FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

I need care tips, and fast!

http://www.growsundews.com has a fair amount of species specific grow advice.

The International Carnivorous Plant Society has some good info also.

What I do when I buy a new plant is Google the heck out it.

Your adelae and prolifera are tropical Queensland plants with similar culture, warm humid and not so bright as standard Drosera culture. Mine prefer live sphagnum as media.

Your binata, spat hybrid,and venusta are subtropical-ish with similar care. Year-round room temperatures, lotsa lotsa lotsa light, and 1:1 peat:perlite media.

Magnifica is new in cultivation. Growers so far have had best luck with well drained media and highland-ish coolish conditions. It likes to drop dead if its roots are kept too wet.

Distilled, de-ionized, or rain water for all of them.

Just my 2¢ worth.

All I found on magnifica was basically how it was discovered and the fact that it’s not an epephyte. I really need some actual help soon, the Adelae especially, it’s almost going to be the 5th one I’ve killed this month!

I edited my reply to add extra information..

There is a Facebook group dedicated to growing Drosera magnifica.

For D. adelae 'Giant,' I keep mine in new zealand long fiber moss where it's constantly wet. I keep it partly on a sunny windowsill next to an ultrasonic humidifier to keep the day temperature no more than 85 degrees F. And I give it night temperatures from 55 to 65 degrees F.

Don't give up hope on it when it seems like it's dead. They come back from the roots. I've seen pictures where the roots are popping out of the containers where new plantlets are forming.

Also, someone has managed to keep their adelae outside where they just give it the morning sun and that's it. It goes to show that once acclimated, they can do well even exposed to sunny conditions. Just keep in mind of the humidity and temperature.

In addition, I keep all of my plants in white containers/styrofoam cups to help keep the roots nice and cool and insulated. Plants that tends to be fussy and are kept in black pots with direct sun can heat it up pretty quickly making it problematic.

What soil mix for the magnifica?

ilovedrosera wrote:What soil mix for the magnifica?

I use a 7:1 perlite:peat mix.
I do not stand this one in a tray of water.
I top water it daily and let it all drain out..
I do not pour water on the plant, but water around the plant.
As the water drains through the media, it moistens the roots.
I domed this one after I replanted it.
It is a pretty slow grower for me.

I had mine collapse, turn black, and die but it grew back from the roots, and I'm a fairly experienced (pronounced Lucky) Drosera grower.
It didn't like my original media mix, the roots were staying too wet, I believe.
This is not a particularly easy plant and one I would not recommend for anyone less than an advanced grower.
This is not a plant for a beginning grower.

Just my 2¢ worth.

For the heli and alpina, grow them in as much humidity as you can get. Anything lower than 65% for long will deteriorate them. Grow them cooler, less than 80 degrees all the time and preferably down into the 50s at night. I grow my magnifica with my helis and alpina. The heli will be happier in more light than the alpina. In my experience, D. adelae really likes strong light. If it doesn't get that, it will produce deformed leaves and die. I've learned the hard way .

Nepenthes0260 wrote: In my experience, D. adelae really likes strong light. If it doesn't get that, it will produce deformed leaves and die. I've learned the hard way .

It's interesting how many descriptions states that D. adelae should be given partial sun to full shade. They should change that lol

I've had opposite experiences with adelae. High light it gets very red, but inconsistent dew production and stays small/produces a bunch of plantlets. Lower light (and higher humidity) it gets more red-green, dewier, and larger leafed. Just my observations though and seems like a plant that does different things for everyone regardless of conditions. Prolifera supposedly likes the same conditions as adelae, although some say it prefers slightly more light. I haven't gotten mine to look good so...

Anyways, I'll basically second/third/whatever everything else that was said. The venusta, binata, sp. Lantau Island can be grown easily as any subtropical dew. The P. gypsicola should do fine as a typical Mexican Ping. That particular Nep is a strict lowland by strict highland cross, so theoretically is should do well in between (e.g. basically intermediate conditions).

Good luck with the H. unicata and D. magnifica. Not exactly beginner plants...