FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hi there

I have two large D. capensis, an Alba and a "typical." They both are growing roots out of the bottom of the pot. The Alba is giving me smaller, stunted looking leaves. The leaves are dying quickly and not as dewy despite being under a strong growlight. Both plants are fed biweekly with rehydrated bloodworm.

Potting media is washed peat and perlite and watered w distilled. Photos of the smaller leaves and the roots growing out. Ideas on why the Alba is on the struggle bus?

Hi there the plant looks pretty healthy. Sundew prefer sun then grow lights so that may be the cause. If you just received the plant and reported it that could be a reason to I would recommend putting it out in full sun for healthier leaves that will produce more glue.

That one is hard to say. Honestly it does look healthy. How long have you had the plant? Did you change anything recently? Is the soil damp enough? How hot is it and have you had excessive heat in your grow area? My Regia didn't like the 85 degrees one day when the tray wasn't filled, the leaf tips turned black. I wouldn't get too nervous yet, if you changed a variable it could be trying to adapt. Typically when a plants roots escape the bottom it's time for a repot into the next size. If it's been done recently you could "slip pot it" by placing the pot into the larger one, packing the soil around it, slipping the plant out of its pot and dropping it into the hole. I like to do that because it's minimal root disturbance. Plants often don't skip a beat. Another option would be letting them grow a little bit, cut the tips off and use them to propagate new ones via root cuttings.

Honestly though, the Alba looks pretty nice. From the pic they seem to be developing normally, the yellowing ones are naturally dying off. And if you mean at the very base, that's a division, it'll grow into another plant. Looks like you have a few plants in that pot. Nice.

Thank you for taking the time to reply. I use grow lights because I'm in an apartment. The Alba is no longer producing big long leaves like my other D. capensis; it used to, now it's not. It's more humid and warm here now (humidity 60%, temp 80F) but the other sundews seem to love that. Apart from that there are no changes.

So added question then: is it ok to trim roots back? I don't want to deal with another taller pot TBH. This is a few inches deep and it keeps them at a good distance from the LEDs. I have them in these pots https://amzn.to/2OCjCKe and they're great; they hold a bit of water at the bottom so I can keep them soggy, and no tray to get algae etc. If anyone has other recs for self-watering pots I'd love to hear them.

Self-watering pots are not the best idea. I'd just grow them sitting in a tray of water.

As for the roots, rip them off and put them in a ziploc with some LFS or peat. They should make new sundews.

Just to clarify, they are just sitting in water. These aren't the self-watering pots with the string; this has an inner pot that is within a outer pot filled with water. It's just a "covered" tray method.

Thank you. I will cut away the roots!

Oh. This is perfect!

Yes one of the nicest ways to keep them inside is to use a net pot and then a cache pot. If you look on instagram for #semihydro or #passivehydroponics you'll see people doing this with houseplants. If the cache pot is opaque it keeps the water free of algae which is nice. And the net pots can be lined with LFS and then peat/perlite inside.

It's a good idea. I would've also said yeah it's safe to clip some capensis roots. Overall, they're pretty tough plants. If you're interested in more, you could definitely use the roots for cuttings. I did that with a Hercules and got a few extra plants.