone! It's wintertime and my pygmies going nuts on their gemmae. Pretty much every mature species in my collection is producing gemmae, and some are really going overboard with it. It's like they've caught the Christmas spirit.

My original Drosera allantostigma is crammed full.

This is definitely too many gemmae to count.

The pot I got from Brie is looking a bit messy since I've been using it to demonstrate what gemmae are to people.

Getting gemmae everywhere.

The Drosera scorpioides I started from gemmae myself are just getting started.

These D. scorpioides are so lovely and dewy.

While the ones I got at the spring BACPS meeting are going bananas.

Packed in like grapeshot.

I believe I see gemmae even on my long-suffering Drosera pygmaea. I need to bring it forward in the tray so I can look at it more easily.

Maybe after this my D. pygmaea will finally settle in.

The Drosera helodes look almost ready to harvest.

These D. helodes look like they're about to explode.

There are a couple forming on the stem-forming Drosera dichrosepala.

That one in the back is just getting started.

While the closely-related Drosera enodes appears to just barely be getting started. Beautiful plants though!

The colors on these plants have been fantastic lately.

And finally, the most festive of them all, Drosera callistos.

Little Christmas wreaths!

Happy growing everyone. I hope your pygmies are doing just as well. And if you don't have any pygmies yet, keep an eye out on the blog – I'm going to have lots of gemmae to get rid of soon.

How are things over here?

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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:

Back from the dead!

Welcome back little guy!

Alright let's get the gemmae going

I recently reduced the photoperiod on my plants to conform with the natural photoperiod right now. I'm hoping my pygmies start developing gemmae soon. I think Drosera allantostigma is getting started.

I definitely need more D. allantostigma in my life.

I know some people are already harvesting gemmae, so I'm a bit late to the game. This is my first winter with my collection though, so I'm learning how best to encourage gemmae growth.

Of course, I have other plants, which are also getting a reduced photoperiod. I'll see how that affects them. Drosera burmannii is looking a bit weird. It might be the photoperiod (since in habitat they're usually an annual), and it may be that they got a little bit dry recently.

So red! That's what happens when they don't get fed for a while.

It's a bit hard to see, but several of the plants have lost their dew and the leaves are looking a little shriveled. I just fed this pot (and several more), so maybe they'll bounce back.

Another plant that has given up on the dew is my main Drosera adelae.

Things are going a little bit crazy in here.

Now, this isn't really a problem, considering how many D. adelae I have sprouting out of every corner of this pot (and also from roots that have grown out the bottom). Still, it's really funny that just that one plant is looking fried.

Happy Halloween everyone! Feed some bugs to your plants today.

A few post-feeding shots

A note: I am still working on changing up my photo hosting, but I didn't want to put off updating the blog too much. I'll just migrate the new images over.

I fed most of my collection a few day ago.

Drosera alicae eating heartily.

I've described how I feed my sundews in detail in an earlier post, but in brief I use beta fish food, grind it up in a little mortar and pestle, and apply it in a couple of different ways:

• For rosetted species (like Drosera aliciae and Drosera burmannii) I usually just pinch some up with my fingers and sprinkle it onto the plants.
• For plantlets, seedlings, and certain species (like Drosera spiralis and Drosera filiformis) I dip a toothpick in some water, wipe off the excess moisture, and then use the damp toothpick to pick up and apply the ground fish food.
• For larger species that have longer petioles (like Drosera anglica or Drosera capensis) I will mix the ground fish food with a tiny amount of water, just enough to form a dense paste. I then apply chunks to the laminae with a toothpick. Sometimes the damp toothpick method above will end up with a bit of this sort of paste on the tip, which I can then use.

Little Drosera prolifera plantlet emerging from the moss.

I try to feed my plants every 2 weeks at least, but lately it's been more like once a month. That's still not too shabby, but regular feeding really speeds up growth and keeps the sundews healthy.

Exceptionally hungry Drosera filiformis.

I love seeing the plants respond to feeding. Some are very dramatic, like the D. filiformis above. I didn't even know that the whole leaf could roll up like that! It's certainly not very common. Of course, sometimes the feeding process just makes the plants look straggly, like on this Drosera spiralis leaf.

Silly, string looking leaf on D. spiralis.

However, it's always nice knowing they will be stronger and healthier once new growth comes in. Plus, feeding helps out in flowering, and I want to see a show from this guy!

Feed your sundews! They love it.

Lots of Drosera allantostigma munching away.

Pygmy sundew roundup, September 2014

September is essentially the start of pygmy season. Soon pygmy sundews in collections everywhere will start producing gemmae, which will need to be quickly sown, sold, traded, or gifted, since gemmae are modified leaves rather than seeds and only have a brief shelf life. Keep an eye on Drosera Gemmae if you're interested in starting up/expanding your pygmy collection. I know I will!

I learned in my interview with bluemax (and according to things I've read elsewhere) that reducing the photoperiod on my lights should cause my pygmies to form gemmae. I reduced the photoperiod by an hour a couple weeks ago, and I'll be continuing that reduction until they're down to 10 hours or so per day in the deep winter. Hopefully I'll get lots of pygmies that I can start on new pots to share with people. In the mean time, I decided to post another roundup post about my pygmies to see how they're doing before they possibly start making gemmae and get all weird for a couple months.

First up is my first ever Drosera allantostigma, from the community pot.

My old friend D. allantostigma hanging out with his buddies.

My first ever pygmy sundew, acquired quite by accident, and far and away my favorite pygmy species. Also probably my favorite plant in the collection.

Around the time I was watching D. allantostigma shape up I got some Drosera scorpioides gemmae from Drosera Gemmae. It was one of the last sets of gemmae they had for sale, and I'm glad I got them!

D. scorpioides started from gemmae in March. I like the spacing in this pot.

This pot is a little bare since I lost those 3 plantlets.

Of the 15 gemmae I received, 12 made it to maturity. The other three died when I removed a humidity cover too soon. I sowed these gemmae on about a centimeter of pure sand, which has totally prevented moss from developing. I'm not sure I would always sow on sand – I've come to appreciate the way a well-mossed pot can look – but it's nice to see that this technique is so successful.

I also got a pot of D. scorpioides at the spring BACPS meeting from the raffle.

D. scorpioides get quite large, so this is pretty close quarters for them.

These are in a 2-inch circular pot, rather than the 3.5 inch square pot that houses my others. Also they were sown much more densely. At this stage in their growth they have formed a sort of undifferentiated mass which isn't quite to my tastes aesthetically. Great coloration though – hope these form lots of gemmae.

At the 2014 BACPS Show and Sale I picked up 2 species of pygmies from California Carnivores – Drosera callistos Brookton large form, and Drosera enodes (Scotts River).

D. callistos with Utricularia bisquamata flower in the foreground.

Quite dewy D. enodes.

Apparently the D. callistos will have enormous, hilarious orange flowers in the spring. Also, I love the little stem-forming pygmies, and D. enodes seems to be going at it pretty well.

Finally, back during the NASC Benefit Auction over at Terra Forums I won a 4-pack of pygmy sundews from Brie. They were beautifully packed, and included Drosera helodes, Drosera dichrosepala, D. allantostigma, and Drosera pgymaea.

The tentacles on this D. helodes are strikingly pale.

D. dichrosepala reaching for the stars.

Little jewel-like D. allantostigma. Their flowers were super cute too.

Hope you bounce back little guys!

As you can see the D. pygmaea look a little iffy. It's funny, cause I've heard them recommended as one of the easiest pygmy species! Hopefully cooler temperatures and shorter photoperiods will have them springing back to life again.

Pygmies are so cute. I addition to sowing them in pots for propagation purposes, I'm going to make at least one large pot with a bunch of different species growing in it. That will be super fun.