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Post by dvg on Nov 27, 2013 16:30:19 GMT -5
Nice growing there Apoplast. Your tuberous dews are gorgeous!. dvg
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Post by frederick on Nov 29, 2013 2:42:54 GMT -5
Thanks for your informations Apo! The second picture showing a side view of your flowering D. tubaestylis is impressive, very nice photography (holds true for you other pictures also!).
I thought about something seeing all these flowers popping from the soil along with the leaves and bearing in mind the wildly differing cloning tendencies of these plants...would it be desirable/feasible to cut a few flower stalks right from the beginning to encourage the reinvestment of energy from the tubers into leaf development and/or offshoots instead, pretty much like it is advised for younger Dioneae plants? I presume this has been tried before?
Also, could you tell me where I can find a reliable place to buy tubers? I found tuberous-drosera.net has some to sell, albeit the listing is blank at the moment. Are there any places in Canada? I assume you started off with tubers instead of seeds
Thanks for your help!
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Post by Apoplast on Nov 29, 2013 10:50:34 GMT -5
Hi all - Sorry it took me a while to get back here - American holiday and all. Hi Shogg - Thanks! I'm glad you have gotten some seed of D. lowriei. I've not tried them, but I've been told they are particularly tricky to germinate. Apparently, they need summer heat and dry, a smoke treatment, then cold and wet. Sometimes it might take a couple cycles of that ti get them to pop. Good lick, and let me know how it works. I didn't know CPGeek had so many winter growing dews. That's great! How was it ordering from Dieter? I dropped him a line at one point, but haven't thought of ordering from him yet. And in answer to your questions, I do tend to dig up all of my tubers every summer, though I do it pretty late in the summer. I've left them in as well and they were fine, but I like to see if there are extra tubers produced so I can share them. Hi Lloyd - I think they are pretty cool too. Hi DVG - Thanks! Hi Frederick - You really are too kind about my photos. They can easily be put to shame by casual shots from many, many members here. I only hope to have them be good enough to show off the plants a little. I've not heard of people cutting off the flowers to the tuberous species as a typical practice. They flowers tend to be finite in number, and for some of the rosette species, I suspect they have already developed and invested in them at the end of the previous season. In that case cutting the flowers wouldn't do much. Many of the stalked species grow their flowers later in the season at the tops of the stalks, so in that case there might be a benefit. Other species will only bloom after fire. Generally tuberous dews are pretty highly evolved to be conservative with their energy, and top priority goes to making a new tuber or tubers to survive the summer. They aren't the sort of species that bloom themselves to death. So when you grow them, enjoy their flowers! As far as obtaining tubers in Canada, that's not my area of expertise, given that I am in the States. If you are looking for tubers that are adapted to the northern hemisphere seasons, now is not the time to get them. You'd want to look around this summer when they are dormant. It sounds, from Shogg's post, that Dieter can ship to Canada. The other things would be to see if you could get tubers from other members in Canada. Now is the time to buy tubers that are adapted to the southern hemisphere seasons, that you then have to aclimate to the northern hemisphere (which is not too difficult). If you don't want to order from Allen Lowrie in Australia (which has serious shipping costs and Western Union fees), California Carnivores might be a possibility starting soon. Check their "Special Orders" page in the coming month which is where they post that offer. But again it is time sensitive. Unfortunately, these species require some planning to get and care for. Good luck though, and when you do get some let me know how it goes.
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Post by Apoplast on Nov 7, 2015 14:39:58 GMT -5
Hi all - As I get ready to put the Sarrs to bed for the winter, another season, nearer and dearer to my heart is just beginning - tuber dew season is upon us! My shots are never things of beauty, but hopefully they are functional. It looks like it's going to be a good season too. The D. rosulata 'giant form' are up and blooming. The flowers on my D. bulbosa are so bright white, I simply couldn't get a good shot of them. The companion plants in there are also doing well. My Dudleya plants are doing quite nicely. The two species I have that die back to resting tubers are coming returning to growth. The tiny Dudleya blochmaniae subsp. brevifolia is popping up all over its pot. And the larger, but still not gargantuan Dudleya nesiotica. Not all of my Coreopsis gigantea seedlings made it through the summer, but a few hardy souls managed to hang on which is really exciting! Yup, looks like it's going to be a good season in the new grow room! And it should only get better once I have the auto-watering system finished. Thanks for looking!
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Post by WillyCKH on Nov 12, 2015 12:18:44 GMT -5
Great plants and photos! My tuber sundew are just started
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Post by Apoplast on Nov 12, 2015 19:45:05 GMT -5
Hi WillyCKH - Thanks! You are far too kind about the photos though. The shots of your tuberous species are much nicer than mine! If I recall from your recent post, your plants are up and doing well. The D. graniticola should be chugging along by now - though it's part of a group that can stall a few cm up. My D. esperensis does that to me every year. I think even your D. stolonifera has popped its head up. That means yours is a head of mine. Mine is still doing its serpentine crawl just under the surface. Playing the "guess where I will pop up this year" game. It's why that species takes so long to start growing above the soil. I uncovered the one from my largest tuber so you see it in action. It has now hit the edge of the pot, done a turn, but still refuses to decide it is time to head up and grow for the season. Ah well, can't rush these things. Good luck with your plants, and I look forward to an update with your progress.
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Post by WillyCKH on Nov 12, 2015 20:55:17 GMT -5
Thanks for your kind words! I am very happy that my D. stolonifera is popping up right at the center! I was worried if it is going to pop up somewhere else because I specially prepared a big and fancy pot for it so that it will be happy I will try to take some photos when I get home tonight!
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Post by Apoplast on Jan 16, 2016 16:44:17 GMT -5
Hi all - It's the middle of the growing season (well for this group of plants anyhow), and so I thought I'd post a little update on my little collection. I don't have many of my stem forming species photographed; that's mostly beyond my skills as a photographer. My largest D. stolonifera is absolutely dwarfing the other ones this year. It started from a larger tuber than the other plants, but it's clearly pretty happy. Here is a shot of the base of the big one (ignore the tubing, that's from a failed drip irrigation attempt this season - once I figure out a better system I'll post about it): People always like D. squamosa, so here is the well loved "latertite growing form", making a nice little colony if I do say so myself: People always talk about the "laterite growing form", but I really like the "sand growing form". True it's not as deeply red, but it's a larger plant, and to my eye, it's a bit more graceful with cleaner lines. But perhaps I am fooling myself. You can be the judge: Yes, D. squamosa is very flashy. There is no denying it. It's the reason it was one of my first tuberous dews. I've grown to appreciate other more subtle feature as I've grown more of these species. For example, there is just something about D. tubaestylis that I find charming. It has cute little rosettes that cluster in happy little colonies. I'm looking forward to it creating a carpet across the pot someday. Now, if I could only stop giving away tubers I might get there. One of the easier tuberous dews to grow, also happens to have one of the showiest flowers - D. menziesii. I have a few post of this species that I like to keep around. This one might just put on a good enough show this year that I'll have my first entry into the "Plant of the Month" contest (the competition is stiff around here). I feel as though en entire pot of blooming D. menziesii is my only hope of being competitive. Here's hoping they decide to bloom all at once! My D. cistiflora are a bit slow this year. They are just starting to form their stems. The provenance of these plants are from Nieuwoudtville in the Western Cape of South Africa. It's a pretty hardy population in cultivation with pink flowers. Last but certainly not least, this plant may not look like much, but I am immensely proud of it! Below is my D. major. It's not the rarest, nor the most challenging to grow. The reason I am so excited is that this plant came from a tuber that grew oddly after I received it. As it began to grow, it produced a new tuber directly on top of the old one. It's a strange cycle that tuberous dews can get into. They produce a new, smaller tuber rather than growing. Supposedly, this happens year after year until they exhaust their energy reserves. And there is no way to stop the decline. This is the tuber from a few years back, in the first year of the vicious cycle: And here it is now: Alive and looking dewy! I'm so excited about this plant having made it. From the folks I've spoken with, this is the first they've heard of a plant having broken the cycle of decline. That's why I am so proud of it. Thanks for looking!
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Post by H2O on Jan 16, 2016 16:46:58 GMT -5
Holy! Want!
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Post by lloyd on Jan 16, 2016 19:04:27 GMT -5
Great tuberous dews, Batman!
I have a few modest ones growing and they are very unusual plants. Not sure if I have the knack of getting them through the annual cycle.
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Post by Apoplast on Jan 16, 2016 23:44:14 GMT -5
Hi H2O - I think we can figure something out. Hi lloyd - Thanks! I still have losses, sadly. But it's decreased since I made a purpose built room essentially for growing this group of plants. I also think some experience in succulents and caudiciform plants helps. With those plants I learned to trust in the dormancy needs of species.
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Post by amanitovirosa on Jan 18, 2016 19:01:56 GMT -5
...WOW!!!, those are some really beautiful plants! Very sharp pics of them too. Great work!
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Post by Apoplast on Jan 19, 2016 20:26:52 GMT -5
Thanks Ama! Too kind of you. The flat ones are easy to take pictures of. The stalked species... Well, let's just say there were a lot more to star with, and I'm glad I don't need to use film anymore!
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Post by frederick on Jan 20, 2016 12:16:41 GMT -5
Those are well grown plants for sure! Great collection there Apo. Great pics too, I hear ya when you say the erect species are a pain to take a picture of haha If you ever have D. squamosa tubers to spare, I'd be interested to buy!
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Post by shelbykid on Jan 20, 2016 13:11:34 GMT -5
They look beautiful. I seems to take a high degree of skill to care for the tuberous Drosera- it is an intimidating task to me as learner but you have nailed it!
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