FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

I've been cruising this forum for quiet some time and surprised I don't see more drosophyllum lusitanicum threads! I love these plants, how are yours doing?


I'm a first year grower and I've already almost lost my dewy pine twice! First was when I moved "dewy" in the greenhouse soon after transplanting (late summer). After watering one day, the new growth tips starting turning black. I relocated the plant outside and cut back on my watering believing this was due to rot.The plant rebounded to my surprise, and caught a bounty of insects in the fall.

Few weeks later I was forgetful on one of our first "freezes" and left dewy outside in subfreezing temps and high winds. The leaves wilted from being completely frozen and stopped producing dew. I was pretty bummed but having been reading that these plants can take temps as low as 20F, I didn't give up on it. I relocated dewy once again into the greenhouse where I "overwinter" my neps. My dewy pine rebounded once again and put out some seriously fast growth! I was lucky enough to witness dewy catching hundreds of fruit flies on one warm winter day, quite the spectacle to see.

Here's some pics of my dewy pine from when I first transplanted to now. I'm happy to see it thriving after all the setbacks, and most of all, being one of the best insect catchers!

August 2013


October 2013


January 2014

Your plant looks amazing! I have only ever read about dewy pines. Does it really smell sweet?

Nice growing!

SEWinans wrote:Your plant looks amazing! I have only ever read about dewy pines. Does it really smell sweet?

Nice growing!

Thanks! Out of all the CP's I've been growing this one has been the trickiest to get into a watering schedule. The best part, besides seeing hundreds on fruit flies struggling to their fate,is how sweet it smells! Just like honey.

I was skeptical of buying a seedling from california carnivores and repotting(comes in a peat pot) but it adjusted very well.

Your plant is looking good. They sure can be tricky in getting them going. I have two I'm trying to get going now. I grow mine in Arizona and have never hurt them by over watering. In summer they sit in a couple inches of water. Even now the tray in the bottom has water. My plants flower like no tomorrow and I get a ton of seeds.
Good growing
Jason

Arizona Flytrap wrote:Your plant is looking good. They sure can be tricky in getting them going. I have two I'm trying to get going now. I grow mine in Arizona and have never hurt them by over watering. In summer they sit in a couple inches of water. Even now the tray in the bottom has water. My plants flower like no tomorrow and I get a ton of seeds.
Good growing
Jason

I hope to get some flowers in the spring so I can start collecting seed! Have you ever been able to keep a mature plant alive for more then a year or two? I've heard that the inability to successfully repot an established plant leads to its demise at a certain point. Not sure how long that is though

The oldest plant I had was over three years. Sadly I allowed the pot to overheat. As for transplanting I transplanted one I had and it did fine. Again, I messed up by overheating the pot. These guys will not tolerate hot roots. I recommend using no smaller than a 12 inch terra cotta pot. That way it will be able to spend its life in there. These things have a huge root system so if you have room for a bigger pot more power to you!

Thanks for the heads up! I was hoping my 10" pot would be okay but after I collect seed I might try and risk repotting into a larger pot

I have a feeling this would do well here, and appreciate our 100 degree summers and mild winters. How have yours coped with the heat?
They look great!

As long as the pots don't get hot and they stay well watered they do very well in AZ.

I had a Dewy pine, I died from a frosty winter night when I left it outside. This was back in 2010.

Very nice!

What type of media do you have your Dewy Pines growing in? I have some seeds that I will plant in the spring.

Wahter wrote:Very nice!

What type of media do you have your Dewy Pines growing in? I have some seeds that I will plant in the spring.

I'm using a mix of Peat:perlite:silica:vermiculite:lava rock. It's mostly just large lava rock as the top dressing to keep all the perlite from floating up. I'd imagine though you'd want to use a peatier mix for seedlings. I got my plant through california carnivores which arrived in a 4" peat pot that i just transplanted to a large terracotta pot. I'd imagine to save space with seedlings this approach would work well!


Here's an up to date pic, just keeps getting bigger!

That thing is a monster! I wish I had enough space to grow one...

those are really cool and its amazing that they are not related to drosera at all! i mean it looks like drosera filliformis or somthing? i could get in to these... and i see you guys growing these out doors, do they need high humidity like drosera?

Nope. I also have drosera outside in Arizona and new dew issues. Main important item is light followed by light then a little more.