Is it Drosera?

Discussion in 'Plants: Identification' started by SvenLittkowski, Jun 8, 2010.

  1. SvenLittkowski

    SvenLittkowski Active Member

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    Location:
    Kingston, Jamaica
    Hi,

    I put seeds of the Drosera on the soil, and see now these seedlings.

    Can anyone confirm this is the seedling of a Drosera?

    I planted:
    - Drosera aliciae
    - Drosera binnata
    - Drosera burmannii
    - Drosera capensis
    - Drosera hilaris
    - Drosera spathulata
    - Drosera trinervia
     

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  2. Ron B

    Ron B Paragon of Plants 10 Years

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    More like a liverwort.
     
  3. kevind76

    kevind76 Active Member

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    I would agree. Doesn't look like a Drosera. How long have the seeds been in there? D. capensis should germinate in about a week.
     
  4. SvenLittkowski

    SvenLittkowski Active Member

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    Bad news for me...

    Well, the seeds are in since four weeks now. The soil is mostly peat moss, and a little bit spagnum moss. The pot stands on a container with water, one of 4 inches of the pot and moss are above the water level.

    Any idea what causes the delay of the Drosera, or how to increase the germination?

    Illustration:
    - Outside Box (water-tight)
    - Inside Box (holed, filled with peat and spagnum moss)
    - Top Box (two fluorescent white lights)
     

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    Last edited: Jun 10, 2010
  5. kevind76

    kevind76 Active Member

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    What kind of water are you using? Make sure it is pure. Maybe you have it too wet. They like to be wet, but maybe for germination, try to just keep the medium moist and not sitting in water. The media I use is half peat and half silica sand (very fine, washed sand, so that it has no minerals in it). A few of my pots have turned out like yours, and I'm not sure why.
     
  6. SvenLittkowski

    SvenLittkowski Active Member

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    Well, for water, I use regular water from the pipe. I would prefer rain water or destilled water, but the last one is very expensive here in Jamaica, and rain water would require me to have large boxes or tons to capture which I don't have.

    And silica sand was also something I tried to obtain, but it is not available here in Jamaica anywhere. There are no shops for gardeners having such here. And there are no places in town, where I could just see sand and "grab" it.

    So, my mix is mostly sphagnum moss, but at the top a mixture of powdered coal (10%) and peat moss (90%). The coal serves the purpose to suppress bacteria activity, to keep the soil poor of nutrition therefore.

    I put the seeds of seven different types of Drosera onto the surface of the main box, three weeks ago. I also have a small pot in water for test purposes, and there's only one type of Drosera. When I saw some green to become visible inside the small pot, I added all seeds to the main pot. However, the green I saw on the small pot turned out not to be Drosera but only liverwort...

    Hmm... I will follow your advise and reduce the water level on the outside box, maybe to half of what it is now. I heard, Droser requires sometimes patience to become a seedling. Hope they still will grow.

    What kinds of Drosera are you growing? And, are you interested in tropical seeds? I could send the seeds of various tropical plants, maybe in exchange for seeds you can send. Hey, check out the brand new ISE forum - International Seed Exchange (http://InternationalSeedExchange.jamaica-focus.com).
     

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