FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Benurmanii wrote:Hmmm. Did you measure the temp directly under the lights? The temps sound fine, but if it were hotter, I would imagine that it would take longer for your regia to settle in.

Directly under my lights (im talking literally 1-2" away) its reading 77F. I keep that plant about 6-8" away from those same lights. They run pretty cool usually. Its almost the same temps from about where they normally sit. Im wondering if these plants would turn that same brown color (like in my pics) if i wasnt watering quite enough? These new leaves only have dew for about 2 days tops before dying off and sending a new one up. Very strange. Usually when i top water, nothing goes to the bottom tray except for a couple drops. Im so afraid of root rot from all i have read on these that maybe im holding back too much? However, beginning today im watering enough over the top to fill the bottom tray, then pouring out that bottom water so that the roots can breathe. Guess ill try that for a few days...

You could definitely be over watering. My regia is bigger than yours but I water it usually everyday with enough water to see a small puddle around the pot. Its topped with LFS and I believe the media is 50/50 peat moss/perlite. Also you could had shocked it when you replanted it. I've heard they don't like to be get their roots disturbed. Also moving it around could stress it out(I know that from experience)

Update as of today. After removal of the humidifier a couple weeks back, all of the rusty colored spots and the leaf rotting went away. Now it seems very happy, and is on its way to recovery. One thing I'm noticing is that its also sending up leaves a little faster now and appears to be growing in an aggressive manner. There is actually another tiny leaf coming up inside the crown that I didn't get in the pics, which should take approx. 3 to 4 days to fully come out (like the last one did). I believe I set it back a lot when I transplanted it a few weeks back, but I'm quite convinced now after seeing these results day after day that it needed more perlite in the medium for better drainage. Now it can get better oxygen thru to the roots. I still bottom water until it stops soaking in water, then dump the excess and wait 4-5 days before doing it again. Rinse & repeat etc...Now if I could just stop killing my seeds that im trying to grow, all will be well..Thanks to all who have offered tips during its time of need

Called it! Nice recovery

I'm not an expert with D. regia, but I've managed to keep the current one I have alive for a couple of years - I keep it indoors year round (the last one died after I moved it outdoors). I think what the others have posted is spot on - keep it a bit cooler (this current plant died back when I kept it between the window and the curtain - no ventilation, but it has since recovered), I water it from the top and let it dry up a bit before watering again, and I fertilize with diluted Maxsea every 2 weeks. I've not been able to get my plant to grow leaves longer than 9 inches (about 22cm) though. Here are some closeup photos.



If you look closely at the below photo, you can see the remains of a couple of ants.

Wahter wrote:I'm not an expert with D. regia, but I've managed to keep the current one I have alive for a couple of years - I keep it indoors year round (the last one died after I moved it outdoors). I think what the others have posted is spot on - keep it a bit cooler (this current plant died back when I kept it between the window and the curtain - no ventilation, but it has since recovered), I water it from the top and let it dry up a bit before watering again, and I fertilize with diluted Maxsea every 2 weeks. I've not been able to get my plant to grow leaves longer than 9 inches (about 22cm) though. Here are some closeup photos.



If you look closely at the below photo, you can see the remains of a couple of ants.

Very nice! I use MaxSea on my vfts and sars, and Nep, but havent on my Regia yet for fear of messing this sensitive plant up... Are you applying foliar or ? I thought about maybe trying some on a q-tip and maybe applying a small swipe of it to the back of a leaf or two but i was waiting to see how others have done it with theirs before i kill mine

I spray Maxsea on the leaves of the D. regia.

California carnivores says:

"It can be used on all carnivorous plants at a dilution of 1/4 teaspoon per gallon."

Update:
It has been awhile since updating on this so I figured what the heck, may as well...
This is the very same plant as in the very beginning of this thread several months ago, and I am so lucky to have it around still. Nowadays it is doing very well. The longest leaf in the picture is about 7 inches. The leaves do not last long on these,but is a very vigorous grower. For about every 1 leaf lost, 2 more grow in its place (or at least that's what I have been seeing here). Then a couple will dry up and die off. I put about 5-8 small 15-9-12 Osmocote pellets into the bottom watering section of its pot, and whenever I water it from the bottom, they slowly dissolve and get the fertilizer into the root area first. Theres tons of small roots and 2 real thick meaty looking roots growing into the water tray section that now stay submerged in this fertilized water. Perhaps one day ill get a root cutting hehe.. I never disturb its progress and water over the top (not saying it cant be done, I just don't do it.) For every 6th time that I must fill the water tray, I do it with a light Maxsea/water solution. This plant never gets dry and It stays completely in water 24/7 just like a Capensis or most any other Drosera would. I have 2 new leaves starting to come out at the same time as you can see in the pic. About the only difference in growing one of these in comparison to other Drosera, is the type of medium. This guy is in VERY loose soil. This guy CANNOT tolerate its water tray drying up for even a single day, it will set it back weeks. I Always keep it in water...Almost 10% peat, 5% sand and 85%perlite. No direct Texas summer sun either ( which is why I have the white covering around the pot. Its in the 100's here, so it just gets good strong artificial light. Room temp high gets to 78F, and the night low I take it down to 64F. Humidity it doesn't like. It stays between 30-60% but mostly in the lower 40's. Hope that may help someone who is struggling with one of these. Once you get it down right, it will do good for you. Happy Growing

It's looking good...
Mine completely went black an I thought it had died. So I said what the heck and dug up the root. It was very thick and seemingly not rotted. I soaked the root for a while in water and replanted just the root. Well today something is poking up through the soil and appears to be new growth...We shall see if it can make a comeback... My moral of the story is never give up on a plant until you know for sure it's a goner....

hollyhock wrote:It's looking good...
Mine completely went black an I thought it had died. So I said what the heck and dug up the root. It was very thick and seemingly not rotted. I soaked the root for a while in water and replanted just the root. Well today something is poking up through the soil and appears to be new growth...We shall see if it can make a comeback... My moral of the story is never give up on a plant until you know for sure it's a goner....

Oh noes! I'm sorry to hear of that I surely hope it will bounce back for you. Is that the same one you had before ? I tell ya what, mine was really starting to scare me when it made a downturn shortly after I got it. I searched endlessly for weeks for any info I could find, and no advice seemed to be helping, other than the type of medium someone suggested.
Even then, I still added way more perlite than suggested and it is doing fine. Every growing environment is different and what works for one grower may or may not work for another. I was warned several times against the watering schedule. I was told It could cause it to get root rot and to never leave it sit in water. However after experimenting, I found that the soil and root area was literally drying up overnight in the weather where I live due to the very hot conditions, the evaporation rate is insane here. Nowadays I just keep it soaked (only by the roots), day and night and I avoid direct sun once summer season began and now its happy! One bit of advice that I do find consistent regardless of geographical location, is the fertilization. I am giving it way more fertilizer and food than what is usually suggested for this plant and it has really helped a lot and It can definitely handle it. Only thing I haven't figured out just yet is why it seems to attract way more insects than any of the other plants in my grow room. It is sitting on a rack next to 6 different types of Neps, vft's, tons of Sars, and other 'dews and for some reason its the only plant that is visibly getting pelted by gnats, flies etc (see pic). Its actually funny, but I really thought about sheltering it under a cup or inside an aquarium kept away from insects for a few days so that I can get some more leaves to grow before I let it foliar feed again. From my studies with my plant in particular, the overfeeding insects on the leaves part does kinda seem to set the individual leaf back on this plant a little bit when it catches too many bugs like that.
All of the seeds I bought back in December, I didn't get them past the first week after germination, and my attempt at growing from seed was a total failure. I think I may have dropped the humidity too fast once they began to sprout instead of slowly pulling the lid off of the seed starter tray that I had my seeds in and maybe sending the seedlings into shock...

I sure hope to hear your plant comes back around. I am almost certain it will. These may be tricky at times but I'm more than convinced they're bulletproof from what mine went through just to get where it is now