Question
QUESTION: Hi, I was wondering of you could tell me a little about Drosera binata giant form? I purchased one from a guy on ebay and I know nothing about it and hes not answering messages for some reason. I know nothing about it except I practically stole it from him and its huge.


ANSWER: Hi Erin,

The plant is most likely a giant staghorn, Drosera binata ssp. dichotoma.  This plant is native to New Zealand and is very tolerant of cold weather.  I have a pot of this sundew growing outside alongside my Sarracenia.  It goes dormant each winter and survives temperatures as low as 14癋.  By late spring, it sprouts back up!

As far as I can tell, this plant doesn't require a winter dormancy, though it will go dormant if the conditions are right.  It's possible to grow this plant as a true tropical plant, but you'll need to keep the light levels and temperature high throughout the year.  Otherwise it'll die back to the soil in response to lower light conditions and/or cool temperatures.  The plant will emerge when temperatures warm up again.

This plant also likes a lot of sunlight.  Grow it in full sun conditions.  My plant outdoors gets about 10 hours of direct sunlight throughout the summer months.

For more information about growing tropical sundews, read our care sheets online:
http://www.cobraplant.com/caresheets

Good growing!
Jacob Farin

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I think you are dead on about it being a staghorn. Each leaf only has 2 points. Here are a couple of pictures. I only paid  $6 plus $6 shipping. It was just a bad auction for him I guess. He started bidding at $2.25. Anyway, what would be the actual value of this plant? Do you know? http://img162.imageshack.us/img162/1668/p4240292ov1.jpg
http://img102.imageshack.us/img102/1753/p4240293bm0.jpg

Answer
Thank you for the links to the photos.  After reviewing the photos, I not certain about it being a giant staghorn.  Rather, it appears to be a very large variant of the t-form forkleaf sundew (Drosera binata ssp. binata).  The giant staghorn will have four points, giving it the staghorn appearance.  The care is still the same for both plants.

I'm not really allowed to discuss actual value of plants or other commerce issues since this format is specifically related to the growing of carnivorous plants.  But paying $6 for any plant of that size and quality is a good deal!

Good growing!
Jacob Farin