Pygmy Sundews That Have a Summer Dormancy

[jimscott]

I know D. androsacea does but do D. callistos, D. allantostigma, D. pycnoblasta, and leucoblasta as well?

 

[CPlantaholic]

Can't speak for all of them, but I've had D. callistos growing without summer dormancy for 2 years. They don't like a ton of heat, but as long as the soil never dries out, they keep plugging away all summer.

 

[jimscott]

I can't get D. callistos to grow normally this year. IDK why.

 

[mark.ca]

Almost all have a summer dormancy and will react if your temps are high.
There are a few water loving species that grow in swamps or near a permanent water source that don't go dormant. Pulchella, enodes, nitidula (and subs.), pygmaea and some hybrids are included in this group. Callistos is one that will go dormant if you allow it.

 

[jimscott]

The afore-mentioned from my original post are only getting 70-75 F. I'm not sure how this fits into the equation, but until yesterday, I had the grow rack on a 15 hour photoperiod. I just knocked it down to 14 hours.

 

[Tamlin Dawnstar]

Jim Drosera pyncoblasta for sure does and it was sensitive in my collection. I brought all the summer dormant ones inside under lights with a fan, watering deep pots by standing 5 mins or so in the tray then otherwise out. Although dormant they need both good light and air circulation with surface dryness, the latter managed with a mix of silica sand and laterite topdressing. I believe D.leucoblasta followed suit. Others as I recall" Drosera pygmaea, miniata, manii, walyunga come to mind

 

[jimscott]

Most of them have stipules and look like "death warmed over". They are totally exposed to the air and have not only Grolites over them but also the southern exposure from the glass doors. Less watering for now?

 

[Tamlin Dawnstar]

Yes, less water for sure. The idea is to have some moisture in the lower layers of the pot, which is why deep and narrow pots suit the summer sensitive types. The surface needs to be nearly dry at the same time. Always sow this type of gemmae in deep pots, that way the roots can reach the length needed to support these requirements. Many growers use PVC pipe around 8 inches long. I also had good success with BIG pots, like you would use for a large Philodendron for the extra gemmae that I didn't need to segregate, sort of a community pot since it takes much longer for the mix to dry. Using this protocol I only needed to water a few times over the summer, always from the bottom so the top mix was always nearly dry. The summer dormant species are a challenge, probably why they remain scarce in collections.

 

[jimscott]

I've been top watering them every few days. That explains why some of these plants have been suffering.