FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Since I am such a novice I was sure I must have killed my forked leaf sundew. I was so sad because it was my first and favorite sundew. Holding on to hope for a miracle I said a a little prayer... Prayer answered (see photo.)
I am aware of dormancy for vft's and sarracenia, but is there a list for sundews and pings? Just wondering do they all have a dormancy period?

Not all sundews go dormant. The fork-leaf sundew (drosera binata) will go dormant if temperatures and photoperiod decrease but they don't need to.

Mexican pings go through a succulent phase for dormancy. Their dormancy period is mainly triggered by the amount of water they get. Slowly decrease their watering to make them go dormant. Many people will not water their pings at all during the winter months.

Check out http://www.growsundews.com/ for more detailed sundew care, and http://www.rnssg.com/the-butterwort-garden.html for detailed ping care.

Hope this helped!

D. binata is kind of complex, whether or not it goes dormant depends a lot on what form you have (and possibly the location it originated from). As MrsMuscipula said, the dormancy generally isn't required, but they will go dormant under certain conditions. Lower photoperiod made mine go dormant even in temps around 70F, and it came back on its own in about 2 months.

There's a lot of other sundews with dormancy periods. Not all of these are obligatory, and they are pretty diverse.

The temperate species (e.g. D. filiformis, D. rotundifolia, D. anglica) have cold dormancies and will become reduced to a small bud during winter.

Petiolaris-complex sundews (e.g. D. paradoxa, D. falconeri, D. lanata) have a dry dormancy (often triggered inadvertently by stress) in which they reduce back to the center by varying degrees (some die all the way back and look dead).

Tuberous sundews also have a dry dormancy, and as the name implies survive through the summer as tubers.

Some pygmy sundews have a dry dormancy during which they die back to stipule buds, basically the stem bases protected by hairs.

Lastly, there are some winter growing sundews (e.g. D. trinervia, D. cistiflora) that more or less have a dry dormancy as above. They generally die back to thickened roots and reappear during the cool and moist winter.


Pings, as a whole, are somewhat simpler. There's three main types.

Mexican Pinguicula, as MrsMuscipula mentioned go through a dry dormancy where they produce succulent, noncarnivorous leaves. Some (P. acuminata, P. heterophylla, etc.) form really dense rosettes of these leaves that look like bulbs. In particular, dormancy for some of the more common species of Pinguicula isn't mandatory.

Warm-temperate Pinguicula (like your P. primuliflora) don't really change leaf types or die back to buds, but they will sometimes die back a little and slow down growth during the winter.

Cold-temperate pinguicula (e.g. P. grandiflora, P. vulgaris) die back all the way and form tight resting buds during the harsh winters of their native habitats.

Great information.... I have a lot to learn mostly about the dormancy period and how to care for the plants during that time. I have been trying to stay with the plants that are generally recommended for beginners because they are supposed to be "easier to grow" but when all the forks dried up I thought I killed it for sure.

Even if they aren't going dormant, many sundews will die back from stress and look completely dead, only to regrow from the roots later. D. binata is one of them - it has a really thick, extensive root system that will often regrow long after it has been dismissed as dead.

w03 wrote:Tuberous sundews also have a dry dormancy, and as the name implies survive through the winter as tubers.

I believe you mean summer. Tuberous sundews endure a hot, dry summer in Australia and have to die back to conserve moisture. Their dormancy can be triggered by high daytime temperatures or just by time.

Ah yes, thanks for catching that, I was typing this pretty late at night. :p Only the temperate drosera have winter dormancies, the other sundews go dormant during summer as you said.

As mentioned, D. binata is a hardy enough dew that it can grow back from the roots so long as they're still well intact. I've had mine crap out on me because it was heat stressed only to come alive again like nothing happened.

Back then thought I killed it.... My favorite greenhouse bug catcher

Looks great hollyhock!

About D. binata and dormancy... The species has a wide range along the east coast of Australia from southern queensland down to tasmania and New Zealand. I'm pretty sure that plants from different locations will respond differently to dormancy. At least in Sydney, all wild plants will go dormant in winter (probably due to photoperiod).

In my opinion, the best thing to do for this species is to give it a natural photoperiod and let it respond accordingly. Don't try to force it to go dormant or actively try to prevent it.

The species periodically dries out during extended dry periods in summer. The roots are thick and fleshy and are quick to respawn new leaves. Conversely, some populations in the mountains and southern regions are covered in snow during winter.