- Mon Jan 29, 2018 2:14 am
#310387
Souther California should be a good climate for any Sub-Tropical and a lot of Tropical Sundews.
You might want to try Drosera finlaysoniana in your climate. Drosera filiformis Florida Red would also be a good choice.
Drosophyllum seeds need scarification for reliable germination. Scratch or slice the outer seed coating at the blunt end until you can see the inner white/clear core. Bury them 1/8 to 1/4 inch deep in a well drained medium. I use 8 parts perlite, 1 part peatmoss, 1 part sand in my mix. I never use a water tray for these, always top-watering them.
In Nature, seeds are produced late Spring, into Summer. They sit on the ground until the rain comes again in Autumn. The best time for you to plant them would be in late Summer, early Fall.
Keep it moist and you should see germination in about a month. Top-water the pot, never let it sit in water. Keep it moist until the plants are 3 - 4 inches tall. Then cut back on watering it when Summer comes.
Young plants can handle overwatering better than mature plants. After flowering, they are very sensitive to overwatering. This is how they got the reputation of being a difficult plant to grow.
In their natural habitat, they get hot dry Summers. The only moisture they get is early morning fog, being close to the sea-shore.
If I lived in your area, I'd have my back yard full of Drosos. I'd suggest giving them a try, even if you are a newer grower.
Mine is exploding into Spring growth right now. I'm cautiously optimistically hopefull that mine will flower and produce seeds this Spring.
If so, look for Drosophyllum seeds to appear in our Seed Bank inventory before Summer.
Good growing,
Mike