FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hi guys,

I've been growing sundews for about a year now. I've been able to successfully grow Drosera tokaiensis, burmannii, binata, spatulata, intermedia, and capillaris from seed to the point where they flower. However, I've tried my hand with Drosera capensis, which I thought would be one of the easier sundews to grow from seed, but my efforts do not seem to be working.

I've tried growing Drosera capensis seeds from 2 sources already, including the normal type, the alba variety, the broad-leafed variety, the red leafed variety, and the narrow-leafed variety. All of the seeds germinated, but died pretty quickly after producing a few leaves or stopped growing in general. Right now, I only have a few Drosera capensis seedlings that area few months old, which are the longest I've managed to keep them alive, but they don't look like they're doing so well. There are a lot of dead leaves, I feel that the plant is growing abnormally tall while remaining skinny, and there aren't that many healthy dewey leaves. What am I doing wrong? Are there different care requirements for capensis than other sundews?

As for my growing conditions, I grow the seeds on long fibre sphagnum moss under artificial grow lights, and I grow the sundews by a west-facing window. I make sure to water only with distilled water, where I have the pot in a ziploc bag (to promote high humidity) and let it sit in a small layer of water to keep the sphagnum moss wet. I feed the plant once a month with some crushed up fish food pellets.

Any and all help is appreciated! Thank you!!

Cheers,
Vincent

It looks like you need more light. Some of those guys appear to very etiolated.

I'd suggest something like a 4ft LED shoplight with Daylight colored tubes. Put it at about 6 inches from the plants.

Just my two cents worth.

Good growing,
Mike

Did you notice the die off after a really sunny day? I noticed you said they are by the window and my first thought was, in a bag by a window very well may have cooked them.

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I'm going to echo both these recommendations: lose the bag and make sure the plants are actually getting enough light.