FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Although I have been very happy with my Dionaea cultures my Drosera Capensis are looking pretty sad. On the Right Is VFTs that were cultured earlier in the year from seeds and is one of many jars after replating. The jar on the left is Cape cultures from seeds, that started very close to the time as the VFTs. They have received the exact same conditions, on the same growth media. They also have been replated at the same times; the only difference is I’m dividing up the VFT because they are multiplying like mad, however the Capes I’m just transferring and getting rid of any dead material. The only thing I do notice, mainly after switching to GP 812 because of it's clarity, is that I have some pinkish bleeding, but I’m starting to wonder if it’s a weird bacteria. This is more evident in the photo of the jar turned over. Any one that has done Drosera have any thoughts on why these are doing so poorly?

Thanks Much

Bud wrote:The only thing I do notice, mainly after switching to GP 812 because of it's clarity, is that I have some pinkish bleeding, but I’m starting to wonder if it’s a weird bacteria.

Yes, that's definitely bacterial contamination. If you see any sort of discoloration in the media, that's almost always what it is (at least in the case of all of the CPs I work with in vitro). I've never had any in vitro CPs "bleed" unless you're starting from tissue and then you get phenolic bleeding.

Thanks Matt, Damb, would explain why the poor results. This was a very light pink and was not really that noticeable in Agar, It only really caught my attention when I switched to Gelcarin

Thanks again

Hi do you use 20%-25% ms ? Otherwise My drosera dont like vft medium with 50% ms.

Sorry to hear that your capensis cultures are not doing well, but if you don't mind me asking I am curious as to why you are putting Drosera capensis into culture when it is such a prolific and potentially invasive species in most collections? Don't get me wrong Bud, it's an attractive plant and a must have for any CP collection and you've done well to get it this far into culture. I just find it interesting that for all of the Drosera species out there that you've chosen capensis.

linton wrote:Sorry to hear that your capensis cultures are not doing well, but if you don't mind me asking I am curious as to why you are putting Drosera capensis into culture when it is such a prolific and potentially invasive species in most collections? Don't get me wrong Bud, it's an attractive plant and a must have for any CP collection and you've done well to get it this far into culture. I just find it interesting that for all of the Drosera species out there that you've chosen capensis.

First I had the seeds available at the time, and in the practice and study of the hobby, I plan to do many different species (time and room permitting) , including very soon; Nepenthes from seed and even Banana plants from meristem. As far as Capes, I personally like that plant, I think it is a large impressive Drosera has some movement after it captures prey, and has color variations. It is easy and to grow, and has a lot of tolerance in growing conditions, I eventually want to do some farmers markets, to introduce others to the hobby with reasonably priced plants; and this is a great beginner plant. As far as invasive, I guess it could be if one would let it go to seed and scatter them around, I haven’t seen too many post of growers losing sleep, because of Capensis taking over their collections; personally, I am much more worried about the heavy dandelions that took over my lawn this year.

Linton, I don’t mind you asking at all, but Gee, If I wanted to ask someone ”why they are TCing a particular plant, I’d be way, way more interested in asking why someone would knowingly want to propagate a probable viral infected plant, that produces unique coloration, that is already desirable by naive collectors, and may be sold or traded or given away ; and could end up infecting many entire collections.

Bud

Xeno wrote:Hi do you use 20%-25% ms ? Otherwise My drosera dont like vft medium with 50% ms.

I thought about mentioning this as well, but D. capensis is one of the few dews that actually grows OK on 50% MS. Most of them like it somewhere between 20% and 30%.

I too put D. capensis into TC to practice and learn about starting Drosera seeds. I dumped all of the cultures down the drain in the end, but I still might flask some more just to experiment with.

Bud wrote:If I wanted to ask someone ”why they are TCing a particular plant, I’d be way, way more interested in asking why someone would knowingly want to propagate a probable viral infected plant, that produces unique coloration, that is already desirable by naive collectors, and may be sold or traded or given away ; and could end up infecting many entire collections.

Agreed!

Xeno wrote:Hi do you use 20%-25% ms ? Otherwise My drosera dont like vft medium with 50% ms.

Xeno,

Yes they were on 50%, Thanks much for the tip! I do plan I making some 20%-25% very soon for some Nep Truncata seeds I just received, perhaps I will introduce some Drosera seeds with that batch media.

Thanks again

Bud wrote: I don’t mind you asking at all, but Gee, If I wanted to ask someone ”why they are TCing a particular plant, I’d be way, way more interested in asking why someone would knowingly want to propagate a probable viral infected plant, that produces unique coloration, that is already desirable by naive collectors, and may be sold or traded or given away ; and could end up infecting many entire collections. Bud

Agreed, capensis is a great beginners plant and the different forms are rather eye catching, but to me putting it into TC just seems like a lot of work when it grows so readily from seed in the traditional manner, or at least it does here. Recently I helped a friend ropot his Sarras & VFT's and we threw away a whole bunch of capensis in the process - a kitty litter tray full of them. They had self seeded and spread throughout almost every pot, sometimes even choking out the original plants. I can understand if you want loads of them to sell at the market (a great idea I reckon). It just interests me to understand peoples motivation to culture different plants. If you need some fresh seed to restart your cultures, send me a PM and I can post you some fresh seed.