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By felinefancier87
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Posts:  80
Joined:  Wed Apr 29, 2020 1:14 am
#382614
Hi, I got a drosera spatulata in the mail nearly 2 months ago. It has been doing well, producing a lot of leaves and even starting to catch tiny insects, but it barely has any visible dew. It is on a NE facing windowsill (the best I've got where I live) in a 50% peat moss, 30% sand, 20% perlite mix, sitting in a tray of water, supplemented by artificial light (compact fluorescent bulb) on a timer. It was set to about 14 hours and I just adjusted it to 16, hoping this could make a difference. I'm in a basement suite and humidity is decently high (58%). What could be going on?
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By optique
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Joined:  Fri May 24, 2019 11:15 pm
#382615
it takes a lot of energy to make dew, how much direct sun is hitting it?
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By CPhunter101
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Joined:  Thu Feb 11, 2021 9:30 pm
#382616
optique wrote:it takes a lot of energy to make dew, how much direct sun is hitting it?
I agree with optique; you should try giving it some direct sunlight. I've heard that sunlight dramatically helps drosera create dew.
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By felinefancier87
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Posts:  80
Joined:  Wed Apr 29, 2020 1:14 am
#382617
Not sure, but probably about 3 or 4 hours in the morning only.

Might it be worth getting a proper grow light of some sort?
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By CPhunter101
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Posts:  593
Joined:  Thu Feb 11, 2021 9:30 pm
#382618
If it's only happening to the spat, you don't really need a proper grow light.
Although, if your grow light is affecting other plants or you're hoping to collect more exspensive drosera, a proper grow light would be more suitable.
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By optique
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Joined:  Fri May 24, 2019 11:15 pm
#382634
it looks healthy, some combo of more light or even more humidity could let it maintain more dew. I really think its fine if you are happy the way it looks. A lot of my inside stuff have less dew in the summer when the windows get hotter.
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By Panman
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Posts:  6322
Joined:  Wed Mar 04, 2020 8:41 pm
#382638
I had a problem with my capes last year. They actually wanted a little less light than my flytraps did. I moved them to a couple of hours of direct, Georgia sun and then bright indirect the rest of the day. They didn't get quite as red but they did stay dewy.
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By felinefancier87
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Posts:  80
Joined:  Wed Apr 29, 2020 1:14 am
#383667
Thanks everyone! I bought an LED multi spectrum grow light, and increased my lighting to 16 hours, and that did the trick. I also have been feeding my spatulata blood worms, and it seems to be helping.

I also bought another drosera prolifera (my first appeared dead), and the other two 'sisters' of Queensland. I watched some videos on caring for them and wasn't aware of how much moisture and humidity they like, and that they prefer a cooler environment. I have put these plants in plastic containers with a bit of ventilation above, and water below, but the pots aren't sitting in the water (produce containers work pretty well, and I used a plastic container with a screw top, upside down, for the taller plant, sitting on a bottle cap lid, with water beneath it and a few punctured ventilation holes above. I also used an LED multi spectrum grow light, and these plants aren't on the windowsill but instead in my kitchen ledge, which is cooler. They've been in this new environment for about a week and they are producing new foliage already, so I think they're gonna make it. :)
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