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Deflasking Drosera hartmeyerorum, An old dog trying to learn a new trick

Shadowtski

Supporter
Deflasking Tissue Cultured Drosera hartmeyerorum

I ordered a Drosera hartmeyerorum plant. It came in a Tissue Culture flask. This is how I deflasked it and introduced it to the real world. This is only my second attempt at transferring a TC Drosera into a pot and regular growing conditions. If I'm doing something wrong, jump in and let me know. I based my procedure on an afternoon of Google searches. I'm an old dog trying to learn a new trick.




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Here is the TC vial. It looks like a tangled green plant mess in a blob of clear JELLO.





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Open the vial and gently remove the plant. Rinse the plant in distilled water until the majority of the gel is gone. Notice that there aren't any roots. There is just a hard brown mass of callus on the bottom.





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Get a small bowl and rinse your plant in distilled water. Rinse it at least 2 hours, changing the water every hour. Gently agitate the water every few minutes to rinse off and dissolve any remaining goo.





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While the plant is soaking, mix up a pot of your favorite CP growing mix. I used 1:1 because I had it already mixed up and at hand. I used a peat pot because D. hartmeyerorum (like all D. indica complex members) hates being transplanted except when a tiny seedling. When it gets bigger, just transplant it, peat pot and all, into a larger pot. The roots will grow through the bottom of the peat pot.When you remove your plant from the bowl, give it a final rinse in clean distilled water.





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Put some live Sphagnum moss on top of your growing mix if you have it available. Put your plant into the Sphagnum Moss. You can separate the tangled mess into individual plants or you can plant the whole thing into your pot. I separated my last TC Drosera (D. slackii) into individual plants and they all died except one. So this time, I am not breaking it up.





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Once potted up, put your pot in a clear container or plastic bag to maintain a high level of humidity. Put an eighth of an inch of distilled water in the bottom of your container or bag. Put it in a bright location. Don't put it in direct sunlight. Wait a month and check to see if it has developed roots. If it has, start lowering the humidity gradually and introduce it slowly to your normal growing conditions. If it hasn't, wait another month. I will be patient, I will be patient, I will be patient.

Good growing,
Mike
 
Cool, informative post. Wishing you the best of luck transitioning it out of tc successfully.
 
Thanks! CP in test tubes and tissue culture is thing out of Science Fiction from my childhood. It's a little scary to jump in and try to get the plant out into normal growing conditions. There ought to be a FAQ, something like "The Old Fart's Guide to Tissue Culture and Deflasking your Purchase".

Good growing,
Mike
 
Cool, nice to see this wonderful species getting spread around!
 
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