FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

It is an adelae giant, and it has adapted well to the dry temperate heat of south texas. It was producing a few big good quality leaves two months ago. Now it is producing a whole lot of smaller surface area leaves, very spindly and thin. There are some sections missing on the leaves, as if something has been gnawing on them, but I don't see any critters. Has anyone else had this problem?

A picture would help a lot! Do the leaves look shriveled, and is there any color change, such as going black, pale, etc?

Shelilla wrote:A picture would help a lot! Do the leaves look shriveled, and is there any color change, such as going black, pale, etc?

Can do on the picture.

It started to go red, which I assume is about the sun ramping up in intensity.

Hmm, interesting... I'm not familiar with the species but I've never seen leaves grow like that. My best guess would be because it's growing a flower stem? Those take a lot of energy, and tends to cause leaves to die/become deformed/grow slowly. Either that or something's eating away at the leaves, but it looks more like "wrinkles" than bites. Could be sudden exposure to the sun shocked it a little, but adelae's a tough Australian species, so I don't think some extra light would hurt long term... Maybe gradually let it adjust to the sun becoming more intense and see how it does. Red is normally a pretty good sign with sundews, they enjoy nice strong light.

It needs more humidity also need a temp and humidity gauge to check environment it is in. Might also be to hot? But definitely give it a dome or aquarium. Hope it helps. Everyone does things differently! Best of luck!

mouthstofeed wrote:It is an adelae giant, and it has adapted well to the dry temperate heat of south texas. It was producing a few big good quality leaves two months ago. Now it is producing a whole lot of smaller surface area leaves, very spindly and thin. There are some sections missing on the leaves, as if something has been gnawing on them, but I don't see any critters. Has anyone else had this problem?

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Shelilla wrote:Hmm, interesting... I'm not familiar with the species but I've never seen leaves grow like that. My best guess would be because it's growing a flower stem? Those take a lot of energy, and tends to cause leaves to die/become deformed/grow slowly. Either that or something's eating away at the leaves, but it looks more like "wrinkles" than bites. Could be sudden exposure to the sun shocked it a little, but adelae's a tough Australian species, so I don't think some extra light would hurt long term... Maybe gradually let it adjust to the sun becoming more intense and see how it does. Red is normally a pretty good sign with sundews, they enjoy nice strong light.

I think it might've been the opposite. I moved it it into shade after watering it, and I think it got hungry for light. I moved it back, and it seems to be recovering.

killerplants4realz wrote:It needs more humidity also need a temp and humidity gauge to check environment it is in. Might also be to hot? But definitely give it a dome or aquarium. Hope it helps. Everyone does things differently! Best of luck!

mouthstofeed wrote:It is an adelae giant, and it has adapted well to the dry temperate heat of south texas. It was producing a few big good quality leaves two months ago. Now it is producing a whole lot of smaller surface area leaves, very spindly and thin. There are some sections missing on the leaves, as if something has been gnawing on them, but I don't see any critters. Has anyone else had this problem?

I put this Adelae into the heat and dry air of summer last year, and it managed to adapt itself. Now I would put it under a dome for sure, but it seems to be doing fine outside.