FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

I noticed that there was not a thread that tells new growers how to do this, so I decided to create one.


Materials:

Forceps (also known as tweezers) X1
Scissors or nail clippers X1
Sundew with healthy leaves X1
Petri dish, ramekin, small bowl, plastic cup etc... X1
Distilled water
Saran wrap

How to do it:

Step 1:
Fill a petri dish, ramekin, or small bowl with about 1 centimeter (1/2 inch) of distilled water OR fill whatever container you are using with peat moss wetted by distilled water.

Step 2:
Select one or more healthy leaves.

Step 3:
Gently grasp the petiole of the leaf with the forceps. Step 4:
Cut the petiole below the point where the forceps are touching it. Step 5:
Gently transfer leaf to whatever medium you prepared in step 1. Step 6:
If you don not have access to an area with high humidity, cover any open container with saran wrap. If you are using a petri dish, just put the lid on. Step 7:
Put it under bright light.

Step 8:
Wait a few weeks to several months.

Step 9:
You will see little plantlets that look like this: If you budded them on water, transfer them to sopping wet peat moss.

Step 10:
Slowly acclimate the plant to the conditions of the plant you took the cutting from.

Step 11:
Pat yourself on the back for a job well done!

I have heard that you can cut off the plantlets, root them, and get more sprouts from the leaf, but I have not tried this. Thanks to David F. for pointing this out to me!

I took all of the pictures on this tutorial.

thank you for this, is really well explained!!!!!, and it has good pics!

Wow! Great sheet! I just have 1 question. When you take the leaf off of the whole plant aren't you supposed to take part of the rhizome off with it or is that only for VFT?

dantt99 wrote:Wow! Great sheet! I just have 1 question. When you take the leaf off of the whole plant aren't you supposed to take part of the rhizome off with it or is that only for VFT?

for droseras you can take pullings and cuttings, and seedlings will come, for VFT's too, but they will probably never come, or might take more than 3 months maybe, with vft is better to do pullings as you can see results in a month, maybe less maybe more time!
Hope this helps!

Thanks! I got mixed up between pullings and cuttings. Do you know; are pullings or cuttings better for Sundews ?

And also, I noticed that the plantlet is on the dewy part of the leaf, not the base.... How does that work?

dantt99 wrote:Thanks! I got mixed up between pullings and cuttings. Do you know; are pullings or cuttings better for Sundews ?

For the petoliaris complex sundews, pullings work better, but for most other sundews I think cuttings work fine.

dantt99 wrote:And also, I noticed that the plantlet is on the dewy part of the leaf, not the base.... How does that work?

Ask sundewman!
I've always wondered that myself.

With D. spatulata, the plantlet comes right out from the middle of the leaf: Freaky, isn't it?

But do you take the plant OFF the leaf or does it just grow?

It just grows.
You don't have to take it off.

Wooo! Go bananaman! You actually decided to make a tutorial on leaf cuttings, thanks!


P.S Your capensis looks just like mine (well at least, before my cat chewed it)

Good writeup with photos, cheers.

Very nice tutorial!

And how you can acclimate it ?

By putting the plant in a plastic bag, and slowly opening the bag over the course of 2 weeks.

But why if i punch 2 holes in saran wrap and then after a few days i punch some more ? And if the lid is made from plastic i have to open a little the lid and after a few days i open the plastic lid a few minutes and such ? Or with the plastic lid i must take the leaf cutting and put it in a plastic bag ?