Community pot growing up

Back in January I went to my first BACPS meeting, held at the SF Conservatory of Flowers. It was really fun and interesting, and while there I acquired this pot of plants.

The mix pot, 1-28-14. My collection grew by 3 species that day!

Nothing was labeled, but a couple weeks later I dutifully unpotted it, separated the big sundew, and stuck all the others in a pot together, since they were all on the small side. In the full course of time the large plant was identified as Drosera aliciae, and the others as Drosera tokaiensis and Drosera allantostigma (there were also a couple of D. aliciae seedlings in the group pot). I've ended up thinking of it as the "community pot," since most of my other pots contain a single species (besides the various carnivorous and non-carnivorous weeds that end up moving in).

Here's how it looked a week or two after repotting.

Community pot, 2-15-14. Starting to fill in.

The large plant in the center is D. tokaiensis, D. allantostigma is in the foreground, and a D. aliciae seedling is in the back (another D. aliciae seedling is out of frame in front). Luckily, this particular pot has been fairly well documented in the last half year, so we can watch them all grow up. It's pretty neat!

Community pot, 3-1-14.

Community pot, 3-15-14.

Community pot, 4-7-14.

Community pot, 5-21-14.

Community pot, 8-4-14.

Community pot, 8-20-14.

I've mentioned before that D. allantostigma is one of my favorite sundews. Along with that, I've gotta say that this is one of my favorite pots. I like the way the 3 species are growing together as a sort of community (even though they're from 3 different continents), and even the moss is filling in in a pleasing way. I should start a couple more group pots like this. Maybe even a mini-bog like they have at California Carnivores!

In the mean time, I can continue to admire this little group. They're so friendly!

The community pot, 9-4-14.

Grower Interview: Aidan Selwyn

This is part of a series of conversations with other growers about their experiences growing carnivorous plants. It's always useful to see how someone else does things! The full series can be read here, or by grower at the Series page.

Aidan Selwyn is a carnivorous plant grower living in southern England, where he owns and operates insektenfang plants, a CP nursery specializing in some truly stunning Sarracenia. I highly recommend you like his Facebook page, which will provide you with a steady stream of unbelievable carnivorous plant photos to enjoy. He kindly agreed to meet up on Skype last week and have a chat for the blog.


Sundews Etcetera       So thanks for agreeing to sit down for an interview.

Aidan Selwyn       That's fine.

SE       You operate insektenfang plants, which is a carnivorous plant nursery in the UK.
SE       How long have you been growing carnivores, and when did you take it to the next level and start running a nursery?

AS       There's not a straightforward answer. I have always grown things, even as a child and I think like most who develop an interest in the carnivorous plants, I obtained and killed several Dionaea as a youngster,
AS       Then I obtained Adrian Slack's first book and learned how to keep them alive. From that point on I always kept some carnivores and the number gradually increased.
AS       Then you have a collection and the collection grows. With the advent of the Internet it grows faster... and at some point it gets out of hand and you have to decide what to do with it all! In my case I turned an interest into a business and that started around ten years ago.

SE       I feel like I've talked to a couple of nursery owners who sort of fell into the business side of things once their personal collections started to become larger and then even larger.
SE       You grow primarily Sarracenia, correct? The pictures I've seen of your plants are wonderful.

AS       Yes and thank you.

SE       What attracts you to that genus in particular?

AS       All the genera have a certain fascination and I grow at least some of most. The Sarracenia grow well in my climate, are remarkably easy to care for and very rewarding. Beautiful flowers and long lasting pitchers in an astonishing variety of forms and colours. What's not to like?

Sarracenia flava var. ornata, Apalachicola National Forest, Florida. Grown by Aidan Selwyn.

SE       Sarracenia are very striking too.
SE       They really pop and grab people's attention.
SE       Are there any particular challenges in growing carnivores in southern England?
SE       Here in California water is a big one, since collecting rainwater just isn't possible most of the time.

AS       The climate is ideal for growing the temperate carnivores under glass - or in my case a polytunnel. More usually called a hoop house in the States.
AS       It's a bit of a cliché that lack of rain is not usually a problem in England! Spring and summer may be very dry some years, so having sufficient storage for winter rain is important. I have 11,000 litres available and still have to resort to reverse osmosis water purification on occasion.

SE       Wow that is a lot of water storage.

AS       ...and the plants burn through it in hot weather!

SE       How large is your collection of stock?
SE       I assume we must be talking about at least hundreds of plants.

AS       Actual numbers of plants? I can't give you a precise figure but it must be several thousand. There are at least three examples (mother plants) of every plant I grow, which is the core collection. Plus all the sales plants.

SE       To maintain a collection/stock of that size you must spend a good deal of time with your plants every day.
SE       Does anyone else work with you, or do you maintain things by yourself?

Sarracenia x 'Uncle Jim's Road' flower, grown by Aidan Selwyn.

AS       I'm a one man band... The amount of work required to maintain the collection is variable throughout the year. Relatively speaking, summer is the easy time. Autumn and winter are the busiest period spent cleaning up the collection, dividing and repotting plants etc.

SE       How often do you repot/divide your Sarracenia? The general advice I've heard is "wait until the rhizome is almost splitting the pot"

AS       Rather than letting it reach quite that point, repot when the growth points reach the edge of the pot. Rhizomes will exert tremendous pressure and break pots quite easily, but by that time they will be congested and can prove difficult to disentangle and divide.

SE       What's the CP community like in your area?
SE       Are there fairly active groups that meet up on a regular basis?

AS       There is one national group - The Carnivorous Plant Society. There are open days held most weekends throughout the summer, where a grower opens his/her collection to other members.

Open day 2012 at insektenfang plants.

SE       See, that's something I've been thinking about trying to get started here in the Bay Area.
SE       It must be nice to see how other people grow their plants, and get the opportunity to talk with them about their experiences.

AS       It can be interesting, certainly. Especially for new growers. I would think you should be able to organise something with the BACPS.

SE       I hope to in the next couple months.
SE       What do your friends and family think of your collection, and the fact that you run a carnivorous plant nursery?

AS       My parents have always known me to be growing odd plants so I doubt it is any great surprise to them. Others I believe are surprised by the variety and sheer size of plants. As I'm sure you have experienced, mentioning carnivorous plants to the average person usually results in little response other than perhaps a vague awareness of Dionaea.

SE       Hahahah totally.
SE       And surprise when I tell them it's from the Carolinas.

AS       Absolutely and most of your fellow citizens are unaware of the existence of Sarracenia!

SE       What the most fun part of growing CPs for you?

AS       That is a hard question to answer...
AS       Oddly enough, receiving a compliment from other another grower may be very gratifying. To have someone say of my plants "Just like they are in the wild." was a good moment. It means I must be doing something right!
AS       Then there is seed, which never ceases to amaze me. Instant life... Just add water!

SE       Oh I know.
SE       I feel like that when I do leaf cuttings of my Drosera.
SE       And then suddenly, there are new plants!

AS       (nod)

Sarracenia flava var. rubricorpora "Red Burgundy", grown by Aidan Selwyn.

SE       I feel like I read somewhere that you don't ship plants to the US, right?

AS       That has recently changed. I do now have the facility to provide all the required documentation - Phytosanitary Certificates and CITES export permits. It is however a somewhat complex and expensive process. You are looking at approximately $300 over and above the cost of the plants and shipping. So it is only going to be a worthwhile process for large orders, where the additional cost is effectively split over a number of plants.

SE       Well, people definitely do group orders for Nepenthes and Heliamphora that way.

AS       Plus any USDA/APHIS requirements at your end.

SE       Right.
SE       Well it's exciting that at least the possibility exists for Sarracenia enthusiasts here stateside.

AS       I will be pleased to service your order Devon! :D

SE       :)
SE       Well, it's been fun chatting with you!
SE       Do you have any parting advice for people who might be just getting into the hobby, or who want to try and make their Sarracenia as beautiful as yours?

AS       Warmth, direct sunshine and rain water... and they really are that easy to keep happy.

SE       Hahah, excellent.
SE       Thanks for sharing your time, it's been a pleasure.

AS       Likewise.



I'm sure you want to see more of Aidan's Sarracenia – seriously, go look at the photostream on the insektenfang plants Facebook page. In the meantime, here's another shot of that S. flava var ornata. What a plant.

Sarracenia flava var. ornata, Apalachicola National Forest, Florida. Grown by Aidan Selwyn.

Cultivation Guides: Benign Neglect

 This is part of a series of posts describing various aspects of cultivation, which will hopefully be useful to new growers trying to solve the challenges of growing carnivores, and experienced growers who are always looking to improve their collection. The full series can be read here, or by topic on the Series page.

Sometimes it's important to ignore your plants. While some plants may need (or seem to need) constant attention lavished on them, a lot of the time more attention means more stress. This is a difficult balance to strike – sometimes a plant is in decline and will die without fixing whatever the problem is. But lots of growers are familiar with the opposite phenomenon, that of a plant given the barest attention, left for dead, that comes back healthier than ever once it's left alone.

Check out this mystery sundew that I assume is a Drosera spatulata but which wasn't labeled and so who knows really.

Drosera spatulata? Probably! But really, who knows.

Let's just call it "Drosera spatuhaha" and be done with it.

This is a little 2-inch pot that I got from a nursery back in January. I actually got it 2-for-1, since apparently the place didn't get much call for sundews.

Things were a lot more primitive back then. In January.

They had the dreaded plastic domes on them, hadn't seen the sun in weeks, probably, and were generally doomed. No dew, no color, thin growth – I would have been happy if they lived. Which they didn't. Maybe a month after acquiring these helpless little plants they had shriveled up and I took the pots out of the tray to make room for something else.

Luckily, I'm lazy and not very tidy, since instead of getting tossed, the pots just sat near the tray for a couple weeks, until I noticed something growing. At the time I was a bit distressed, having given this pot over for dead, but I stuck it back in the tray, figuring that I didn't have to pay it any mind, since the thing had already died. If it wanted to live it would live on its own.

And so it did!

It was around this time that I noticed this pot doing really well.

The large plant at the back was the original, and the little one to the right sprouted sometime later. The degree of neglect experienced by these plants is is indicated by the fact that the above picture was taken in early June, about 4 months after it died and was reborn. I just didn't really look at it much in that time. Focusing on other things really let this guy take off.

I've never harvested seed from those flower stalks for some reason.

A month later and not much had changed (though I'd cut that grassy weed back). The Sphagnum in the pot was coming to life, the color and dewiness of the D. spatulata was very pleasing, and the big one was blooming away. Shortly after this I finally extracted that weed from the pot, roots and all, and the pot is looking better than ever.

What does this experience tell us about maintaining a collection? For one, not to give up too soon on a plant that appears dead. Whether it came back from the roots, or sprouted a seed, the original doomed plant just needed some time to decide to live again. If I had been to anxious to clear everything away I would not have this nice pot. The Sphagnum growing in here is the prettiest in my collection!

This Sphagnum is just so lovely. It really perks up the pot!

I think it's also worthwhile to consider the virtue of patience. I've only been collecting plants for about a year now, and initially it was a little difficult adjusting to the time scale of plant growing. Sundews don't require as much patience as, say, Heliamphora, but it's still good to just give the plant space and see if it will do its thing. Giving up on a plant and just ignoring it can sometimes make that easier!

While I know I won't just ignore all of my plants (sometimes they really do need something from you), it's helpful to have this thought occasionally so I don't worry too much. After all, growing and living is what plants do, all on their own. We just need to make things comfortable for them and step back : )

P.S. My Drosera venusta is blooming.

Can't wait for seed from this plant.

It's gotten so red!

I couldn't resist this one

A couple months ago I told myself that I wasn't going to get any new Sarracenia until I put together a better growing area for them outside. As I mentioned recently, my backyard is much too windy and the neighborhood pigeons like snacking on the free bugs (and perching and pecking my plants to shreds).

In spite of that, I got a package today!

I knew what it was as soon as the doorbell rang.

It's from Meadowview! Meadowview Biological Research Station is non-profit group in Maryland and Virginia that works to restore bogs and re-establish historical Sarracenia populations to those bogs. They're a great outfit – like them on Facebook to keep up with their activities.

This plant was very well-packaged. Those Meadowview folks know their business.

The Meadowview Facebook feed is where I heard about a few plants they were selling on eBay – two Nepenthes and a nice, mature Sarracenia. Now, I know I said I wasn't going to get any more Sarracenia any time soon, but it was such a well-grown plant, big and established, and it's for a good cause right...? Also, it's a cool cross.

It's quite large, especially for a plant with S. psittacina in its heritage.

Sarracenia x formosa is S. psittacina x minor. The specific epithet means "beautiful," and it totally applies in this case. The pitchers are a rich, almost luminescent orange-red color, with a pitcher opening that's midway between the two species. It's a great plant.

Enjoy the sunshine and fresh air little guy.

Now I'm serious though. I've gotta figure out this wind situation. Until then, no more Sarracenia. Probably.

Checking in on various plants

I decided today to trim off the flower stalks from my Drosera x tokaiensis. This is a sterile man-made hybrid, which blooms like crazy but for no real purpose. The stalks were sort of getting in my way, so I finally trimmed them all down.

Many felled stalks of Drosera x tokaiensis.

A dewy, very robust little plant.

With the mess of flower stalks out of the way I'm better able to see the Drosera ultramafica x spatulata that lives behind the D. x tokaiensis.

This guy has really settled in in the last month and is just looking great.

It's a stunningly red plant, and I started some leaf cuttings of some of its more wilted leaves shortly after receiving it. They sat around for a while, but having been recently fed they're starting to take off.

I'm very happy with these 3 cute little plantlets.

The one in the middle is starting to get its mature shape.

Outside in my Sarracenia I noticed a bit of volunteer Sphagnum.

This was quite a welcome surprise! Hopefully this Sphagnum keeps on keepin' on.

It's growing at the base of my Sarracenia leucophylla, fairly sheltered by the dense pitcher growth. Hopefully it'll spread and prove adaptable to my climate. That would be great.

Inside, there's a flower stalk forming on my Drosera capensis red form.

The fuzzy little stalk is so funny looking.

It's interesting how fuzzy the flower stalk is at first – this form is much less hairy than other forms of D. capensis, and its mature flower stalks have very little hair at all.

One of my Drosera filiformis Florida Red plants seems to have gone entirely dormant.

Sleep well little dude.

I've talked with several people now who have said that D. filiformis seems to go dormant somewhat at random. Apparently all the Drosera x hybrida (which is D. filiformis x Drosera intermedia) up at California Carnivores went dormant a couple weeks ago, in the middle of summer. As you can see, the dormant plant's bunkmate is actually looking better than ever lately. Who knows. Plants are weird.

A couple of plants in my second growing area (on the steel racks) are showing signs of heat stress, including this Drosera intermedia 'Cuba'.

Looks a bit wilty in the heat.

I really started noticing this after installing the propagation area below, which has definitely boosted the ambient temperature around my tray. I think better airflow would make a real difference in heat buildup – the air in my living room can be quite still with the windows closed. Still, it's only a couple of D. intermedia plants and my Drosera prolifera that have shown clear signs of stress, so maybe it won't be too big of a deal, especially since cooler weather is definitely on its way.

And also, there are plenty of plants who don't seem to mind the temperatures at all.

These pygmies are so great!

Just look at those pygmies! Drosera helodes on the left and Drosera allantotigma (my favorite) on the right. Dewy and beautiful.

So that's what's up lately.

Some closeups from the collection

I don't have a macro lens. I don't even have a proper camera. Still, I do have a 30x loupe that I sometimes use to look at my plants, and it can be used for some very makeshift closeup shots.

My Drosera aliciae caught a gnat.

The hapless gnat.

The main D. aliciae plant is still doing quite well, and enjoyed being fed (more than a single gnat) recently along with several other of my plants.

Drosera natalensis plods along.

Someday these will be big strong sundews. Someday.

As I mentioned back on Saturday, I've sort of neglected these seedlings for a while, but I'm hoping they'll spring to life soon enough. With food, anything is possible.

The Sphagnum I have growing in my Drosera prolifera pot is doing rather well over all.

This patch is particularly plump and green and healthy.

I've made my first tentative steps towards deliberately cultivating Sphagnum. I'd like to have lots of it just going so I can use it as media for some of the more delicate plants, but to get enough I'd have to start at least one tray specifically for Sphagnum culture. Incidentally, I love how this picture really shows off the tubular structure of the moss, which accounts for its superior water-holding abilities.

My Utricularia praelonga is growing rather well, though the moss in the pot is a bit unruly.

Not the fastest-growing Utric, but very steady.

Also, while looking my plants over for good things to photograph up close, I noticed that there was a hitchhiker in the U. praelonga pot.

A mystery! What could this sundew be?

As far as I know there haven't been any sundews blooming near this pot since I've had it. I don't know where the seedling came from, but it could be anything at this point. I guess I'll just let it grow out and see what it turns out to be.

Finally, my Drosera tokaiensis has a second, tinier flower stalk.

Blooming away without a care in the world.

While I initially didn't pay this plant much mind, I have come to enjoy its presence in my collection, especially since it blooms so consistently and is so healthy. A plus in every collection!

Summer Batch leaf cuttings success rate

Back about six weeks ago I started some leaf cuttings and seeds – a propagation effort I've dubbed the Summer Batch. Earlier today I decided to take the plastic wrap off the tray where the leaf cuttings are growing briefly in order to take some good pictures for the blog. Things are going well over all!

First of all, here's what they all looked like on 7-10-2014, the day I got this round of propagation going:

Oh for the halcyon days of leaf cuttings and hopeful beginnings.

I started the cuttings in 6-cell seed starter units. Drosera adelae and Drosera anglica CA x HI each had 6 cells, and Drosera venusta and Drosera madagascariensis each had three. This is the D. venusta/D madagascariensis unit.

D. madagascariensis and D. venusta bunking together like bros.

The cell in the bottom-left is the only successful D. venusta cutting. The one in the center got moldy, and the one of the right actually was dislodged at some point and has dried out on the side of the unit. The top-left and top-right cells of D. madagascariensis have struck, though the plantlets are quite tiny (in part because D. madagascariensis is a smaller plant over all).

My D. adelae starts did much worse than I expected.

That one productive cutting (almost) makes up for the 5 failures.

It's such a prolific plant, I expected the cuttings to have a much higher success rate. I'll still get a couple new plants out of the deal, but I was hoping to be totally awash.

The D. anglica CA x HI cuttings, however, are totally going gangbusters.

This is one of the most vigorous plants in my whole collection. Total beast.

A full 5 of the 6 cells have had strikes (look closely at bottom-center) and the plantlets are already quite large. I'm going to leave the humidity cover on for a few more weeks at least while the other plantlets catch up, but I'm super excited to have more of this clone in my collection.

As you can see, I'll at least have a few new plants to mess around with in the coming months. Maybe I'll even be able to grow a few of them out enough to donate at the BACPS meeting in fall.

Besides the summer batch, one of my current propagation efforts is this pot of Drosera natalensis, the seed for which I received in a trade with Natch Greyes several months ago. Check these two pictures and then see below for how little they've grown in almost 3 months.

Tiny, jewel-like seedings. So red!

 The seeds germinated back in mid-May, but because of the arrangement of my collection they weren't super accessible for a while. As a result I wasn't able to feed them very much, and as I learned from Grow Sundews (and personal experience), unfed seedlings grow very, very slowly. I just recently gave some food to some of the largest seedlings. Hopefully in the next couple weeks I'll get a growth spurt. I've seen it before!

I remember when I first started with carnivores I thought of taking 4 months to get mature plants as super long time. Now that I have a bigger collection though I feel like I have more patience.

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