FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hi I have a dorsera capensis ,dorsera collinsiae and some sphagnum moss growing in a terrarium by a South facing window. I also use a supplemental t5 florescent light running at 10 hours a day. The moss is doing ok but the sundews have very small leaves and they are turning yellow and produce little to no dew. Please let me know what you're thoughts are. Thanks

Also how wet should the plants be?

So. I believe that light may be the first thing.

There are plenty of articles on this forum as well as online that describe proper setup for sundews.

For a terrarium I’m not sure if they survive unless potted separately and then watered appropriately and receive a ton of light.

Usually no dew is a sign of low light conditions.

The tray method works best for sundews.

More light for sure. You’re close to what they need because they have some red on them but you can always use more light.

The terrarium is in a South window and gets about 6 hours of direct sunlight plus I bought a t5ho florescent light . I'm not sure how to provide more light? Also if I use the tray method will my sphagnum moss be ok in a pot with 50% humidity . Thanks for the replies

Sundews wrote:The terrarium is in a South window and gets about 6 hours of direct sunlight plus I bought a t5ho florescent light . I'm not sure how to provide more light? Also if I use the tray method will my sphagnum moss be ok in a pot with 50% humidity . Thanks for the replies

Its definitly plenty of lighting. Do you have a lid on this? It may be heat stress if the lights are heating up the tank.


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The lid is partly open. The lights run vary cool and are only hot to the touch. Do you think the sun is heating it up to much?

Sundews wrote:The lid is partly open. The lights run vary cool and are only hot to the touch. Do you think the sun is heating it up to much?

Maybe. Monitor the temps to see. Im assuming your humidity and watering is fine since the spagnum is flourishing.

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I will put a humidity gauge and a temperature gauge in there.

It may be fungal or a pest too. That's always a possibility.


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I would definitely put a thermometer in there and check how hot it’s getting when the sun is hitting the terrarium. If it’s mostly closed it can build up a lot of heat from the sun. Also looks slightly too wet for a capensis.

It's raining outside right now so no sunlight today

Do you think the moss will die if I lower the water level? I found a site called sarracenia northwest, and there site recommends that I throw away the terrarium and use pots, should I do this? Thanks

I am not a fan of terrariums for this reason. Too many factors to control for different species.

I would pot those plants separately.

Maybe the moss can stay but I have never needed a terrarium for moss to grow well.

I keep all of my plants potted separately except for when starting out as seedlings and up until they are around 2 or 3 inches tall.

Terrariums seem to bring with them challenges like fungus that make keeping plants healthy and happy difficult.

I used to raise frogs and only used plastic plants for cover because any fungi in the environment and something died.

I put a thermometer in the terrarium and it goes all the way up to 89F during the day . and in the end of the day it drops all the way down to 67F. So that could be why the plants are the way they are. I was leaning towards the pots any way .