FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

my capensis alba and spatulata have started growing a cluster of seeds, approx how long do they take to mature and whats the best way + time to harvest them?

at the moment its just a hook shaped stem with a cluster of green balls on the end.

Also, approx how big do spatulata grow and whats the average growth period from seed to mature plant?

Congrats on the flower stalks!
From my experience at least with capensis (they produce lovely self-pollinating purplish pink flowers ), one of my flower stalks took from early January to mid-March to completely flowerand dry up to release ripe seed, but the time varies with conditions, individaul plants, and the number of buds. Mine was a fairly large plant with 12 buds on the stalk.
Other times the number of buds are alot, with 20-30 on my current flowerstalks, so it will take longer for all the buds to ripen and for the stalk to dry up.
Usually, it's good to wait until the buds are full, blackened and the stalk is browning downwards before you snip the entire portion to harvest.
I store the seedpods in a ziploc bag in the fridge until I need to use them. Then just crush the whole seedpod over moist media .
It's important to Continue ideal conditions for the plant and feeding helps give the plant extra energy while flowering so it will keep up healthy dewy leaf prodeuction as well. Good luck!
Hope this helps!

thank you kitty, that pretty much answered it all

Depending on how much you feed D. spatulata after it germinates, you can have flowering plants within a year of germination. If not fed, or if it never catches prey, it will take a bit longer than this. As far as size goes, it can vary depending on what variety you have. The typical form as well as D. spatulata (Fraser Island) usually reach around the size of a quarter or smaller:


...and then some can get much larger!:
D. spatulata 'Tamlin' (just a youn'un at this point):

im not exactly sure what variety, but this is the little guy about a month ago

Well, it's often nearly impossible to get a solid id on a spatulata variety unless the person you received it from has their own pots labeled, and can verify this information for you.
I'd recommend waiting a few more months to let it fully grow out, and then take another picture of it. It may develop more red coloration over this time, as well, which also helps for identification purposes. So I won't even bother guessing right now...