FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

hello there i recently got a drosera sundew and a penguicula. the penguicula has "dew" i guess but the drosera doesnt , is this normal since its winter??? i read that if i spray water on the leaves that this will stimulate it to produce the dew. is this true???

Ahoy!! Anrich here...
Winter means dormancy, so yeah, your plant must me resting, thus it is not going to feed, which means no sticky dew( or glue drops). So, when your plant exits dormancy is should develop 'dew' at a rapid pace. this can be hurried even further by artificial light.
The longer the photo period, the faster everything will develop.
So, give it all the natural light it can get and then substitute with artificial light (Fluorescent is one of the best options ) until your plant has a 20 hour Day and 4 hour night.
Hope it helps!!!!

I don't have a ton of experience with sundews. I have about 5 different species that I am growing from seed right now and most of them have a fair amount of dew right now. However, I have noticed that they go through phases where they don't have much dew, but I haven't been able to pin down a reason.

The visible dew drop are a concentrated glue of glucose, digestive enzymes, and some other Unpronounceable Components.
the average mature sundew has about 15Grams of 'glue'. Thats alot to produce!!!
Thats enough to digest 4 grams of protein at once.( 8 mature flies)
Not a good Idea to feed 8 flies at once by you get the picture.
So to conclude:
Sundews have alot of chemicals to produce with very little raw material. So time is the only unavoidable factor.
Ahoy!!!!

cool thats what i figured. the drosers looks really healthy its nice and green and its grown since i first got it. the penguicula though looks the same but it does have the stickyness since i saw a spider stuck on it. its nice and sunny here in california should i continue 2 leave them out in the sun???

Yes, I would leave them out in the sun. I don't know what species your Drosera is, but I think all temperate CPs love the sun.

Sure, just keep them moist, and keep the pot and medium cool.
too much direct sun light is never good, but better than too little.
It's quite funny to see a bug fight for it's life in a sundew! Especially a spider.
Do note that mozzies are the safest food for dews.
Do check "food for 'blood thirsty' plant" for mozzy ideas.
You might just like it.

lol! thanks for all the advice! this site always has the best straight up answers to all my questions thank u!

Flytrapcare.com rules!!!!!!!
Your welcome

According to the ICPS forum, lack of dew on your Drosera can be caused by transplant shock, sudden climatic change (too hot & dry) and insufficient or poor quality water. The plant should be protected from hot, drying winds as this can also cause the dew to disappear. Misting the leaves is not recommended as it dilutes and washes away the mucilage - it can possibly make things worse!!! Try increasing thew humidity to get your dew back then slowly decrease it again over the course of a week or two.

My sundews did that too when the winter came around, and the humidity in the air decreased, also I had just transplanted them. However, they are fine now. They were used to about 40 humidity, but they adapted to 20 humidity and are producing a lot of dew. I would say just let them adjust? From my experience it does work. Just make sure the plant has a lot of light. What kind of sundew is it?

Sorry to bring this thread back to life.

All 3 species of my sundews are now not "dewing" so well. I'm guessing it's the recent winds we had. I'm guessing I should just continue to give them full sun and make sure they are watered enough and they will comeback to making dewy leaves?

Some insecticides like acephate ("Orthene" or "Orthenex") make the dew dry up and the plants sulk for a while before deciding to resume dew production.

Thanks Steve, good to know. I don't think I applied any to them. But I did to my VFTs a month ago and some might have gone on them.

Hi Adam

maybe you can try this website http://www.greenculturesg.com/forum/ind ... owforum=51

I'm sure they will be willing to help u