FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hello plantgoers,

I'm wanting to grow Drosera Regia in NZ, Wellington specifically but need a bit of advice. I don't plan on buying one just yet, but sometime later this year.

I assume you can sit the germinating Regia on a windowsill? I'm thinking sometime in the second half of Dec / start of summer (our temperature record from last year sits at or above 15 degrees on rainy days and some nights, to about mid twenties I think for days, which is apparently optimum).

What about moisture, water and osmocote? What should the Regia sit in, and what other requirements does it have? When does it enter adulthood?

My plan is to use a 50/50 mix of peat moss (left for nearly a week in water, washed with distilled water, strained and placed in a new bucket of distilled for a day?) and treated river sand (with no fertilizers / calcium that is, and washed 10-15 times of dust and such), as well as use the usual minced long fibre sphagnum.

Have I missed anything??

Cheers!
criticalleafbladeatk

I'm not going to mention anything else about regia as I don't know lots about it, but with most Drosera, having them germinate on a windowsill isn't great because they need high humdity to germinate and once they do germinate, high levels of light, which most windowsills don't have. Also, they grow in very similar terrain as Darlintonia where water runs against their roots, keeping the roots cool.

From what I heard they like soil fertilization, and can grow pretty quickly from seed... Maybe @Shadowtski can give you more info.

Yes, Shadowtski can definitely help! He has multiple regia forms and he even manages to make them flower under artificial lighting!

Here's a guide on the ICPS:
https://www.carnivorousplants.org/grow/guides/Dregia

I germinate Drosera regia seeds in test tubes filled with distilled water.
It takes about 2-3 weeks for the seeds to sprout.
I keep them at room temperature under growlights.
I pot them up about a week after the seeds visibly pop open and the radicle emerges.
I use a mix of peatmoss and perlite as growth media.
I've played with ratios of 1:1 to 8:1 (perlite:peat), these days I go 1:1 to 2:1 .
I do not fertilize the soil.
I usually dome them until they are about 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch tall, but I remove the dome daily to check on them and freshen the air.
I use a cheap hardware store LED shoplight , about 3000 lumens about 6 inches up.
Photoperiod is controlled by a sunrise/sunset astronomical timer set for 33.577538 degrees north and my personal longitude.
This simulates the photoperiod of the BainsKloof Mountain pass where this plant originates.
Although if you're in New Zealand, you'd set it for 33.577538 degrees south and your personal longitude.
I have a tiny hypodermic syringe that I use to give a micro dose of MaxSea.
MaxSea is mixed 1/4 teaspoon per gallon distilled water.
I squeeze out a drop about the size of the dew drop on the tentacle.
I feed one leaf per plant about once a month, I don't want to rush the plant.
If I do catch a fungus gnat or similar tiny bug, baby regias get first crack at them.
Even when mature, my regias get the majority of any insects that I capture in the house.
I often break the rules and top water them, not letting more than 1/4 inch water build up in the water tray, I'm always afraid of root rot with this species especially with large amounts of peat in the media.
I'm pretty obsessive about checking them daily until they they hit 2 inches tall.
At that point, you can relax a little.
My first batch of seeds from Petar Kostov all died off between 1/8 inch and almost 1/2 inch tall.
My second batch of seeds from the same source fared much better, 6 of the 12 seeds planted made it to maturity and some are now flowering in the basement under led lights.
My third attempt of 5 seeds from a Texas grower's cultivar candidate resulted in 4 mature plants, some of which have divided into two plants.
Some of these are also flowering.
Growing conditions vary from location to location, so my method should be only a starting point.
As I often say, "This is just my 02¢ worth" and "YMMV".
Good growing,
Mike

Shadowtski wrote: ↑Thu Jun 23, 2022 3:29 am I germinate Drosera regia seeds in test tubes filled with distilled water.
It takes about 2-3 weeks for the seeds to sprout.
I keep them at room temperature under growlights.
I pot them up about a week after the seeds visibly pop open and the radicle emerges.
I use a mix of peatmoss and perlite as growth media.
I've played with ratios of 1:1 to 8:1 (perlite:peat), these days I go 1:1 to 2:1 .
I do not fertilize the soil.
I usually dome them until they are about 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch tall, but I remove the dome daily to check on them and freshen the air.
I use a cheap hardware store LED shoplight , about 3000 lumens about 6 inches up.
Photoperiod is controlled by a sunrise/sunset astronomical timer set for 33.577538 degrees north and my personal longitude.
This simulates the photoperiod of the BainsKloof Mountain pass where this plant originates.
Although if you're in New Zealand, you'd set it for 33.577538 degrees south and your personal longitude.
I have a tiny hypodermic syringe that I use to give a micro dose of MaxSea.
MaxSea is mixed 1/4 teaspoon per gallon distilled water.
I squeeze out a drop about the size of the dew drop on the tentacle.
I feed one leaf per plant about once a month, I don't want to rush the plant.
If I do catch a fungus gnat or similar tiny bug, baby regias get first crack at them.
Even when mature, my regias get the majority of any insects that I capture in the house.
I often break the rules and top water them, not letting more than 1/4 inch water build up in the water tray, I'm always afraid of root rot with this species especially with large amounts of peat in the media.
I'm pretty obsessive about checking them daily until they they hit 2 inches tall.
At that point, you can relax a little.
My first batch of seeds from Petar Kostov all died off between 1/8 inch and almost 1/2 inch tall.
My second batch of seeds from the same source fared much better, 6 of the 12 seeds planted made it to maturity and some are now flowering in the basement under led lights.
My third attempt of 5 seeds from a Texas grower's cultivar candidate resulted in 4 mature plants, some of which have divided into two plants.
Some of these are also flowering.
Growing conditions vary from location to location, so my method should be only a starting point.
As I often say, "This is just my 02¢ worth" and "YMMV".
Good growing,
Mike

Starting D. regia from seed 101! This will be awesome for when I want to do this!

@Shadowtski,

This might be a stupid question, but can you have adult Regiae on a windowsill if it has sufficient sunlight?

Thanks for the detailed response, Shadowtski!

criticalleafbladeatk wrote: ↑Thu Jun 23, 2022 8:28 am @Shadowtski,

This might be a stupid question, but can you have adult Regiae on a windowsill if it has sufficient sunlight?

Thanks for the detailed response, Shadowtski!

You can try.
The sufficient sunlight is the iffy part.
I have never put D regia on my windowsills, my wife claims the windowsills for her houseplants, plus I get such good results from my current setup that I never considered alternatives.
If I was going to do this, I'd put the adult regia in the window and watch for signs of distress for the first two months or so.
Good growing,
Mike

Can anyone share photos of healthy small regia and extra credit for additional photos of ‘signs of distress’? If not, descriptions? I just received a small regia and I assume it’s going through normal shipping recovery and acclimation to a new environment. Older leaves looking rough, etc. It would be reassuring to have some photos to reference to see it things are on track in the next few weeks or to clue me in if it’s underfed/overwatered/too hot etc.

@criticalleafbladeatk thank you for the OP

This is a seedling that sprouted in April. This was my vacation setup, and it seemed happy when I got back so I left it like this. Nylon wick in a jar of water, 90% perlite.

Bug_cemetery wrote: ↑Thu Jun 23, 2022 2:50 pm Can anyone share photos of healthy small regia and extra credit for additional photos of ‘signs of distress’? If not, descriptions? I just received a small regia and I assume it’s going through normal shipping recovery and acclimation to a new environment. Older leaves looking rough, etc. It would be reassuring to have some photos to reference to see it things are on track in the next few weeks or to clue me in if it’s underfed/overwatered/too hot etc.

@criticalleafbladeatk thank you for the OP

Here are a few shots of a small healthy regia.
The leaves are a little over 3 1/2 inches long.
A root escaped from a one gallon community pot of D. regia and a new plant started to grow from that adventurous root.
I waited until it was 2 inches tall and starting to grow roots of its own, then I cut it loose and potted it up.

An unhealthy young regia will show anemic scrawny new growth and will not Booger Up well.
It will not wrap around captured prey like it ought to.
Drosera regia produce copious amounts of dew when they're happy.

Thank you! This is super helpful!

A few quick notes for regia-

I tried growing this plant for years before I finally got decent specimens. I was growing it as a highland plant like a South American sundew or Heliamphora. Turns out, they do much better when grown like a Sarracenia! Tons of light, lots of water, a simple peat/perlite/sand mix, and they’ll be happy. Don’t worry about warm temperatures, as they routinely experience ~100 F degree days without issue for me.

If your plant completely dies back, don’t toss it! Normally they die back the roots/rhizome for me at least once a year and always come back (usually with new additional growth points). In-situ D. regia has a pronounced season of dormancy.

Lastly, feed the crap out of your seedlings! Maxsea foliar fertilization and osmocote/Nutricote root feed really gives them a boost.