FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

I have been growing this cultivar for some time now, and it has done nothing but impress me. So, I thought I would put together a slight progression of photos. This plant was purchased from the person who originally named it, and at that time it was a flowering sized plant. It has been in the same 4" square pot ever since, though it needs an upgrade soon, and has also remained untrimmed with the exception of the flower scapes that it consistently pushes out (in true D. capensis fashion). It's measurement as of today is approximately 10" in diameter with potential still to get slightly larger.

Apr. 4, 2015, soon after getting the plant.
Drosera capensis "big pink" and Drosera 'marston dragon' by Adam B., on Flickr

Apr. 19, 2015, the first flowering which set a lot of seeds, as expected. The resulting seedlings had a broad range of coloration, growth rate, and, so far, size.
Drosera capensis "big pink" Flower by Adam B., on Flickr

July 25, 2015, after some time of growing outdoors. It never faltered even on the hottest of days (over 90F for around a week at one point).
Drosera capensis "big pink" by Adam B., on Flickr

Feb. 4, 2016, I took a measurement just out of curiosity, and it was approximately 7" in diameter.
Drosera capensis "big pink" by Adam B., on Flickr

June 19, 2016, the photo as of today and measuring in at approximately 10" in diameter. It has had a minimal amount of bugs over the winter indoors, so its coloration reflects that. Once it is outdoors permanently for the summer it will lighten up again.
Drosera capensis "big pink" by Adam B., on Flickr

That's a beautiful specimen!

You transition your Drosera from your terrarium to outside and back in the terrarium for winter every year? I have been thinking about doing that. Do you bag it, or gradually work from the shade to full sun, or some other secret I don't know about yet?

Thanks for your time and insight!

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

What a beautiful plant! Is that pure sphagnum?

Beautiful!

chevyguy8893 wrote:I have been growing this cultivar for some time now, and it has done nothing but impress me. So, I thought I would put together a slight progression of photos. This plant was purchased from the person who originally named it, and at that time it was a flowering sized plant. It has been in the same 4" square pot ever since, though it needs an upgrade soon, and has also remained untrimmed with the exception of the flower scapes that it consistently pushes out (in true D. capensis fashion). It's measurement as of today is approximately 10" in diameter with potential still to get slightly larger.

I have sent you a message.

boarderlib wrote:That's a beautiful specimen!

You transition your Drosera from your terrarium to outside and back in the terrarium for winter every year? I have been thinking about doing that. Do you bag it, or gradually work from the shade to full sun, or some other secret I don't know about yet?

Thanks for your time and insight!

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

Yes, but indoors they are grown on a shelf with just ambient humidity, which has a fairly wide range depending on the season. This one grows under T5HO bulbs that emit UV-A and UV-B, so I have been able to move plants to my water table with a short acclimation to full sun (some plants without acclimation). I do that by putting plants in an area that gets full sun early in the morning and dappled throughout the rest of the day.

fattytuna wrote:What a beautiful plant! Is that pure sphagnum?

It is. The top is live Sphagnum while the rest is dried Sphagnum.

Looks great!

So pretty!

Now you made me want to grow/get one. Where did you get the seeds?

Kaila wrote:So pretty!

Now you made me want to grow/get one. Where did you get the seeds?

Since this plant is likely a cross between the alba and red forms of the species, it would not be possible to produce the same plant from seed (though the variety of seedlings produced are rather nice). So, it would have to be obtained from someone who propagated it vegetatively.

Oh my god that's an awesome sundew!!! I need to get a hold of one eventually...

chevyguy8893 wrote:

Kaila wrote:So pretty!

Now you made me want to grow/get one. Where did you get the seeds?

Since this plant is likely a cross between the alba and red forms of the species, it would not be possible to produce the same plant from seed (though the variety of seedlings produced are rather nice). So, it would have to be obtained from someone who propagated it vegetatively.

What color did the seedlings come out though? (out of curiousity)

I've been growing, propagating and selling these since 2014 and have made hundreds of plants from leaf cutting. It's a great variety for sprouting from the leaves. Amazing variation in color and get's very large quickly.

These "Big Pink" plants are not as slender as the "All red" varieties but tend to have very long leaf petioles. The progeny or seedlings of the variety end up being approximately 9:1 in the way of red:alba, others report a 3:1.

I have observed that their progeny more resemble "all red" than the original "Big Pink" clones.

The flowers you've taken a photo of can confirm that it's original "Big Pink variety." The stamen are highly flared and lobed, petals are lighter pink large and overlapping, although in some conditions the anthers interpose themselves beneath the female receptive areas of the flower. The flowers are large on long stalks and in general produce comparatively few seeds.

I suspect there is an issue with self compatibility, which may help to explain the variation in the reported progenies.

But also note that crossing 'Albino' with "Big Pink yields no "Big Pink" plants, but simply a higher 'Albino to "All red" ratio, tentatively 1:1. Crosses attempted with "Big Pink" x "Wideleaf" resulted in far fewer seeds and vigorous plants than the reverse "Widleaf" x "Big Pink". Subsequently we can guess that the "Big Pink" plants may struggle assimilating pollen.

If we're looking at simple Mendelian genetics, we would expect there to be "Big Pink" progeny from selfing and especially when crossed with 'Albino'. Therefore we can assume the "Big Pink" plants are the result of some novel traits of its alleged parents.

The vigorousness and gigantism of "Big Pink" as well as its high affinity for dark color, as well as its interesting progeny really make for an interesting specimen.

I bought a "Big Pink" clone from its orginator last year and I love it. I'm hoping to do a D. 'Big Pink' x D. aliciae cross this Summer.

Good growing,
Mike