What I've been up to lately (hint: selling gemmae)

For the last couple weeks my pygmies have been producing lots and lots of gemmae. Last year I threw a lot of gemmae out, so this year I determined to do better. I've shared some with friends, and I've also sold a lot of gemmae, mostly via Facebook. Here's what I shipped out this morning!

Lots of stuff headed to the post office.

This is a non-trivial amount of work! Last year I learned that gemmae that have been harvested and packetized have an extremely short shelf life, so now I harvest per order. I put on a podcast and it's nice, but it takes time. I don't mind though, because I really like spreading different plants around. It's sort of an insurance policy – inevitably I'm going to lose some plants, and if more people are growing them it will be easier for me to get them back later.

Freshly-harvested pygmies look funny.

Drosera leucoblasta with gemmae (and recently-harvested).

I've still got a good amount of gemmae left, including Drosera leucoblasta, Drosera sargentii, Drosera paleacea, Drosera callistos, and Drosera helodes, among others. If you'd like to get some, email me at sundews.etc@gmail.com. I've been charging $5 per pack, with $3 for basic shipping, and various options for cold weather. Let me know!

Besides pygmies and gemmae (and pygmies and gemmae and pygmies and gemmae), I've been spending a fair amount of time thinking about utrics lately. My Utricularia longifolia is blooming again!

Blooming U. longifolia. No aphids this time!

I guess this is just the time of year for it. Last year it I first noticed the bloom in mid-February. My clump is a bit more mature now. I should have taken a picture of the bottom of the pot – it's a solid mass of stolons and traps. It's pretty funny. Maybe this year I'll pot this up into a much larger pot – I've been threatening to do that for a while. I gave a chunk to my friend Anne, who will be growing it outside. Interested to see how it does!

I haven't killed my Utricularia cornigera! That's exciting!

Brand new leaf! I'm very happy.

As I've mentioned before, this pot had gotten much too dry and had lost all it foliage. However, it still had a big fat stolon, which I buried in the pot once I moved it to a wetter tray. Looks like we've got life now! I should fertilize this a bit once it grows in.

At the recent BACPS meeting I picked up a new tuberous sundew, the delightfully-named Drosera zigzagia.

One of the best specific epithets in the genus.

I've gotten a new burst of confidence re: tuberous Drosera since my Drosera ramellosa came back from dormancy. Gotta get all the tubers I can now.

Something more to add to my confidence in growing the summer-dormant species is the fact that Drosera cistiflora is back as well.

Arise! Awaken!

There was a little dried out nob on the pot where the old stem had been, and when I flicked it away I exposed this bit of stem to the lights, so it's growing! Now I really really want to get it to flower for me. That would be a real feather in the cap! We'll see.

D. ramellosa is back (and other surprises)!

Aw yeah check this action out:

Drosera ramellosa (finally) emerging from dormancy.

I was sure I had lost all of my winter-growing sundews. I started hydrating them back in late October, and after almost 3 months of nothing I had pretty much given up hope. But here we are! Now I need to feed this guy aggressively to try and get some good tuber development. Nothing yet from Drosera rupicola or Drosera cistiflora, but I'm still holding out hope.

In terms of other surprises, my Pinguicula 'Aphrodite' is blooming for the first time.

That color is absolutely unreal.

It's also looking like, fantastic right now. This is one of my favorite pings, easy. I'm excited to see the flower!

The Pinguicula lusitanica that started blooming back in November ripened, spilled a bunch of seed (I managed to collect some), and has already germinated.

And so it begins.

Look at all the little babies! You can see the dead mother plant there to the right of the large plant. Barry Rice said that this species could be an "entertaining little weed" and I think I agree with him! I'm considering making an outdoor mixed bog at some point, and this would be a great species to just toss thither and yon.

Finally, my Pinguicula rotundiflora × hemiepiphytica. I didn't feature this plant in my recent year-to-year comparison post, (because I didn't have it last January) but I should have. Look at this!

P. rotundiflora × hemiepiphytica, March 2015.

P. rotundiflora × hemipiphytica, January 2016.

 That's like, 10 months of growth. Incredible little hybrid! This is why you shouldn't be afraid of getting pings as very small starts – they grow in just fine.

Exciting day over all I think.

Seedlings and more

Back in July or so (I'd have to check the tags to be sure, but that seems right) I started some seed of a few different species. Currently two have germinated – Drosera burmannii (no surprise there) and Drosera tomentosa (that one's a bit surprising). The seedlings are putting on some size.

It's been a while since I've had D. burmannii seedlings. I like them this size!

New South American species! I want some more SA 'dews.

The D. burmannii is a form from Gunung Keledang in Malaysia. We'll see if it varies at all from the Australian forms I currently grow. At this point I'm most interested in finding a persistently green form of D. burmannii. The D. tomentosa seed I received in a trade forever ago and finally sowed, and I'm pleased I've gotten plants out of it. I've fed both of these sets of seedings, so I'm hoping things start popping off soon. The other two pots I sowed (Drosera filiformis Florida Red and Drosera brevifolia) have, alas, not germinated.

A somewhat older seed-grown plant is this Drosera indica. This is one species that did not appreciate the period of neglect during the summer.

Keep strong, lonely little leaves.

A number of plantlets conked out after not having been fed. Just look at what the pot looked like initially. I think that D. indica is one species that absolutely must be fed. These two only made it because I got them a bit of fish food a week or so before this picture was taken. I've fed them again since, and am looking forward to healthy plants going forward.

I've started trying to wake up the tuberous sundews I picked up back in January and which went dormant in April.

I still need to remove the moss cap.

I have no clue with tuberous dews. They're really really cool, and I'd love to be able to grow them. There's definitely a finesse to it though, and we'll see if I've got the touch. I really hope they start to re-emerge soon!

One plant that is 100% not coming back out of dormancy is Drosera intermedia 'Cuba'.

It was a good run, D. 'Cuba'.

They went dormant last December, and just never came back. They stayed alive for a long time though – as recently as mid-April I was convinced they'd wake up any day. However, that black color is pretty definitive. Oh well, it makes a bit more room in my collection. Maybe I can harvest those last few flower stalks and start a new pot.

I've actually been quite good about feeding my plants lately, and my Drosera capensis red form has decided to reward me with a flower stalk!

This looks like it could be a really good flower stalk. I'm excited.

When I noticed this I gave it a really heavy feeding, because I'm hoping to get lots more seed from this. Josh has observed that the red form of D. capensis is the least fertile form he grows, and is the only one that will regularly yield no seed at all. I want seed though, so this sucker is getting fed.

Tuberous sundews: A Beginning

I took a trip to California Carnivores today! Or rather, I took a trip to Bodega Bay today, and went by California Carnivores on my way home. I had a gift card burning a hole in my pocket and I knew what I wanted.

Tuberous sundews.

New plants from California Carnivores – always a happy sight.

A grower over on Terra Forums recently posted an amazing growing guide to tuberous sundews, including picture after picture of his collection. It made me eager to get started, even though I'm squeezing for every last square inch under my grow lights at the moment.

Both of the tuberous sundews I got are in section Stolonifera, which are among the more erect species. All tuberous 'dews are cool, but the upright species always stood out to me compared to the scrambling or rosetted species. This is Drosera rupicola.

And so it begins.

I liked the color, and the leaf shape is pretty nice. It's looking a little bit messy since I trimmed down the sporangia in the pot.

I'm really excited to have picked up this Drosera ramellosa. It has a really wonderful, whimsical shape.

The green makes it harder to see, but this is a very cool looking plant.

I'm hoping it'll get a bit more compact under my lights so that it can stand upright without getting floppy.

I also grabbed this little pot of Pinguicula esseriana because look how cute.

These pings are so tiny they're getting lost in the Utricularia bisquamata.

Pings are really too cute.

It was a fun day!