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How to dig up and re-plant Tuberous Drosera tubers

Un dug tuberous Drosera in pot

Tubers dug and removed from pot

Once your pot of Tuberous Drosera has completed its annual life cycle and died back to its dormant tuber, it is time to investigate whether you have been lucky enough to increase your tuber numbers. Before starting this process you must ensure that the soil is bone dry and the plants have had time to completely die back to their dormant tuber state.

Carefully, remove the soil from the pot and spread it out on a suitable surface. I like to use a clean green tray which will contain the whole of the pot contents and allow me to thoroughly sift through all the soil in the pot looking for 'bonus' tubers. The photo above shows both the actual tubers found in this particular pot together with the long dead and dried branching structure of Drosera peltata.

Pot and moss peat

pot plus moss peat and tuberous soil mix

Once you have discovered all the tubers in the pot, you are ready to re-plant them ready for next years growth. First, place a layer (about 2-3cmms deep) of pure sphagnum moss peat in the bottom of your chosen pot. This will help stop the very dry and sandy Tuberous Drosera soil mix from falling out of the holes in the bottom of your pot.

Once your layer of pure sphagnum moss peat is in place, you can re-fill the pot with Tuberous Drosera soil mix. I use equal parts of sphagnum moss peat and round grained horticultural sand (Except for D. gigantea which, according to Allen Lowrie requires a mix which is 80% round grained sand and 20% sphagnum moss peat). Refill the pot to about 2-3 cms from the top.

Tubers placed on soil surface

Finished Pot

Place your tubers on to the top of this soil surface making sure that the growing bud is facing upwards. Then cover the tubers with more tuberous Drosera soil mix until your tubers are at a depth of approximately 3 times the diameter of your tubers.

Finally, label the pot. I also like to add a second label which reminds me of how many tubers I buried, when I checked them last and what colour the tubers were. This really helps me to re-locate the tubers in 12 months time when the whole cycle repeats itself once again.

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