Question
D. regia
Hi,
I bought this king sundew from you guys about a year and a half ago. I re-potted him and he seems to be ok, but he's growing pretty slow. As careful as I can be, I'm still seeing other sundew volunteers pop up in his pot. I've read where their roots can be sensitive and I am hesitant about re-potting too frequently, but also concerned about the competition from the other plants. At some point should I re-pot him to get him to a larger size? I hate to wait until he's on the decline to re-pot but also don't want to rush the process. Is there an indicator as to when to re-pot or just every couple of years?
Thanks,
Guy
AnswerHi Guy,
Although there's no exact way to determine this, I look at a couple of things. First, is the plant just crowded? Do you see roots coming out the bottom of the pot? Is it approaching two years in the pot? After that long the peat is usually starting to break down. If either of these are true it's probably time to repot.
Overall I haven't found Drosera regia too fussy to transplant as long as your gentle, and don't mess with the roots too much. I've always used a Superthrive soak with ours also. It does seem to help. Having said that, I've also cut off a root or two for propagation off plants, but the mother plants seem to recover just fine as long as the other roots are fine.
When you transplant try to use as big of a pot as you have room for. Taller pots are great considering how long their roots are. With our plants I've definitely noticed pot size affects plant size. Also, I noticed you have live sphagnum on your plant, be sure to keep that. It is good for them, and helps with cooling.
Good Growing!
Jeff Dallas
Sarracenia Northwest
http://www.cobraplant.com
