Going all-out to germinate some Drosophyllum

[Odysseus]

Lost the two original seedlings to the weekend waterer.

I like this phrase.

Is this a common phrase I am just not familiar with or an actual person you have water for you on that weekend and they killed them by too much or none at all?

 

[theplantman]

I like this phrase.

Is this a common phrase I am just not familiar with or an actual person you have water for you on that weekend and they killed them by too much or none at all?

It's an actual part-time person we employed to water on some weekends. My facility has 7 greenhouses, and to water them all by hand takes ~4 hours each day. The individual who killed the Drosophyllum also allowed several tens of thousands of dollars in research plants to dry out and die, and was terminated. Weekend waterers are usually a weak link for large conservatories/botanical gardens and it is typically a job requiring the utmost trust. The only alternate is for the staff to work 7 days a week.

 

[Anne-Lise]

Okay, so I'm jumping into the conversation a little late but for those like me who are looking for info about Drosophyllum and the calcium debate, I thought this fairly recent paper might help.

It's a great paper that gives details about soil, germination technique and the effect of insect-feeding versus fertilizer.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28065921

 

[CpasMoi]

The secret to keep young drosophyllum alive is the lighting.
Provinding artificial lighting in automn and winter ll keep them alive to the next season

 

[bluemax]

An interesting abstract of the paper mentioned. I like the the term "carnivorous subshrub".

 

[axel]

My seeds germinate much better if grinded with some sandpaper.
Mine are exceptionally long lived and easy growing while having always some water in the tray. In the frost free season they are outside in our German weather. Flower up to 5 times a year and set plenty seeds. They started in December 2014
Here you may see my oldest planter. There are several plants in one planter.

http://www.carnivorousplantsociety.ca/index.php?threads/plant-of-the-month-november-2017.258/

I repotted one of my biggest ones this year in spring of the same age. No problem at all. I had to give this plant away to the Botanical Garden in my town. It took too much space because I had some seeds upcoming from a special place in Portugal and I have to think about winter in my studio.