Drosera binata 'Octopus' is phenomenal forked leaf sundew! The leaves, at maturity, are huge and fork over and over! Created be Christian Klein, this is a hybrid between binata var binata and binata var dichotoma. This beast of a plant can fork 28 times at maturity and has gigantic leaves! The plants we are shipping will be 1-2” in size. Please note: Shipping can be hard on the sticky dew covering the leaves, so your plant may arrive without dew. It can take a few weeks for the plant to produce more dew. If after four weeks it has not produced dew, you may need to increase light. DORMANT SEASONALLY, STARTING AS EARLY AS OCTOBER AND LASTING AS LATE AS MARCH, DEPENDING ON THE CONDITIONS AND SPECIES/HYBRID. The leaves turn brown and die back to the crown during this time. Please see the final photo to see how Drosera can look when dormant. They will begin to grow vigorously again in Spring when photoperiods lengthen and temperatures increase. Care Instructions: Growth Habit: Drosera binata is a forked-leaf sundew that has thick black roots from which long, thin petioles arise. The leaves branch into two points and the flowers are clustered on tall stems. The leaves can be up to 10” tall. The plant spread into massive clumps. Drosera binata is a hardy and easy plant that will often regrow from the roots if killed by a freeze or other mishap. Most forms of binata in cultivation are sterile or have self-incompatible flowers. They can easily be propagated by leaf or root cuttings. Drosera have high leaf turnover meaning that their leaves die back frequently but new one grow in, you can remove black, dead leaves. Sun: Full sun. Drosera require lots of direct sun to grow and form dew properly. In many areas, they can be grown outdoors in full sun. If you live in a very hot AND very dry place like Arizona or Sacramento, for example, you will want to grow your plants in full morning sun with protection from the afternoon sun or under 30% shade cloth. It is common for several leaves to "burn" and die back when you first place your plant into the sun; your plant is acclimating to your conditions, and in most cases, new leaves will soon grow and be fully acclimated. These small Drosera should be carefully acclimated to the full sun if introduced in the hot and sunny months of summer as smaller plants can burn too much and die. Drosera can be grown indoors on extremely sunny windowsills that receive all-day sun, or under grow lights. Grow lights should be 6-10” from the plant, depending on the light, and on a 10-12 hour day length. If your plant is not producing dew, it most likely needs more light. It can take a few weeks for a plant to regenerate this dew after shipping or making changes to its growing conditions. If grown indoors, they will want a winter dormancy. We recommend growing this species outdoors. Water & Humidity: Always keep them in a saucer with a few inches of distilled, rainwater, or reverse osmosis water. Never let them dry out, especially in the hot summer months. Drosera are bog plants that prefer water-logged conditions unless you live somewhere both very hot AND extremely humid, like Alabama. In that case, let the water tray dry out for a day or two between refills. Always use distilled, reverse osmosis, or rainwater only. These plants are sensitive to their water quality, and giving them mineral and salt-free water is very important. In winter you can let them dry out a bit between rain storms, but do not let the soil get so dry that it pulls away from the edges of the pots. Be sure to supplement water as needed in between rains in winter. These plants appreciate humidity of at least 40%. Temperature and Dormancy: These are warm-temperate plants, meaning they need warm summers and chilly winters. They will do best grown outdoors year-round in areas with mild winters. They thrive in temperatures ranging from 20 degrees - 90F degrees and can take a brief freeze or high-temperature spike up to 100F degrees for a short period. If nighttime temps drop below 20 but rise again during the day above 40, your plant will be fine outside. They can also regrow from the roots after a freeze. They may burn back a bit in summer if exposed to a heatwave. If you live in an area with very cold winters, where nighttime temperatures drop below 20 degrees for sustained periods, you have three options for providing them with winter dormancy: the garage method, mulching in, or the fridge method. Dormancy is triggered by a combination of exposure to shorter photo-periods and cooler temperatures in the 40-60's F. While you can skip a dormancy period once or twice, in the long term, your plant will begin to do poorly and will eventually die if you skip this crucial period. The garage method: Bring your plant indoors to a sunny windowsill in an unheated room or garage, where the nighttime temperatures will dip down to 50-60F. Keep it well watered during this period, do not let it dry out, and put it outside again when the outside nighttime temperatures increase consistently above 20F. The mulch method: Mulch them in very, very well outdoors. Pack at least four inches of mulch on top of the plants and all around the sides to prevent winds from chilling them and freezing the roots. You can also dig the pots into the ground and then mulch heavily on top. The fridge method: leave your plant potted and place the pot in a resealable bag, and put the bag into the refrigerator. You can also treat the pot with super as a preventative before placing in the fridge. Leave them in the fridge from October to February, periodically checking on them to ensure they are still moist and not growing mold or fungus. Bring them out in February. You can vary the timing to align with your outside nighttime temperatures so that your plants can come out of dormancy when it is safe to place them back outside. You can leave them in the fridge for an extended period if you have very long winters. Soil and Repotting: We prefer a mix of four-part fertilizer-free peat moss to one-part perlite. You can add our pre-made mix to your order here. You do not need to repot your plant when you receive it from us for at least a year, and we recommend against it during the spring-summer months. Repot Drosera every 3 years in winter when they are dormant. Avoid placing in excessively large pots; size up only a few inches at a time. They do well in tall pots. Soil can also develop a swampy smell, especially right after shipping, when the plant is wrapped in plastic and sealed. This is normal; these plants grow naturally in bogs and swampy conditions, and peat moss can develop a bit of an anaerobic smell, but this does not indicate a problem with the soil. Feeding and Fertilizer: Drosera will catch plenty of food when grown outdoors. When grown indoors, they will significantly benefit from a foliar fertilizer. Plants grown outdoors will appreciate a foliar feed as well. Apply MaxSea fertilizer once per month to the foliage only. Dilute 1/4 teaspoon of MaxSea into one gallon of water and then apply with a mister bottle or a watering can. More Information: For further information on dormancy, repotting, dividing, and more, check out our website or our YouTube channel.
