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Does D. burmannii set seed in cooler temps?

  • Thread starter raycer491
  • Start date
I have a ton of D. burmannii from Humpty-doo and Hann River. Each plant, totaling over 25, is over an inch across, bright red and healthy, and sending up startlingly thick, robust flower stalks. I was prepared a month ago for a hailstorm of seed.

So far, from all the plants combined, I may have collected around six flowers that produced any seed. Most of the seed was shrunken and aborted. The rest of the flowers have produced nothing. *NOTHING*.

My nighttime temps dip into the sixties, and in deep winter into the high fifties. I suspect, that though my burmannii are huge and well-fed, that they aren't producing seed on account of cold temps, especially at night. I suspect also that the lack of seed production is why the flower stalks that they've sent up haven't had an effect on the health or vigor of the plants - as inert pieces of tissue, they have little energetic or nutritional expenditure.

I am frustrated that I have gotten little seed. But I am also curious: does anyone else notice that burmannii won't set seed in cooler temps, or at particular times of year?

Thanks all!
 
I've seen a few random plants around in my temperate greenhouse where the flytraps and Sarracenia are. Some had flower stalks, I'll try to have a look and see if the same is true, I don't remember ever noticing this in the past though. For the winter at night I've had it get down to low 30s and in the day I had the cooler set to come on if it got above 63 so much cooler than you're talking about. Also, since these are random plants in pots they don't belong in they are not huge well-fed plants, but generally my Burmannii do continue to flower many times without dying as seems to be said about them.
Andrew
 
I have no issue with my burmannii setting seed in cooler conditions (my Humpty Doo sits near the side of the greenhouse in a relatively cool spot), but this species does produce very small seeds naturally and they will fall out well before the flowers look brown and dried; you might just be missing them.
 
I have no issue with my burmannii setting seed in cooler conditions (my Humpty Doo sits near the side of the greenhouse in a relatively cool spot), but this species does produce very small seeds naturally and they will fall out well before the flowers look brown and dried; you might just be missing them.

I have experienced this myself. I have found seeds stuck to the glands on the outside of the seed pots within days of the flower closing. My Hann River plants seed profusely, but I've found it quite difficult to germinate - oddly both this and D. sessilifolia give me trouble while no other sundews do that I have encountered.
 
Yep, plenty of seed was in the seedpods in my cold greenhouse.
Andrew
 
Never had seeds ripen in only days, still takes a couple weeks like most at minimum. They do, however, seem to prefer germinating in very warm conditions, and refuse to do anything for me in cool or shady locations (unless, of course, they sprout in a pot where I don't want them. Then it's all bets off).
 
To just further hit the nail in the coffin, I left some "Hann river" outside, and it was getting to 20 or so degrees, but viable seed was produced right up until the point where the plants melted from cold damage. With burmanii it's possible to harvest the flower stalk preemptively, and store it in paper afterwards with no ill effects.
 
I can guarantee that no or extremely little seed is produced. I would normally expect it to be found on the white shelving beneath the plant. Frustratingly, when I dissect the closed flowers of my burmannii forms after a week or two under a loupe I discover that there is no evidence of the ovary ripening in the least. Tons of puny yellow seeds. Even on flowers that were manually pollinated I'm not getting anything.

A few plants did produce a few flowers that set seed, and I collected and distributed it. D. sessilifolia in the next tray over is setting seed like mad. I cant understand it!

Does anyone have any reason in mind that might be behind my plants not ripening their seeds, if it's not temperature? Could it be the time of year? I've noticed my capensis won't set seed at all until august.
 
Do you feed the plants? The fact that yours are so pink/red makes me think they might not be getting enough food. D. burmannii like to eat....a lot. Try feeding beta pellets, crushed up into dust.
 
  • #10
Ah, that was something I didn't ask. Yep, while red plants look nice that's generally the look they get when trying to attract insects and are in need of a feed, and they will set fewer seeds and die back more easily if not heavily fed. The more a plant is fed, the larger it will get and the greener it will get (Humpty Doo can certainly push nearly 2" if fed heavily enough and potted on its own).
 
  • #11
Feed them. Drosera burmanii need a LOT of food or they will decline after flowering. Red plants sounds like they aren't getting enough food. That may be a reason for not setting seeds. Seed production takes energy. Give them any insects you catch, ants, mosquitoes, etc. I've read on the internet that fish food works, though I've not tried it. There is no such thing as overfeeding a Drosera Burmanii unless you really cover it totally. You will notice the plant get bright green with white tentacles and dew. The more you feed it, the more it will flower too. At this point if they still don't set seed, you have a problem and I don't know what it is.

Can't say for cold temperatures. Where I live we don't really have a winter as such like most of you guys talk. Forget freezing, temperatures don't drop below 20 degrees celcius even in the middle of winter nights. So absolutely no idea on cold. But if you think it may be the cold, why not just bring it to your home/room with more comfortable temperatures to test?
 
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