Want to try some tuberous drosera

[locko]

have a few questions.
1.will the plants do okay outside year round where I live 100km inland from Sydney. Temperatures between 0 degrees celsius and about 25C in winter. Summer gets as high as 40C

2.If I buy seeds now will they be okay stored in the fridge until summer when its time to sow them.

3.when the seeds are outside for such a long time late summer to winter how do you go about protecting the seeds/seedlings from being washed away in rain or blown away by strong wind.

I have read the germination page but really want to be sure before I do this because no one likes dead plants or seeds.
thanks in advance guys.

[jm82792]

Your in austrilia aka the place where tuberouys dew grow
What species then they could fill in the specific conditions for germination.
If you have a choice peltata from what Ive heard is really easy.

[Sean Spence]

jm82792 said:

Your in austrilia aka the place where tuberouys dew grow

Actually Austr"a"lia is the home of tuberous Drosera.

What species then they could fill in the specific conditions for germination.

Huh?

To answer the initial questions-

1.will the plants do okay outside year round where I live 100km inland from Sydney. Temperatures between 0 degrees celsius and about 25C in winter. Summer gets as high as 40C

Down to 0 deg C is fine over winter. Mine are grown outside and cope with this fine. Temps that low are common at this time of year. Place them in a cool spot when dormant in summer.

2.If I buy seeds now will they be okay stored in the fridge until summer when its time to sow them.

Store them in the fridge until you sow them in late summer. They'll be fine.

3.when the seeds are outside for such a long time late summer to winter how do you go about protecting the seeds/seedlings from being washed away in rain or blown away by strong wind.

The seedlings will be dormant in summer so no need to worry there. When in active growth they will need some type of protection from the wind and rain. Mine have the side of an old greenhouse covering them. They are fully exposed on one side, the other side abuts a wall.

[locko]

Thanks seanspence for the tips now I can go ahead with my plans to grow these lovley plants
im planning on growing.
Drosera peltata
Drosera auriculata
Drosera stolonifera
and going to try Drosera glanduligera with the tuberous just for fun (have no hope for these to avoide disappointment)

[matti]

locko said:

Thanks seanspence for the tips now I can go ahead with my plans to grow these lovley plants
im planning on growing.
Drosera peltata
Drosera auriculata
Drosera stolonifera
and going to try Drosera glanduligera with the tuberous just for fun (have no hope for these to avoide disappointment)

Good luck with thoes, Drosera peltata and Drosera auriculata are easy, just sow them on the surface of a 50:50 peat/sand mix in late summer/early autum and keep the water level near the top of the soil untill they germinate.

Drosera stolonifera will be abit trickier because the seeds have a very thick coat, so like it says on the ICPS get abit of sand paper say.. 120-300 grit and rub the coat of abit, then if I were you I would expose them to the chemical Ethylene if you can get some, it may take a year or two for them to germinate but do not throw them out, I have some Drosera macrophylla seed I planted last year and had one germinate this season.

I have also some seed of Drosera sticticularis that I made last year and sown, then a couple have germinated this year.


lol @ Sean. ;D

[locko]

Thanks matti now where would I get Ethylene from and when I say where from I mean could I get it at a hardware store or nursery.

[matti]

locko said:

Thanks matti now where would I get Ethylene from and when I say where from I mean could I get it at a hardware store or nursery.

Specialist nursery suppliers, on-line maybe, some Australian native specialist nursery's would probably have it, you can also get it from burring Australian bush, it is the chemical that sets Australian native fauna off to germinate, re shoot ect. It was discovered in 1994.

Anyways if you really want to get some easy then go out and collect some gum leaves and other Aussie bush stuff and burn it in a bong then either expose the seeds to the smoke or water them with the bong water.

[locko]

perfect an easy way to do it and i dont have to pay for anything thanks for the help matti. now I just have to wait a hell of a long time until i can even sow the seeds let alone see a plant.

[Sean Spence]

Ethylene may help but is not entirely necessary. I've never tried it so can't really comment on its effectiveness. I've found with D. stolonifera ssp. stolonifera that the seed will germinate in great numbers in the second season. If ethylene increases the germination rate in the first season then it is definitely worthwhile.

A batch I sowed 2 seasons ago had only minimal germination in the first year. I kept the pot moist for the entire season and dried out in summer. I allowed the pot to bake in the sun for a couple of months before placing in a cool dark place for the remainder on summer. When I rewet the pot at the end of summer, I experienced almost 100% germination within 4-6 weeks. I'll take a few shots tomorrow and post them when I get the time.

Sean.

[Dave Evans]

Helllo Mattii,

You do not have to scratch the seed of Drosera stolonifera! Though, I suppose you could if you really want to

[matti]

@ Sean, I saw a Tv program a couple of years ago were they isolated the chemical responcible for bush regeneration here (Ethylene) and they were spraying it all over the joint and getting great results.

@ Dave, why not? they have a thick seed coat.

[jm82792]

There is something called GA3 it helps break dormancy on sarracenia seeds and other temperate drosera I want to get some peltata seeds from the icps and try a ga3 soak.,

[matti]

Peltata and auriculata do not require GA3.

[Sean Spence]

As promised, some photos of seedlings of D. rupicola and D. stolonifera-

Drosera rupicola. Seedlings from a maroon form crossed to a golden green form. Progeny are approximately 50/50 red/green. Second year since germination without pre-treatment.








Seedlings of D. stolonifera. Sown 2 years ago but only germinated this season. No pre-treatment. Pot has been infiltrated by seed of D. peltata var. gracilis

[thwyman]

matti said:

@ Dave, why not? they have a thick seed coat.

Matti,

I believe what Dave was getting at is that while you certainly can sand the seed it is not an absolute that you must sand the seed.

Like Sean, I have found that the seed germinates rather easily if you can wait the extra year. I even had a pot of ramellosa seed that took 3 years to germinate.