QuestionQUESTION: i've had my king sundew (which i got from you guys) for a little over a year and a half. last spring i repotted it into a large "community sundew container" its about 6inches deep. it shares the space with spoon leafs, scorpiodes, red capes and frazier island sundews. the king hasn't really grown significantly for the last few months... it just looks like it has looked for the last half year. (leaves very dewy, healthy & green) i will be repotting it into a larger and deeper pot (and i think i will just put the king in the pot by itself)... any suggestions on how deep of a pot it requires? i was thinking a 10-12 inch pot to give the roots plenty of room to stretch out.... does that help the plant grow to the hulking beast that i hope it will become?
ANSWER: Hi Darren,
A 10-12" pot is great for a D. regia, and I would add that if you have the room to go bigger with the pot, do it. Pot size definitely has influence on how big this plant gets. Our largest ones in our greenhouse are always in the biggest pots. The King truly deserves it's name. I never cease to be impressed at how big this plant can get.
Good Growing!
Jeff Dallas
Sarracenia Northwest
http://www.cobraplant.com
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Well, i took your advice and went BIG... I had a 15" pot that i had reserved for the summer for my white top tarnok pitcher plant. But, as u know, its mid winter in SD and my pitchers and VFT's are fast asleep in their winter condo in my garage (which i've "defungused" 2x already this winter and they are all lookin good). Ok, back to my king sundew. I pulled it out of the box i had it in, and to my surprise, i had a main root that was SUPER healthy and white looking, and it measured over 20" WOW!! i would have never guessed. I made a few root clippings that were about 1.5-2 inches long, and i've got them in my high humidity environment, and keeping my fingers crossed that they all will flourish.
Here are my 2 questions. 1. Anything special i should do to ensure the king sundew root cuttings sprout? I have them in a small enclosed environment, sitting on a 2x peat and 1x perlite mix. upon seeing sprouts, i've slowly acclimated them to lower humidity before xfering them to permanent pots.
question #2. with the much larger pot, i cant fit the sundew on my windowsill, so i have it positioned on an endtable directly in front of my west window. it MAY recieve a little less direct sunlight (it should get close to 3-4 right now after the repot) will this affect the sundew drastically? I'm planning on putting him outside in may to enjoy the warm days and cooler nights, hoping i'll have a monster at the end of the summer! I've read and re-read as much king sundew info as i can get my hands on... just seeing if i missed anything.
THank you in advance!
SD Darren!
AnswerHi Darren,
#1. What you're doing is exactly how we handle root cuttings. I like to soak mine in a Superthrive solution, but this isn't vital. Also be sure to spray with a fungicide. A propagating dome is fungal paradise. A product I've started using regularly for cuttings is called Rootshield. It's a biological fungicide based on the fungus Trichoderma. It grows a layer over roots protecting them from pathogenic fungi by actually attacking and eating the harmful fungi. Here's a link: http://www.territorialseed.com/product/130/s It's made to be mixed in water, but for roots cuttings I just sprinkle a very light layer of the spore powder over the roots before putting them into the propagating dome. When I've done this I've seen no mold at all except a faint green that is the Trichoderma growing. With chemical fungicides I've often had to reapply.
#2. This window set-up should be fine. You get much more sun in South Dakota than we do here in Oregon, and D. regia is a little more shade tolerant anyway. They grow among grasses in nature. Here's a fun link to some in their native South Africa: http://icps.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=africa&action=display&thread=3586
Good Growing!
Jeff Dallas
Sarracenia Northwest
http://www.cobraplant.com
