Many of my drosera have sent up flower spikes and are currently in bloom. While it may be some time before the seeds are ripe, (I dunno how long it takes..) I'd like to trade for other drosera varieties when they are. I'd like pygmy seeds especially- Here's what I'll have, in no particular order: natalensis sessafolia admirabilis capilaris burmanni nitidula X puchella spatulata capensis (limited number) nitidula ssp. allantostigma X eriksoniae (limited number) Anyone interested? If you are, please send some mail & post "dibbs" below so the rest of us know what's available or not.

Isn't Audrey 2 a cross between a VFT and a butterwort? Anyways, I am no Botanist, nor a Taxonomist, but I feel that classification of carnivorous plants, as genus and species, has been muddled. The experts can't agree upon how many legitimate species there are, within a given genus, and its seems that anything I've ever learned in Biology, associated with the concept of speciation (ontogeny & recapitulation)no longer strictly applies. I'm also concerned that the classification has mixed analogy (filling a similar niche) with homology (structure) and whether certain plants, displaying similar characteristics, but very different geographical locations, are truly related, or as related as what has been deemed. Personally, I think there are a lot fewer true species out there, based upon what has the ability to mate with another, producing viable offspring. But that is conjecture on my part! And I wonder what these plants were like in Gondwanaland. Personally, I think that hybridizing different sundews with VFT's may be too much of a genetic stretch, but maybe attempting this with the Aldrovanda may be more workable. Feed me Seymore!

I have several D. spatulata growing in different terrariums under artificial light and they flower like crazy! I've always let them flower and produce seed and it has never had any noticeably bad effect on them. They still produce dew, they still grow like weeds, yadda yadda freakin' yadda. I believe the "cutting off the flower stalks so the plant doesn't die" pertains mostly to Venus Flytraps who are notorious for becoming weak after flowering (this is if conditions aren't great). So I say let your plant flower, collect the seed, plant the seed, and keep growing more spatulata! Also, good luck with your sundew. Sounds like it'll be chomping on the big bugs in no time :)

Hello Cmm889, Good going with your plants. I have never heard of a Drosera alata... the Latin term alate (winged) is usually reserved for plants that produce winglike extensions, like Nepenthes alata and Sarracenia alata. Can you describe that sundew? Sundews tend to grow fast, however; will grow faster from root cuttings, leaf cuttings, and plant division. The Drosera spatulata in particular will generate root runs a short distance from the adult plant and eventually create a dome like clump. You can easily (as long as you are patient and careful with the roots) divide that clump into a dozen or two plants that will all produce their own clumps eventually. They are very resilient and will survive such division quite well. You just have to unpot them, clean the roots off, and start pulling and prying at the clump with your fingers until you find natural division points that will begin to tease apart more easily as you go. Drosera capensis does not produce plantlets from root runs from my experience, however, is a weed that will produce thousands of seeds that will grow into adults in a year or two. In six months you can have adult plants by making root cuttings or leaf cuttings. When you repot the adult plants just clip off extra long root masses and repot those under a fraction of an inch of moss/perlite and keep them watered. In a month they will sprout new plantlets that will grow quickly into adults in less than half a year. Presently I have just done the root cutting thing with my cape sundew and divided my spoon leaf sundews a while ago. Now I have almost two dozen seperate D. spatulatas and almost the same number of new D. capensis plantlets growing in. Venus Flytraps will grow to adulthood in 2-3 years from seeds. You can wait to divide the adult plants after a couple of years of undisturbed growth or you can take leaf pullings and try to get those to sprout. You will only want to divide the adults' rhizomes once every couple of years to give them time to reestablish themselves. One thing, growing them from seed is not necessarily difficult, but can be rewarding if you are patient. They might be tiny at first, but if you set up a good environment for them you will have the benefit of watching them grow and you will feel a sense of accomplishment as you see them growing larger. I am not sure how you would propagate a Drosera alata as I have never seen one. If you have a Sarracenia alata it will produce plantlets around its parent rhizome that you can divide every few years like Venus Flytraps. They require cross-pollination if you want seeds and seedlings will take up to 3-5 years to grow to adulthood and require stratification before sowing. If you have a Nepenthes alata, you can take vine cuttings when you prune the plant as it will grow several feet in length. Root the cuttings like you would an ivy in an opaque vase of distilled water, just wait longer for roots to grow in... You can also plant the cuttings in moist Nepenthes mix after notching the planting end and applying rooting hormone to increase the strike potential for roots. It will take a month or two for roots to grow and the cuttings to become established plants on their own.