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Drosera pygmaea flowers

Hey,
I recently planted about 20 Drosera pygmaea gemmae (around February 20th) and they are still very small, but 4 of them are already sending up flower shoots. From what I can tell, they'll be open tomorrow, so I'll post pics. These pygmies are still VERY young, though--- a month and 2 weeks old. Is it natural to flower this early? What is the earliest you've heard that they're supposed to flower? Do they sometimes form gemmae soon after developing from a gemma? Will the flower take much energy from the plant? I may cut the flower stems from the rest of them to make sure they reach adulthood.
Thanks for your insight,
Aaron
 
Pygmy sundews do flower right now, but I can't recall if it's the first year after starting out as gemmae or not. Thy should be forming gemmae around October-November. Fowering does not sap their energy.
 
Thanks a lot. That's good to know. I think a few will open today, so i'll post pics later tonight.
 
they must be doing well sice they are sending up flower stalks already. what conditions are you growing your pygmaea in?
 
I just did some research, and found this online. I'll post it here since it seemed not to many people new this before (or they just didn't respond). I am quoting this from http://homepages.woosh.co.nz/brianquinn/NZCPSDroserapygmaea.html so the full page is available there.
"Drosera pygmaea is New Zealand's smallest sundew and ...grow rapidly [reaching its] full size within a matter of a few short months. Their rosette of tiny carnivorous leaves averages about 1cm across and has a central crown of stipules. Flowering begins in late spring and can continue into early autumn and a plant may flower several times during this period. The tiny white flowers 3mm across are borne singly and are held about 5-15mm above the ground. During the heat of summer the plant stops growing and the dense stipule bud protects the apical meristem from the temperature extremes. As winter approaches the plants briefly burst into life again before they form gemmae at their centre which expand outwards and are contained by the stipules. The gemmae are scattered near and far by the splashing of raindrops and a new generation is born. The parent plant usually dies shortly after. A rare all-green form is found on the high volcanic plateau in the central North Island where it experiences snowy conditions in winter."

Ery: I am growing these indoors right now, directly under fluorescent lights. The temps are warming up here in Iowa so I may move them outside---still debating. I am growing them in a 2:3 ratio of milled sphagnum peat moss and perlite. I'm also using the water tray method and still am keeping them in a plastic bag for humidity.

The flowers fooled me again, so I might wait 2 days before posting any pictures.
 
As promised, here are pics. I definitely misjudged how long it would take for them to open---over a week.

http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll259/droseraman/Dpygmaeaflowersingle.jpg
http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll259/droseraman/Dpygmaeas.jpg
http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll259/droseraman/Dpygmaeaback.jpg
http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll259/droseraman/Dpygmaeaflower.jpg
http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll259/droseraman/Dpygmaeasflower.jpg

Here's a size comparison:
http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll259/droseraman/Dpygmaea2mosize.jpg
Granted, the ones in the pic are a week older, and a little bigger, but that is about what size they were right before they started sending up their flower shoots. Recently they've really been taking off.
Thanks for looking,
Aaron
 
Looking good Aaron. They look quite happy.
 
great red stigmas/anthers :) awesome how much they stand out against the white petals
 
  • #10
Thanks for the comments everyone!
After starting a bunch of slow-growing sundews from seed, it was sure nice to see some fast results with the D. pygmaea.
 
  • #11
The good news is that you do have fast results with your pygmy.....the bad news is that it's not pygmaea. Sorry to drop in like this but i was looking foe some omissa pics....and the forum search function doesn't help much.
 
  • #12
ya, i found that out about 2 months ago. bob z's photofinder had many pics of omissa when i last checked. have you already tried that?
 
  • #13
Yes, i did.....and many are acurrate id's too....a few aren't
 
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