Date: Wed, 23 Dec 1998 09:04:53 EST From: L235@aol.com To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg4083$foo@default> Subject: Re: D. linearis culture
Davis Mellard writes:
> A friend is sending me a couple of dormant D. linearis, and I would
> appreciate hearing from someone who has cultivated this drosera, either
> successfully or unsuccessfully. Since it grows in marl bogs, it's culture
> is probably different than most drosera.
Wow, what a great friend you have, David! <smile>.
In my field experience I have seen D. linearis grow both in typical alkaline
marl bogs, as well as in apparent peat bogs in the company of D. rotundifolia,
S. purpurea and P. vulgaris as well as sedges and other non-carnirvorous
vegetation.
In cultivation, I tried a very unscientific experiment my first year with the
plants, potting some in a mix of vermiculite, sand and powdered lime, and some
in peat and sand. Nothing as fancy as a control population in native soil.
I found that the plants in the peat/sand mix seemed to do the best for me, and
transferred all to that medium the second growing season, which ended in early
September for these plants here in Northern Virginia.
My plants have thrived for me for two growing seasons and have successfully
overwintered. However, I did notice that the plants were slightly smaller in
cultivation the second year, and the hibernacula at this point are notably
smaller than they were the previous winter. I have heard, to my dismay, that
this is a fairly common fate of D. linearis in cultivation ... a slow decline
over several years.
While I am amazed to have grown the plant successfully at all, outdoors, in
the heat of a Mid-Atlantic US summer, I would certainly like to maintain the
plants long-term.
I'm looking forward to comments from the list as eagerly as David.
Jay Lechtman (L235@aol.com)
Ashburn, Virginia, USA
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