Drosera Seeds

[latsyrc]

My drosera capensis or sundew, a fun little carnivorous plant with sticky leaves, has set its seed. Okay, it actually pretty much dumped the seed all over my window sill. But at any rate, there's quite a bit of it, so if anyone is interested in trying their hand at sundews, I'm more than willing to mail you some seeds when it warms up a bit. I haven't actually done a test batch, so I'm not positive they'll germinate, but if you're up for a little trial, I'll spot the 39 cents or so to mail the little boogers.
A few things about sundews:
They do catch bugs. They will probably not catch ALL your bugs, so don't think of them as the end-all be-all of natural pesticides. They're cool plants, with the added bonus that they'll eat things that annoy you.
They want lots and lots of sun--that's how they'll stay pretty with lots of dew.
They're tropical plants, so they should be kept indoors during cold months.
Anything else you want to know you can probably find online. I recommend www.cobraplant.com.
If anyone wants a batch, let me know!

[Aniko]

Wow, I'm definitely interested in this strange living things! I wold be happy to try to germinate some seeds.
Aniko.

[Joaniep]

I would love to try to grow some of your seeds. Thanks a bunch

[viper]

i have sundews to. i have about 23. they are great fun. if enyone needs some growing tips just send me a message.

[pikevi]

wow, 23??

I have just one small plant and it is amazing that out of about 6 traps, 4 are already with something trapped inside them. Last week one opened to reveal a ladybug( ) ;dead but whole. Sundews don't care if it is a friend or a foe.

I wish I had more room to try your seeds. Besides it will cost more than 0.39cts to mail it

[viper]

i have nepenthes to.

[orchid_girl]

Why not.....I'll try a few!!

[tom499]

They are nice little plants, I grow a few and they are industrial insect killers.

Just stick the seeds on some damp peat moss and vermiculite 50/50.

A little trick is DONT water from the top, as you can easily bury the seeds, and the growing seedlings. Stick them in a tray of water around 2cm up the pot side.

Cover the top of the pot with cling film to stop the seeds being blown away etc.

Drosera need cold stratification to germinate, so depending where you live will depend what you can do here.

If you live in the UK, or other regions where you get cold night temps (10c or abit below) Then they can be put outside, or in a greenhouse. This is usually enough to stimulate the growth, and is useful because you can give them sunlight.

People in warmer countries may need to leave the seed on some damp kitchen paper in a plastic bag in the fridge for a few weeks before following the procedure above.

[viper]

Do you have any nepenthes Tom499?

[fred]

It does pay to look around the forum ,as you would have found this
New Nepenthes

Nepenthes Atlata aka Pitcher Plant

[tom499]

yeah i grow a couple of species and hybrids, along with some other carnivorous plants.

lovely plants that go nicely with orchids

[viper]

Cool. they look very nice. I have a N.ventricosa and a N.maxima.

[tom499]

I have

N. sanguinea
N. diatas
N. ventrata (large vining)
N. ventrata small
N. ventricosa x inermis

[pikevi]

tom499: Do you use any fertilizers? And do you 'feed' them with insects (crickets,may be!) ?

Thanks.

[tom499]

I just use rainwater really, I check the traps every so often and often find little flies so leave it at that.

Saying that, the water i dunk them in weekly will sometimes have a dilute amount of fertiliser, but I try to limit even that.

[viper]

I give mine a foliar spray fertilizer once every 2 weeks and i sometimes feed them insects. But they catch alot of there own.

[pikevi]

Thanks tom499.

The one I have has caught many and it is really a big task to get rid of the 'leftovers'. I had to get rid of the 'undigested' materials with a blunted tooth pick. A drinking straw does not work and if I blow it hard the trap closes.

I am thinking of the winter months. May be I should be wishing for gnats inside the house during the winter !!

[tom499]

In the cooler months the plant will probably slow down growth abit anyway.

I keep mine inside now due to totally unpredictable English weather and i still see fresh insects.

Dont worry too much about cleaning the traps out, The plants make use of most of the insects, and probably make a nice little smell for other bugs