Drosera x obovata 'Ivan's Paddle'Drosera x obovata 'Ivan's Paddle' is a beautiful Ivan Snyder hybrid. It is extremely easy to grow, and is a great beginner plant. "Ivan's Paddle' is a cross between the 'CA x HI' tropical D. anglica hybrid and D. rotundifolia. Since Ivan treated the plants with Colchycine, he was able to create a fertile D. x obovata (typically D. x obovata are infertile in nature). On top of this, no dormancy is required! It can be grown indoors or out, as long as it is fed. |
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  D. x obovata 'Ivan's Paddle' leaf cutting progression over 2 weeks
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Media: 100% Live Sphagnum is recommended, but I've found that a mix of peat moss and sand (silica) topped with dead or live LFS works better, in my experience. Media moisture: keep saturated or very moist. Can also handle waterlogged media. Humidity: very little is needed Pot height: grows well in small 3" pots. Trapping speed: is suprisingly fast. If prey is moving around, tentacle movement is very noticeable. Feeding: VITAL to growth. See feeding page. Food size: medium to small to avoid burning. But can handle larger portions once the plant is full grown. Plant dimensions: can get 3-4 inches tall. On average, will only reach 2-2.5 inches. Temperature: keep above 45 degrees to be safe. If subjected to low enough temps for an extended time, it will encourage dormancy to begin. Lighting/Photoperiod: Give as much light as possible. Tentacles will become bright red in enough light. Leaves will also turn red if not fed and left under intense lights for a few weeks (see top picture). Dormancy requirements: no dormancy required. Treat as a tropical sundew. May form hybernacula if given cold enough temps/ short enough photoperiod, but I've never seen this happen before. Flowers: white flowers, with slender flower stalks. Will flower continually when fed. Stalks will form after only 2.5 months from plants grown from leaf cuttings. Viable. Propagation TechniquesSeed: no stratification required. HOWEVER, seed is not true to species. ie if you grew them from seed, you could no longer call them D. 'Ivan's Paddle'. I haven't had luck yet with getting seeds, but that is because the flower stalks typically get burnt in my light fixtures. Leaf-cuttings: work extremely well. 10+ buds can form on a single leaf. Adult plants can be grown from leaf cuttings in only 3 months, if fed at least every other 2 weeks. Root cuttings: roots are pretty small, so this technique may not work very well. I haven't tried it before, though. Divisions: will clump very quickly. Are not picky as long as you don’t rip apart to many roots in the process. |
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