FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hey everyone and once again thanks for reading. Since I got my Sundew last year it has always been on and off in regards to looking healthy. For the past year ive had it ive always kept it inside as well, under a plant light and on a windowsill. This allowed the sundew to grow but it never truly looked healthy.

Things were getting really bad around March, as the dead sundew growth HEAVILY outweighed the good healthy green growth below. It was this massive chunk of browned leaves that led me to repot and seperate the sundew into smaller clusters, removing the large dead cluster from it conpletely. Of course, I was very gentle with this and did what i could to save the healthy parts of the plant.

After the repot it started to look a lot better, growing green leaves and at least producing a little more dew than before, but then about a month later I moved and I cant have my florescent light setup anymore. I thought maybe it was time to introduce the my plants to the outside porch. Ever since the move about 2 weeks ago, my venus fly trap has flourished outside where I'm keeping the plants, but my sundew seems to be dying/dead now.

We dont have many chilly nights in North Carolina, and the one we did have I brought them inside. I am using rain water when it rains and distilled water when it doesn't. I know ive done a lot that could have been the cause, but I'm looking at what I can do now to try and save the plant, if anything can be done at all. Unfortunantly I do not have a windowsill to put the sundew on anymore, so I'm limited to outside growing only.

Thank you for reading, sorry for the picture quality I didnt realize the blur until i got to work. There are white spindly things growing from each plant and they look black inside. The leaves are dry and brown.

The soil is too wet, just keep it moist. Check if there's any rotting.

The white things are a normal part of the plant. The dark color around the growth point may be humic acid buildup - you can check this by seeing if you can wipe some off with a damp cloth. If this is the case, it's a sign of poor soil quality and you likely will need to rinse your peat pretty heavily before use. I'd be extremely surprised to see a sundew like this rot.

What kind of water do you give them?

I give them distilled water when they dont get rain water.

I accidentally spilled a little water on the plant yesterday, and it rained today, which is why the soil is that moist, normally its not that bad.

I will check for the acidic buildup when i get home. I got the peat soil from a local nursery, so I thought it would be alright, I'll update you soon! Thanks!

Likely a variety of issues die to the history. I believe it originally was not getting enough light along with too much water. There is sort of a balance you have to hit, with more water = more light you have to give them. Then, transitioning it outside probably added stress. All plants will exhibit some stress when moved around but weak ones will have more dramatic reactions. Since the leaves are still green, and not really red anywhere I don't think it was a sunburn issue, but more likely the possible temperature fluctuations which harmed it. What highs and lows was it getting.

Also, this is likely a spatulata or tokaiensis which prefer to be grown like tropical plants. What would you have done for the winter if you no longer can grow them inside?

Hey! Quick update, so when I touched the black stuff in the middle it did rub off as brown on my fingers. Is that the acid buildup?

As for what I'd do during the winter, fortunantely I don't have to worry about it since I'm not sure what i could have done. I had to move, so I wouldve made something work.

I appreciate everyone's advice, thank you!

xcherrychanx wrote:Hey! Quick update, so when I touched the black stuff in the middle it did rub off as brown on my fingers. Is that the acid buildup?

Yes that means it's humic acid, a sign of peat degradation. You can try to run water through the pot several times to try to flush it out, or repot and rinse the new peat thoroughly before using it.