FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Anyone know the reason that some tip of the leaf of drosera capensis (or any other drosera) will dry up ? I cut two tips that they where drying up and where still have dew on the rest of the leaf. It is normal or it could be leaf tip burn or adjusting to the new artificial light ? I have two foils on the garden that bring some light in, from a distance of about 7 meters and a 36w 6500 k, 3250 l, at a 2 inch, for 8 hours and they catch lots of fruit flys. The nephentes, cactus and other plants doesn't show anything bad.
Should i make leaf cuttings with the ones that they developed dry tips, that they don't go wasted ?

The new traps on the plant behind the one in the middle looks like it hasnt got enough light. I do not use lights (Only sun) and do not know if the light is strong enough. Unless you have some harsh conditions outside, if you adjust it to full sun properly, it will probably do fine like my d.capensis outside since they are plants from Africa growing in full sun.

Definitely needs more sun....

But people grw them with a 36w for example ! It is my case (36w) and i give them 3 hours natural light.I read somewhere that "Dry brown tips" are from multiple causes, including to little water or to much.

question is that live moss require for faster growth?

No, you don't need live moss for faster growth.
Some people like Sphagnum moss as a topping for their plants, but the moss in the picture isn't Sphagnum. It usually starts growing after a while.

I think it is star moss, but i could be wrong, i will made a topic about it, it is spreading fast under artificial light.

it needs more light and more water. It may also be the leaf folding over a bug. humidity can be a problem to, it needs some good humidity, after all they are from south africa BTW, the humidity needs to be at about 50% roughly.

To me, it just looks like new leafs forming on capensis. I cannot tell if the tips are brown in your photo, but mine looks the same as the new leaves come out of the center. Your plant does seem to need more light. I don't know how long you've had it under the current conditions, but the light you described should work depending how close you have the fixtures. My capensis seems to like water. I keep mine in a saucer with a 1/4" to 1/2" of water. They do seem to do better if kept around 50% humidity but I do believe capensis can withstand lower humidity and do just fine if kept in a tray of water. I've added a picture of mine so you can see the new growth coming out of the center and compare it to yours. I hope this helps.

Real sun is ALWAYS better than artificial light, buy a ton! your plants are also still pretty young, so it will not look like Jason's plant yet. But remember, this plant grows in wet, humid, sunny south Africa. It needs plenty of water, plentiful humidity, and several hours of REAL sunlight.

Greg.

I agree that the plant needs more light, but I wouldn't necessarily say that artificial lighting is worse than real sunlight if the proper spectrum is provided at a sufficient intensity. If the leaves are not developing any red coloration, you need to move them closer to the lights. I have mine within 2-6 inches of my T-8 bulbs depending on the time of year (further away during the hot summer so the plants don't overheat). I've had to grow my sundews indoors for the past 3 years since I've been away and they've done extremely well. But there's nothing better than getting free light from the sun rather than paying the big bucks for electricity costs.
For example, here are greenhouse-grown D. capensis at the top, and D. capensis plants grown indoors under artificial lights at the bottom:

In greenhouse #1:

larger size- http://www.growsundews.com/sundews/cape ... _large.JPG

closer #2...

http://www.growsundews.com/sundews/cape ... _large.JPG

Under lights indoors:

http://www.growsundews.com/sundews/cape ... _large.JPG

Typical D. capensis showing some red coloration under lights indoors:

http://www.growsundews.com/sundews/cape ... _large.JPG

once again another great explanation from sundewman!

sundewman, my capensis is looking pretty bad, I have had it for about a year, and it was doing good once, but I can't figure out why it is growing so small and weird, here is a photo

Any Idea what might be wrong with it?
It is grown in a south facing window with at least 3-4 hours of direct sun, but is still looking unhealthy.

Hey hegory,
Your plant looks ok to me, since it still has red coloration in the tentacles, which is critical.
How tall of a pot are you growing it in? D. capensis prefers 4" pots or larger. The pots of the Cape sundews i posted pics of are in 6" pots and the roots still grow out of the bottom of the drainage holes. Also, I can't tell from the picture how much dew is present on the leaves, but in order for the plant to reach its full size, it will need to be fed with fruit flies, blood worms, or fish food, etc. http://www.growsundews.com/feeding_sundews.html

It also looks like your plant could be moved slightly closer to the lights, since the red coloration is somewhat faint on the tentacles. What type of lighting are you using and how far is the plant away from the lights?

I have it growing in a south facing window in a 4 inch deep pot, I haven't really fed it and after looking it up on your website I realize I need more sunlight, more bugs and a bigger pot, it only gets about two hours of direct sunlight, so I am going to move it to where it will get from 5-6 hours of direct sunlight, i am also gonna go find some more bugs to feed it, my biggest problem is that the leaves are almost dewless, making it hard for it to keep insects on it. It also did get attacked by aphids during the summer . do you usually leave the flower on?