more dormant drosera questions...

[ahortman]

My dormant pygmies either have algae or some small mosses (or both) growing on the white hairy tops (Stipules? Is that the word?). Should I remove it? Will it harm the plants during dormancy?
Also, my temperate sundews are going dormant. The filiformis and the intermedia have formed a hibernacula. Should I let the brown leaves drop or whatever they do on their own, or should I cut off the dead leaves?

Angela

[Not a Number]

There's little you can do about algae other than letting it dry out. Moss and Pygmy Drosera don't mix well - the moss usually wins - so remove it if you can without disturbing the plant (not likely).

Since Pygmy Drosera go dormant to survive the dry hot summers you can probably allow the surface and the algae and maybe the moss to dry. Growth of these is probably an indication your conditions are too wet/humid.

As for your temperate Drosera you can either carefully trim the brown/black leaves off or leave them be. Some people don't like the look of the dead leaves. Some are concerned about mold/fungus. Some don't care either way.

If your pots are being overgrown with moss see this thread on TerraForums:

www.terraforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=91521

[Brian Barnes]

Hi Angela! Are you sure it's moss or algae? I've seen gemmae begin to sprout if a few are left in the center of the crown in a highly humid environment... Has this plant given you gemmae yet?
Also, i find it best in my experience to trim off all dead leaves when temperate Drosera are in hibernacula.
Considering the fact the it may be very humid in your growing area, this is an open invitation for grey mold to attack on dead growth and spread to the dormant plant, in my opinion.
Happy Growing!
Brian.

[Not a Number]

Good point! It is shorter days, drops in temperature and increase of moisture that brings Pygmy Drosera out of dormancy.

Typically they may grow a few leaves before producing gemmae or just start producing.

Gemmae will look like tiny bunches of grapes or more typically fish scales.

See the photos on the ICPS seedbank guides for examples:

www.carnivorousplants.org/seedbank/species/D_pygmies.htm

[ahortman]

Hey guys. Thanks for the input. NO, I am not sure that it's moss or algae. Probably not algae. I wish I had a camera! They're little bright green stems with almost star-shaped leafish growth all around the stem. It's growing a little higher than the dormant pygmies. It's mainly in my nitidulaxpulchella and 2 callistos, which were flowering when I got them the last week of Dec. '07. I cut off the flowering stems because the plants weren't looking so hot, and I wanted to give them a chance to grow instead of bloom. The mystery plants are growing right out of the stipules and not so much in the soil around the plants. I have a humidity gague and it ranges between 66 and 90% in the aquarium, with temps between 63F and 75F. I mist the plants in the AM and PM. Actually, I just mist the enclosure around the plants, because I've read that the sticky guys don't like mistings. And it's not a sealed tank, just on its side with a thin piece of warped white wood in front to keep out the cats.

I do have some gemmae started, but they look different than these things, but are diff. species, too.

I also noticed some teeny tiny mushrooms growing in my nepenthes (the one I rescued from Lowe's) pot in the terrarium. I'm growing it in the live sphagnum I found outside my grandmother's over xmas. Are these harmful? I'm rather fond of fungi and don't mind them there as long as they won't hurt my plants.

Thanks again for being so patient and helping me all the time. There's an indoor plant sale at the Memphis Botanic Gardens this weekend and my brother-in-law went out to take pictures for the paper. He told me he photographed some CPs, but they don't look like anything in my collection! Can't wait to see what they are! Now I'll need more lights...At least I finally found the cheap shop lites. Ooh, those guys at Lowe's...Grrr. Talk soon!
Angela

[Not a Number]

I would guess these are producing gemmae also.

The normal life-cycle is:
- flower and set seed
- go dormant for the summer
- start some growth
- gemmae production
- full growth

In cultivation all bets are off as they may not get the environmental cues and conditions needed for dormancy or gemmae production. D. pulchella does not form a stipule bud. I don't know how the D. nitidula x pulchella hybrid behaves in regards to dormancy.

Time will tell I suppose.