Some progress shots

It's been a while since I made a post of progress shots. I have a lot more plants now, so there are more plants for me to choose to document. Most of these are propagation efforts. This is one of my favorite aspects of keeping a blog – it forces me to photograph my plants regularly, so I can really see how they grow and develop.

First up, the fantastic hybrid, Drosera ultramafica x spatulata. I won this plant in the NASC auction back in March and started some cuttings fairly soon thereafter.

D. ultramafica x spatulata leaf cutting strikes, 6-30-2014.

D. ultramafica x spatulata plantlets, 8-26-2014.

Drosera ultramafica x spatulata plants, 1-26-2015.

This is a really great plant. It grows quickly and shows phenomenal color, even with heavy feeding. I had originally thought that it was a sterile hybrid, but it is setting seed all over the place (in all sorts of pots). I would recommend this plant for any beginner.

Next up, Utricularia longifolia. This was an acquisition from my first trip to California Carnivores back in June.

U. longifolia, 7-22-2014.

U. longifolia, 9-14-2014.

U. longifolia, 1-26-2015. Look at those "leaves!"

I love Utricularia. Utrics are super weird and specialized. U. longifolia is a very aggressive species, so it lives by itself right now. I should pot it up into a larger container so it can continue to expand. I also want to just install a huge pot of this outside where I can just ignore it and let it go crazy. I'm super pumped for these flowers too. They're great.

The thing that really prompted this post was my Dionaea muscipula 'B-52' leaf pulling.

Dionaea 'B-52' leaf pulling strikes, 12-11-2014.

Dionaea 'B-52' strikes, 12-27-2014.

Dionaea 'B-52' plantlets, 1-26-2015.

These were just some leaves that fell off in transit when I bought this plant from Brie in August or so. The one on the right shriveled immediately, but the one on the left has been going crazy. Look at those cute little plantlets!

The Dionaea 'B-52' pullings were started as an afterthought, while this Drosera capensis Bainskloof cutting was something I fretted over.

D. capensis Bainskloof strike, 9-21-2014.

D. capensis Bainskloof plantlet, 11-14-2014.

D. capensis Bainskloof, 1-27-2015.

This plant is almost getting its mature shape. I'm feeding it a lot, because man I want this plant looking great in my collection. There's been big progress lately.

Some months back I scattered some Drosera aliciae seed on a pot that briefly contained a sundew which rapidly declined in my conditions (I think it was used to much higher humidity). This was the laziest propagation effort I've ever undertaken.

D. aliciae seedlings, 9-17-2014.

D. aliciae seedlings, 12-11-2014.

D. aliciae, 1-26-2015.

This is a great case of neglect working out. I'll probably repot them in advance of the next BACPS function so I can donate or trade them. They're looking pretty good.

Finally, my Pinguicula moranensis GG. I got this plant from California Carnivores along with my U. longifolia.

P. moranensis, 7-22-2014.

P. moranensis, 10-10-2014.

P. moranensis, 11-21-2014.

P. moranensis, 1-26-2015. That's powdered beta fish food on the leaves.

This is one of those plants that goes in and out of being my favorite. I've liked watching the leaves fill in the rosette and get more of a pointed, scalloped shape. And that color! That pink color is way too cute. Once this round of leaves has been replaced I think I'm gonna try a couple of leaf pullings.

I love seeing progress shots.

Some propagation progress

It's been a little quiet around the blog lately, since my real-life workplace has been understaffed and there's been a lot of demands on my time. Luckily plants mostly keep growing even if you can't poke and prod them all the time. In fact, sometimes being too busy for your plants is just what they need.

In any case, I'm hoping things settle down soon and I can spend some more time with my plants (and my blog). One thing I'm always wanting to do more is propagation. I really need to mix up a big batch of media (especially since it's pygmy season), but in the meantime I do have a few ongoing propagation efforts that are proceeding well.

These seedlings are Drosera burmannii "Giant Red" (Hann River, Kimberley, WA, Australia).

D. burmannii already looking nice and red.

That algae-looking stuff in the corner of the pot is a bit odd. I've seen it on one pot before, and I suspect it's because I'm using a humidity tent so there's no airflow. These are well on their way to being hardened off though, so I hope it'll go away once the tent is off.

I suspect these will end up looking quite a bit like my D. burmannii (Humpty Doo, NT, Australia), since the locations are within a few hundred miles of each other. Still, I love D. burmannii. I'd like to get my hands on some of the green forms as well.

The Drosera sessilifolia I started at the same time is looking about the same.

I've been looking for this plant for a long time. Yay!

I'm looking forward to feeding these and watching them grow up alongside the D. burmannii. They're very closely related, even though D. sessilifolia is endemic to South America, several thousand miles from any D. burmannii populations. I think that's rad.

My prized Drosera capensis (Bainskloof) leaf cutting has taken well to its first feeding.

Really really excited about how well this cutting has developed.

It doesn't look particularly distinctive now, but I'm hoping with some more feeding (I'm almost done hardening it off) it will do some serious growing.

The water-float cutting I started at the same time (early September) has developed a couple leaves.

Now I just need a couple free days to mix up media and do some potting.

It's a bit hard to see, but it's definitely time to pot this guy up. I would love to have two healthy specimens of this plant, it's very attractive.

Finally, my Drosera madagascariensis is pretty much done flowering, and now I'm waiting for the seeds to ripen. The weight of the flower stalk has cause a lot of lean, and now the stem has a distinct wiggle.

It's got that lean.

I feel like in the future I'll be very judicious about which D. madagascariensis I allow to flower. It has been pretty stressful on the tall plant, while the shorter ones have mostly taken it in stride. Can't wait to harvest seed though!

Propagation check-in

I've got a number of propagation projects going right now. Really, I could be doing a lot more propagation – I have extra space, and all the materials. I just haven't taken the time to prepare pots of media. Oh well! Let's see what's going on right now. I already discussed my Drosera natalensis and Drosera aliciae seedlings in this recent post.

First up, I've begun hardening off the leaf cutting half of the Summer Batch.

Boring photo, but exciting development!

I cut 3 holes into the humidity tent. Gonna leave it like that for at least a week, and then start cutting more. I really want to ease these plants into my ambient humidity. I was able to take a peek at the Drosera adelae at least.

The Drosera anglica just behind is really big.

They're pretty red! Also fairly small – I'll be able to start feeding these plants once they're hardened a bit more, and we should see some pretty good growth.

I'm also starting to think that the seed batch should start getting hardened off. Drosera tokaiensis and Drosera capillaris have germinated, and Drosera burmannii and Drosera intermedia 'Cuba' have not. This is especially surprising, because I've already gotten germination from the Drosera sessilifolia seed I sowed one month ago.

The germinated seed is a little bit up and left of center. Good luck.

I know it's difficult to see, but some of the flecks in that pot are germinated seeds.

The Drosera capensis (Bainskloof) leaf cuttings I started at the same time are also doing well.

Come on little guy, get growing!

I believe I also saw a strike on the water-float cutting, but it was too hard to get a picture.

Serious development is underway with Drosera ultramafica x spatulata and Drosera 'Marston Dragon' plantlets.

Some recently-fed plantlets.

The D. 'Marston Dragon' plantlets have started putting up the tall leaves, rather than the sort of generic rosette they had at first. The D. ultramafica x spatulata are of a size to start getting fed in a serious way.

The D. 'Marston Dragon' flower stalk cuttings started out with upright leaves, and they're still chugging along.

Little baby dragons.

I've got quite a batch of these going – hopefully they put on some good size before going dormant, and I can separate them out in early spring.

Finally, I've got this weird little Drosera capensis windowbox thing I've been working on for the last several months.

Now that I have these plants I'm not sure what to do with them!

There are some large plants in there, and one has already started flowering. Now I just need to figure out what to actually do with this big box of bug eaters.

The Summer Batch

Sown/Started:

• 7-9-14 Drosera intermedia 'Cuba'
• 7-9-14 Drosera burmannii Humpty Doo
• 7-9-14 Drosera tokaiensis
• 7-9-14 Drosera capillaris Alabama
• 7-9-14 Drosera adelae
• 7-9-14 Drosera anglica CA x HI
• 7-9-14 Drosera madagascariensis Masoala, Madagascar
• 7-9-14 Drosera venusta

Germinated/Struck:

• 8-4-14 Drosera anglica CA x HI, struck. Date approximate.
• 8-11-14 Drosera tokaiensis, germinated.
• 8-11-14 Drosera capillaris Alabama, germinated.
• 8-11-14 Drosera madagascariensis Masoala, Madagascar, struck
• 8-11-14 Drosera adelae, struck
• 8-14-14 Drosera venusta, struck

Hardening off begun:

• 9-21-14 Drosera anglica CA x HI
• 9-21-14 Drosera madagascariensis Masoala, Madagascar
• 9-21-14 Drosera adelae
• 9-24-14 Drosera venusta