FlyTrapCare Forums

Hi all,

I could really use some help. My first sundew ever, a red cape I named Curly, seems to be dying and I can't pinpoint why. I have a few other sundews growing under the same conditions. My Alice Sundew is in the same tray and seems to be doing fine. The issue is that the new growth is dead and the plant is losing dew. I tried looking in the forum for a similar situation but couldn't find anything.

I noticed a slowing of new growth a week ago, but just brushed my concern aside, figuring it would pick up soon. I am quite concerned now because a couple of months ago my venus flytrap came down with a fungus, causing the flytrap to display the same symptoms, and that fungus was so aggressive that it took the whole plant down in a week. I have currently quarantined the sundew in case it has some sort of disease. Here are the conditions my sundew was growing in before:

issue: not growing, new growth is blackened, dew disappearing (i am aware that sometimes dew disappears naturally... in this case, this is occurring at an alarming rate)
light: cool 6500k light
location: indoors by a window and a CFL
humidity/temperature: should be good, i have a few other sundews that are doing fine under the same conditions
watering method: tray, with rainwater
media: LFS (this is what the plant came in when i bought it)
Theories on why my sundew appears to be dying:
- disease/fungus?
- not enough room for roots/needs to be repotted? (there are quite a few other babies that happened to start growing in the pot after i bought the sundew)
- something in the water (mineral build up)--this seems unlikely because there is an alice sundew in the same tray that seems to be doing fine
- something else???

Please let me know if you have any questions!

BEFORE AFTER NEW GROWTH DYING/ NEW LEAVES NOT OPENING
DEW DISAPPEARING If you could help me out and give me a clue on what's going on, I'd be so grateful. Thank you in advance.

Looks like the plant is being kept very wet for being grown indoors. I'd remove it from the water and keep the soil just moist and try to get it more natural sunlight or brighter artificial light.

Thanks for your reply and recommendations, Matt! I am confused though--is the tray method not a recommended method of watering sundews? Also, I have a few other sundews in the exact same condition. I am surprised my cape sundew is acting this way since it seemed to be a very tolerant plant--didn't even flinch (the dew did not disappear) when I moved it from the place where I bought it to my house. It is also right beside a window and I could not give it more natural light even if I wanted to.

BigMouth wrote:I am confused though--is the tray method not a recommended method of watering sundews?

Yes, the tray method is fine for watering any kind of plant. But for many species of carnivorous plant, they do not appreciate to be sitting in water all the time. To water via the tray method, sit the pot in the tray of water for 30 minutes or so, until the soil has soaked up all the water it can, and then remove the pot from the tray or dump the rest of the water out of the tray so as not to keep the plant water-logged.

Thanks, Matt, I will trybottom watering only once every few days. However I still don't understand how these symptoms have not manifested sooner if this were the root cause, seeing as I've had this plant for about 5 months.
Also I know VFTs and pitcher plants prefer not to have wet feet all the time but i thought sundews appreciated it.
Thanks again and I will try taking the plant out of water today.

I've heard that over time, minerals and humic acids can get wicked up to the surface of the soil with the tray method. My binata died back to stumps a few months ago from the same symptoms. Regardless, a good repotting and flushing should fix it if nothing else does.

w03 wrote:I've heard that over time, minerals and humic acids can get wicked up to the surface of the soil with the tray method. My binata died back to stumps a few months ago from the same symptoms. Regardless, a good repotting and flushing should fix it if nothing else does.

This is also true. Plants benefit greatly from being top watered regularly to flush out mineral build-up and to bring oxygen to the roots from the top.

Thanks guys. I flush it out and rinse out the container every 3 months, it's even on my calendar. Just flushed it yesterday. I'm a bit scared to repot though. Is 50/50 sphagnum peat moss and perlite okay?

BigMouth wrote:Thanks guys. I flush it out and rinse out the container every 3 months, it's even on my calendar. Just flushed it yesterday. I'm a bit scared to repot though. Is 50/50 sphagnum peat moss and perlite okay?

thats exactly what i use for most of my drosera, and it works fine

Okay awesome, thanks, Sander I guess I need to sterilize it first right? I think I read somewhere that spreading it on a cookie sheet and sticking it in the oven at 200-250F for 20 min would work?

If it's new peat just flush the crap out of it with distilled water and it should be good to go

BigMouth wrote:Okay awesome, thanks, Sander I guess I need to sterilize it first right? I think I read somewhere that spreading it on a cookie sheet and sticking it in the oven at 200-250F for 20 min would work?

Well, there is no absolute need for sterilization.
It does however keeps algae and other spores (ferns etc) minimized

I have never done it personally.

Oh okay! I was just worried about bacteria and stuff. I've only rinsed out soil before--much too lazy to sterilize--and it's been fine for me too.

I usually pour boiling water over once... Then I rinse many time with tap water and last with distill water. Squeeze them dry and use or pack it up.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus

Thanks Tish! That's what I'll do. I'd hate to use more distilled water than I need to