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Waxy mass

Greetings everyone. I hope all of you are doing well. This morning, I went and checked on my plants after they got a nice drink from last nights rain. When I checked my Filifromis(sp?), I noticed one of them had a ball-like waxy mass at its base where the "leaves" all join together before going into the roots. The mass is fairly stiff...kinda like wax. It also appears to be slightly translucent and I think I see new leave shoots within it.

Is this normal? Is this some sort of infection/infestation? Your help would be greatly appreciated.

I've attached a couple of photos that may be helpful. (I hope this works...this is my first time attaching a photo.)

Thanks,
Dwight

IMG_1834.jpg

IMG_1833.jpg
 
It looks like hibernacula are forming. D. filiformis has a hairy matt around the hibernacula and underneath it should be green and firm. My temperate sundews formed hibernacula about 3 weeks ago.

Brian
 
Completely normal. Your plants are dormant for the winter.
 
Thank you for the replies. It is good to know that this "mass" is part of its dormancy process. When I looked at it again, I did notice that its leaves were no longer covered in dew and appeared to not look as healthy.

This is my first year having sundews (and other carnivorous plants) and have them all do so well. I guess my next challenge is to get them to survive an Ohio winter. This leads me to my next questions.

I have D. capensis, filifromis, and binata (along with some purple pitcher plants, VFTs, and 4 varieties of nepenthes). Can someone tell more or direct me of which ones need to go dormant and how to do the process? I know that my nepenthes do not go dormant, but I could use some help on my sundews (and VFTs and Purple pitcher plants).

Have a great day!
Dwight
 
D. binata, D. filiformis, VFT's, and S. purpurea go dormant.
 
I'm going to be battling the Ohio winter too. I'm from around Cleveland and get pounded on by lots of snow. What I'm going to do is soak the media with some fungicide solution. Then take the pot and throw it in a ziplock bag. I'll then place these on my unheated garage floor.
 
I'm not convinced the ziplock bag is a good idea provided you don't allow the substrate to totally dry out - humidity isn't an issue during dormancy and is likely to work more against you than for you.
 
It's always been from my understanding that you do not want the substrate to completely dry out. It just needs to be damp, not flooded.
 
Last year my D. filiformis was kept outside until Novemeber. Then I brought inside for the winter. It formed what I thought to be a hibernaculum and it looked dead/black. 2 months later, I saw green leaves emerge and also realized that one plant is now 2. It clumped. Later on in the Spring, shortly before it sent up flower stalks, it formed that same white fuzz. I posted a topic about it, because I didn't know what it was.

D, filiformis

I don't know the answer, but I have blazed the same trail.
 
  • #10
Here are a couple other shots of hibernacula forming on my D. filiformis plants...

waxy1.JPG


hiber1.JPG


hiber2.JPG


Cheers
Steve
 
  • #11
I don't know about you guys but I definately notice a recline in growth on some of my sundews. It seems like all the new growth is turning inward into the middle and laying low like VFT guy in SJ's second picture. I notice the decline especially in my D. Intermedia. I'm beginning to wonder if I should start moving in my plants that don't have a dormancy, or if I should let them stay out there longer...
 
  • #12
Steve, thanks for sharing the pictures!
Outsiders, If I remember correctly, you're in the Cleveland area. I think you have another month or so of keeping them safely outside. I'm a little north of Philly and summer hasn't gone away yet. My D. binata & filiformis are still producing leaves and the binata just got done flowering. As long as they're not freezing to death, they can stay outside until the forecast calls for freezing temps.
 
  • #13
Yeah I'm from the cleveland area. I was just wondering if it would make it easier on the plants to adjust to the grow chambers temps/photoperiod, then leave them outside to the lowering temps/lowering photoperiod.

Your Paradoxa is sending up a flower stalk btw.
 
  • #14
I'm unqualified to answer the question about grow chambers. Although, it would seem best that any approach that allows for gradual change in a given direction (light & temp) would be the best. Anything that mimics nature is the best. Maybe someone else with experience will chime in. Congrats on the D. paradoxa!
 
  • #15
That's why I'm thinking I should go ahead and bring in my non-dormant plants. It would be easier for them to adjust to the grow chamber now, then when they are used to the fall like weather. Also I'm sure the fall like weather will slow down their growth as well.
 
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