FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

I spent an entire afternoon last week separating and repotting sundew seedlings that had outgrown their pots; capes and binatas and spats.

I like to bring my plants indoors for a bit before selling them, to give them time to produce fresh growth that's free of debris. So I placed them on a wire rack by the living room window to await their gentlemen callers.

There they sat, all gussied up for sale, when my ham-handed bf went to open a window and capsized the rack. Freshly packed and loosely potted, thirty pots of 'dews flipped over the floor.

It took another whole afternoon to clean up the plants. Many were squished, but I'm more annoyed at the peat stains on the carpet.

As I sit here stuffing the remains back into pots, I can't help but wonder: Is my time worth so little? I was planning to sell them for five bucks a pot, and here I've wasted entire days on this.

I don't want to send perfectly good plants to the compost pile, but they're not really worth the hassle of selling. Is there a nice farm upstate where I can send them to live out their days? What do you do with excess plants?

Perhaps you could do a series of giveaways? (Shipping paid for by the winner)

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The dews you've listed are all sturdy, and should recover with a little care.
You say seedlings, so I'm assuming they are small. But how small, and how many plants are we talking about?

ChefDean wrote:The dews you've listed are all sturdy, and should recover with a little care.
You say seedlings, so I'm assuming they are small. But how small, and how many plants are we talking about?

Thirty 4" pots, and there were 3-5 plants per pot. They're "seedlings" in the sense that seeds were sowed last year, but you know how fast these things grow...

@That one plant boi it's hard to even give these away. A small flat-rate box ($8.50) costs more than the plant itself

I have no doubt that they will recover (although they would be doing me a favor if they didn't) -- I'm mostly looking for ideas for what to do in the future. I have multiple trays of new seedlings coming up, because I can't stop requesting seeds from the seed bank. I need help

Admitting you have a problem is the first step in getting help.

elaineo wrote:Thirty 4" pots, and there were 3-5 plants per pot. They're "seedlings" in the sense that seeds were sowed last year, but you know how fast these things grow...

Here's what I might do.
Offer two of each type, 6 plants total, bare root, for $5, shipped in a small USPS flat rate shipping box: $13.50 total. That's a pretty good price. As you start to run out of a species, update your available plants list. Offer more of one of the other available dews as necessary. Include any squished ones as bonuses, as they'll like strike new plants too.
With six plants per box, plus squishings, that might be an appealing purchase, and you still make some cheddar.
Just a thought.

Thanks @ChefDean, I'll try that in a few months. I don't like to give away damaged plants because, I dunno, I would feel guilty if it died. I'm sentimental

I hope @Panman organizes another secret santa this year

elaineo wrote: ↑Sun Jul 11, 2021 8:33 pm I hope @Panman organizes another secret santa this year

I am planning on it. I am sure I will have some great goodies by then.

elaineo wrote: ↑Sun Jul 11, 2021 8:33 pm Thanks @ChefDean, I'll try that in a few months. I don't like to give away damaged plants because, I dunno, I would feel guilty if it died. I'm sentimental

I forgot to add that I would specify that they would also be getting a squishing of your choice, and that they could potentially get a few strikes from that. That way, they know what they're getting.
No guilty feelings for you, because the buyer is aware of what they're getting.

ChefDean wrote: I forgot to add that I would specify that they would also be getting a squishing of your choice, and that they could potentially get a few strikes from that. That way, they know what they're getting.
No guilty feelings for you, because the buyer is aware of what they're getting.

Ah, I meant that I would feel guilty towards the plant, for sending it off as a squish-cull, instead of nursing it back to health and finding it a loving forever-home.

...what? What?? plants have feelings too!

Another idea I had was to ship them to a friend in South Africa, who could release them in the wild to live in their native habitat.

I would not ship them here, releasing plants or animals into the wild is never a good idea! Drosera capensis populations are quite seperated so shuffling stuff around could mess around with genetics. Plus cultivated plants are under different selection pressures to grow well. For conservation collections with plans to reintroduce plants to the wild special measures are taken to ensure genetic diversity and close-to-natural growing conditions

Put them all in one pot.
maybe next time though since you already split them up

I sell $5 sundews too, best way to clean em up is with a spray bottle. Just cradle a leaf with your hand and spray it hard. If they look bad trim them then feed them to regrow fast.

optique wrote:I sell $5 sundews too, best way to clean em up is with a spray bottle. Just cradle a leaf with your hand and spray it hard. If they look bad trim them then feed them to regrow fast.

Your sundews are way nicer though :b

PS. Spray bottle worked like a charm I think I'll end up using excess 'dews as free add-ons when I sell/trade other stuff.

PPS. A mass-planting will need to wait 'til I have more space. I would like to build a greenhouse, someday