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Volunteer Drosophyllum sprout in the bog

DJ57

I am a CPaholic...
Moderator
I was watering the bog today and look what I found. If I am not mistaken, this is a Drosophyllum sprout! I swear this is not a purposeful sowing, must have been a seed that stuck to my hand when I was collecting droso seed a while back from a droso pot that is located close to the bog. The big question is can I leave it there to see how long it lives, you know...educational purposes :), or will I eventually cave to the urge to pull it out and pot it up properly?

The seedling is about in the center of the photo

20064343559_48447fe2c1_z.jpg
[/url]Center of photo, Drosophyllum sprout in the bog by Djoni C, on Flickr[/IMG]

Closeup

20062931220_f34d7ab799_z.jpg
[/url]Volunteer Drosophyllum sprout in the bog by Djoni C, on Flickr[/IMG]
 
So cool! I'd love to follow along and see how it does. Question is, can you resist the urge to modify your watering habits on the bog trying to conform to what you think that plant would want? =)
 
I certainly am not aware of any other carnivorous plants that exhibit outward circinate vernation. Now the question is, will it survive there?
 
So cool! I'd love to follow along and see how it does. Question is, can you resist the urge to modify your watering habits on the bog trying to conform to what you think that plant would want? =)

No, I am not going to modify my watering habits and sacrifice the bulk of the plants for the Droso, haha. The top of the soil gets pretty dry between waterings, which is about every three days or so since this record-breaking heat wave started, which has been going on since June. I suspect as the plant matures it will start to fail as the soil a couple inches down or so stays very moist all the time and adult Droso roots are adapted to much drier conditions and their crowns are very susceptible to root rot. I am curious to see how long that takes. The bog is just a hole with peat/perlite on top of pea gravel, no fancy watering system, so when I water I flood the bog to the point water runs over the top at the low end. These photos were taken during one of these watering sessions.

If space was not at capacity to overwinter the droso pots I have, I may be more inclined to transplant this baby into more suitable conditions…but still hard to resist, ha.
 
I certainly am not aware of any other carnivorous plants that exhibit outward circinate vernation. Now the question is, will it survive there?

To me Drosos are just plain weird in their habits in general compared to most CPs, haha. No, it will most likely not survive the rest of the season there, but it will be interesting to see how long it will. Any new knowledge I can gain from this will be helpful in my general understanding of this species…I just need to check my mothering instincts at the door to further that knowledge. Everyone who knows me knows how much I love the babies of all CPs, which is probably why my sarr collection has gotten so out of control :)
 
I certainly am not aware of any other carnivorous plants that exhibit outward circinate vernation. Now the question is, will it survive there?

As a side note, Byblis and Triphyophyllum also display outward circinate vernation.
<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/61904224@N05/12146321725/in/dateposted/" title="Byblis liniflora"><img src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7445/12146321725_cd6201ddbe_c.jpg" width="534" height="800" alt="Byblis liniflora"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

I've tried starting Drosophyllum seeds on several different occasions from multiple sources, I'm still waiting for a success some day.
 
That's pretty cool. It must be nice having enough Drosophyllum to be able to carry out this experiment.
 
That's pretty cool. It must be nice having enough Drosophyllum to be able to carry out this experiment.

Not that many really, now down to two 12” terra cotta pots that take up a lot of room on the garage window shelf over winter. They grow outside during the growing season. I stopped propagating them from seed because of winter space issues and it was getting too hard to find local homes for the babies. I do get a lot of seed from them though and those are a lot easier to unload.
 
  • #10
Update. I am back from my travels and was surprised to see that the Drosophyllum seedling that popped up in the bog over a month ago is still alive and well. With the first frost just around the corner, it will be interesting to see how it does as winter approaches. I will update again next month.

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[/url]Bog Drosophyllum 9-20-2015 by Djoni C, on Flickr[/IMG]

Photo of when it first germinated at the beginning of August:

20062931220_f34d7ab799_z.jpg
[/url]Volunteer Drosophyllum sprout in the bog, 8-2015 by Djoni C, on Flickr[/IMG]
 
  • #11
This isn't unheard of, but it's definitely not common. I recall at least one other mention of a Droso that sprouted in a bog, and survived there even through winter. If you don't get any serious cold snaps, it may have a chance.
 
  • #12
Lucky! To my knowledge Droso needs a drier habitat. Interested to see how it survive in a bog. Hope it can survive over the winter. Looking forward to your update.
 
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  • #13
This isn't unheard of, but it's definitely not common. I recall at least one other mention of a Droso that sprouted in a bog, and survived there even through winter. If you don't get any serious cold snaps, it may have a chance.

We can get overnight temps in the teens here over winter and days where the temps are below freezing 24/7 so I doubt a Drosophyllum will survive an entire winter outside here, but you never know until you test the limits. The bog will stay much wetter with extended flooding at times with the winter rains we get and that may do the bog droso in before any serious freezing sets in, but we will see. I bring my potted Drosophyllum into the garage for the winter after the first frost and have considered leaving one pot outside year-round to see what happens, but the amount of rain we get over winter has made me hesitate doing so. They are in 12” terra cotta pots and constantly moving them in and out of cover would be a royal pain in the back, ha.

Lucky! To my knowledge Droso needs a drier habitat. Interested to see how it survive in a bog. Hope it can survive over the winter. Looking forward to your update.

Yes, mature Drosophyllum like much drier conditions than other CPs and they will rot if kept too wet, but in my experience you can keep them in the same conditions as you would for sarracenia at least for the first few months after germination in my conditions (outside in full sun from spring to fall in the Pacific Northwest).
 
  • #14
Its so beautiful!
I wish i could get the seeds to grow
 
  • #15
Update on the Drosophyllum that sprouted in the bog. It still lives, even surviving a few frosty mornings! Photos taken this frosty morning.

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[/url]Frosty bog Drosophyllum by Djoni C, on Flickr[/IMG]

And about an hour after above shots were taken and temps had warmed into the high 30s:

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[/url]About an hour after frost by Djoni C, on Flickr[/IMG]
 
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  • #16
That is WAY cool! I'm so curious how this is going to end up. :p
 
  • #17
That is WAY cool! I'm so curious how this is going to end up. :p

Me to. I have decided to leave my potted Drosophyllum (2 huge pots) outside all winter; partly because of lighting issues in the garage due to their pot size and other plants needing the lights closer to them, and partially because I want to see if they can survive winter conditions outside here. They are forecasting a much milder winter than usual here, so we will see. I have always wanted to test their cold tolerance limits anyway and I can always sprout more if they perish, next time putting them in much smaller pots, ha.
 
  • #18
I've heard some people say we'll have a mild winter, some that it will be very harsh. We'll have to wait and see.
 
  • #19
Now we have photographic evidence that drosos will handle a frost. I notice that there seems to be no sign of dead tissue.
 
  • #20
Now we have photographic evidence that drosos will handle a frost. I notice that there seems to be no sign of dead tissue.

Check out the frosty pics I posted of the adult drosos outside in "Frosty Drosophyllum"
 
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