FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

I recently placed 5 D. regia seeds in a test tube on 05/22 and found my first root appearance on 06/04 (+/- 1 day). Total 14 days to germination. I will update progress in hopes that it survives my warmer conditions.

Lots and lots of perlite could help cool the plant's roots down, after they start growing out of the seedling stage.

Thanks for the tip! I'll keep it in mind

Coupla quick thoughts.

Do you have a basement? It's usually cooler down there.

If not, maybe treat it like a Cobra Pitcher.Keep a glass of distilled water in your refrigerator and top water it every day with a small amount, gently poured directly at the base of the plant to cool the roots.

In the wild they grow in an area of water steepage, I believe. There is a constant trickle of cool mountain water running past their roots.

Good growing,
Mike

Shadowtski wrote:Coupla quick thoughts.

Do you have a basement? It's usually cooler down there.

If not, maybe treat it like a Cobra Pitcher.Keep a glass of distilled water in your refrigerator and top water it every day with a small amount, gently poured directly at the base of the plant to cool the roots.

In the wild they grow in an area of water steepage, I believe. There is a constant trickle of cool mountain water running past their roots.

Good growing,
Mike

Mike brings up a good point, they live in a mountain environment on lightly sloped seepages-- much like capensis they prefer highland conditions, though will tolerate higher temperatures. However, a grower in Texas says they will not tolerate outdoors in the summer, they "melt".

Interesting. No basement here. I do have an air conditioned room where it can go. I'll be trying these suggestions out as it grows.

However, a grower in Texas says they will not tolerate outdoors in the summer, they "melt".

Fishman is a Texas grower. I believe he has had very good success growing Drosera regia. Maybe drop him a PM and ask how he grows them down there. Maybe he's discovered a way to get them to thrive in a warm climate. Or maybe he'll read this post and offer his two cents worth.

Good growing,
Mike

Shadowtski wrote:However, a grower in Texas says they will not tolerate outdoors in the summer, they "melt".

Fishman is a Texas grower. I believe he has had very good success growing Drosera regia. Maybe drop him a PM and ask how he grows them down there. Maybe he's discovered a way to get them to thrive in a warm climate. Or maybe he'll read this post and offer his two cents worth.

Good growing,
Mike

That's exactly where I got the info, and where Erik got the seeds I believe .

David F wrote:

Shadowtski wrote:However, a grower in Texas says they will not tolerate outdoors in the summer, they "melt".

Fishman is a Texas grower. I believe he has had very good success growing Drosera regia. Maybe drop him a PM and ask how he grows them down there. Maybe he's discovered a way to get them to thrive in a warm climate. Or maybe he'll read this post and offer his two cents worth.

Good growing,
Mike

That's exactly where I got the info, and where Erik got the seeds I believe .

Got my seeds from Petar Kostov on FB. He has some nice plants. Took a week to get here from Bulgaria which was impressively fast.

Both David and Mike are correct. Both cool water, and the use perlite can be beneficial. Live moss has also been beneficial to the successful cultivation of this species as well, although it wouldnt benefit growing in live moss where I am at, as it turns into something resembling boiled spinach in this heat. Upon an older experiment I was trying, I believe the roots to one of my plants was not down into the soil deep enough where the temps are much cooler. This particular plant had roots maybe 4 to 5 inches long. In my part of the state I have seen 115F kill a plant in the matter of a couple of days. The first 6 to 8 inches deep into soil gets pretty hot where i am at. If it is 100f outside, you can bet its close to that in the soil inches below the surface. If these roots are not cool, this plant is not happy where I am located. I've had these plants literally look like they were melted completely and never come back from it. After losing some of these by my careless experiments, I began growing them indoors until the roots grew much longer in order to get down into the soil where that "cool zone" is to help overcome our summer heat. After I found a plant in my collection with long enough roots (back in February), i put it into a much deeper pot and put it outside around March before it got too hot, in order to slowly acclimate it for what it is about to receive in July and August. The plant has roots probably a foot long. So far this year I have had a couple of 90f days with no wind for helping the plant in cooling down. Just a straight up burning heat. The plant looks pretty good thus far. Im even thinking about double potting it and insulating the space in between the two. Hopefully if all goes well i can begin to get more of my collection of these outside as theyre taking over some of my indoor growing areas. If there is any questions feel free to pm me, as I admit I haven't been frequenting the forums much due to a job change but happened to stumble on this thread. Just keep the roots cool and try to provide it a slight temp drop at night and it will be a happier plant as opposed to not giving it one at all.
I appreciate you guys keeping me in mind. Ive learned alot from people like Mike and David as well as a few others here who have much more experience than I.
..Speaking of Petar K., he is the man when it comes to D.regia. I have talked to him several times. I used to envy how he makes it seem troublefree, but again he and I live in completely different parts of the world. I just needed to find what worked for me in Texas. He does alot of good with these and has really built a solid rep with what he does. Hes very knowledgeable and great to do buisness with.

Fishman wrote:Both David and Mike are correct. Both cool water, and the use perlite can be beneficial. Live moss has also been beneficial to the successful cultivation of this species as well, although it wouldnt benefit growing in live moss where I am at, as it turns into something resembling boiled spinach in this heat. Upon an older experiment I was trying, I believe the roots to one of my plants was not down into the soil deep enough where the temps are much cooler. This particular plant had roots maybe 4 to 5 inches long. In my part of the state I have seen 115F kill a plant in the matter of a couple of days. The first 6 to 8 inches deep into soil gets pretty hot where i am at. If it is 100f outside, you can bet its close to that in the soil inches below the surface. If these roots are not cool, this plant is not happy where I am located. I've had these plants literally look like they were melted completely and never come back from it. After losing some of these by my careless experiments, I began growing them indoors until the roots grew much longer in order to get down into the soil where that "cool zone" is to help overcome our summer heat. After I found a plant in my collection with long enough roots (back in February), i put it into a much deeper pot and put it outside around March before it got too hot, in order to slowly acclimate it for what it is about to receive in July and August. The plant has roots probably a foot long. So far this year I have had a couple of 90f days with no wind for helping the plant in cooling down. Just a straight up burning heat. The plant looks pretty good thus far. Im even thinking about double potting it and insulating the space in between the two. Hopefully if all goes well i can begin to get more of my collection of these outside as theyre taking over some of my indoor growing areas. If there is any questions feel free to pm me, as I admit I haven't been frequenting the forums much due to a job change but happened to stumble on this thread. Just keep the roots cool and try to provide it a slight temp drop at night and it will be a happier plant as opposed to not giving it one at all.
I appreciate you guys keeping me in mind. Ive learned alot from people like Mike and David as well as a few others here who have much more experience than I.
..Speaking of Petar K., he is the man when it comes to D.regia. I have talked to him several times. I used to envy how he makes it seem troublefree, but again he and I live in completely different parts of the world. I just needed to find what worked for me in Texas. He does alot of good with these and has really built a solid rep with what he does. Hes very knowledgeable and great to do buisness with.

Interesting. I'll take the advice from this thread and let everyone know how it grows in my tropical environment. So far I have had a few 90 degree days. I'll keep it indoors for now. I haven't potted up any seedlings yet as I am deciding on media options and proportions from looking into online readings. Do you keep any plants in standing water? I've read that they prefer drier soil?

I have read that as well, but all of mine stay in water 24/7 and their trays are not allowed to go dry at all. That may vary between other growers conditions too. Live moss i would think wouldnt need constant watering, but all of mine are in a very airy, loose peat based soil. I recommend putting it in a pot to where it won't need to be transplanted but maybe once every two years or so, and go a little on the heavy side with the perlite (if you are using the peat base). Give the roots quite awhile to grow undisturbed. By the time you have 2 really nice long taproots, this plant will be near bulletproof. Keep us posted! Good luck!

Update - 06/08

Have 5 of these guys going right now. I use a 10ml syringe to place cool distilled water in the morning and evenings before bed around the plants.

Looking good!

I was a nervous hovering wreck until mine hit one inch tall. Now they're getting big enough to eat real bugs.

I ran across another pack of D. regia seeds in my fridge. I'm going to sterilize some more test tubes and see if I can get 100% survival out of this next batch.

Good growing,
Mike

Shadowtski wrote:Looking good!

I was a nervous hovering wreck until mine hit one inch tall. Now they're getting big enough to eat real bugs.

I ran across another pack of D. regia seeds in my fridge. I'm going to sterilize some more test tubes and see if I can get 100% survival out of this next batch.

Good growing,
Mike

Always fun to find seed in your fridge haha. Best of luck with them. I had my tubes sitting 6 inches from my LED taotronic bulb for the regia.