Grow Happy and Healthy Drosera (Sundew) plants

Unpacking and Planting your Drosera

When you first receive your Drosera, if they were shipped bare root, carefully unwrap any packing material and soak the whole plant (leaves, roots and all) in only pure distilled water, collected rain water or reverse osmosis water (don't use tap water! it can easily damage the sensitive roots of Drosera) for 15 minutes to half an hour. If you don't yet have some distilled, reverse osmosis or rain water, just leave the plant(s) in the bag in a place away from direct sunlight for a while until you are able to obtain pure water, but open the bag momentarily for a fresh air change before closing the bag again.
Planting media — Until you learn what alternative planting media will also work, plant them in a mixture of 50% pure sphagnum peat moss and 50% silica sand or perlite. If you can't obtain sand that is composed of almost pure silica (such as sandblasting or pool filter sand and not river nor beach nor desert nor sandbox "play" sand), then use perlite instead of sand. Warning: do not use Miracle-Gro brand sphagnum peat moss nor perlite; they are "enriched" with plant food that may kill Drosera. If you're unable to find any suitable media for your plant locally, you can purchase Drosera planting soil from the store.
Planting container — Do not plant Drosera in terrariums or other clear containers or containers that have sides that extend several inches or more above the surface of the potting medium "soil," unless you plan to grow them completely out of direct sunlight with only fluorescent or other "grow lights"; direct sunlight entering through the clear sides of such containers can quickly heat both the soil and the air around the plant to such a degree that plants’ roots or leaves can easily be damaged or killed. Use glazed ceramic, plastic or insulating polyurethane foam planting containers that have a drainage hole and are at least 4 inches deep, and preferably 6-8 inches deep. You can plant several Drosera together in a larger container. Plant them so that their roots are buried into the planting medium while their sticky leaves are above the surface.
Water
Use only rainwater, distilled water or reverse osmosis water. Drosera require very pure water. Your tap water is likely to contain too much of dissolved solids—minerals and salts—that may kill a Drosera, possibly within weeks. Always keep your Drosera moist, but never soggy for long, and never dry. One way to accomplish this is to water thoroughly from the top or by placing the pot in a tray of water and allowing water to soak into the medium from the bottom through the drainage hole. Drosera can be kept wetter than Venus Flytraps, but it's still not a good idea to keep them too wet, especially during dormancy. When Drosera are very wet, they should also be warm and in the sun. Wet and cold is unhealthy (just like it is for people) and can cause fungal infections, rot and even death.
Soil
Drosera must have a particular kind of soil that is poor in nutrients and slightly acidic. They will very likely die in "potting soil" or soil from your garden or yard. Their soil must be like the soil in their natural habitat: acidic and with almost no nutrients, moisture retentive but well drained. Until you learn what various types of ingredients you can have in their soil (from research on the Internet or from books, for example), it is best to use pure shagnum peat moss (no other kind of "moss") mixed with a more or less equal amount of silica sand (not beach or river or "play" sand) and/or perlite.
Sun
Most Drosera do well in bright light, and in general, the more direct bright sunlight you give them, the healthier and more colorful they will be. At least 6 hours of bright, direct sunlight will produce a very healthy sundew. There are some species that are exceptions however. The Drosera adelae is one sundes that does better in bright indirect light. If you are unsure about the lighting requirements of your particular sundews, be sure to send an email to sales@flytrapcare.com or visit the FlytrapCare forum to ask. If the sides of a planter become very hot in full sun, try to cool the planter so that the roots don't overheat or burn. One way to do this without depriving the sundew of the sun it wants and needs, is to place the planting container inside another larger container, with perlite filling the space between the two to insulate the inside container. Another way is to plant the sundew in a styrofoam container (like a 16 or 20 ounce insulated beverage cup) or in a polyurethane foam planter.
Fertilizer
No! Never! Although experienced growers can occasionally fertilize Drosera lightly using special techniques such as foliar feeding, Drosera will probably die when fertilized by beginner growers, for the same reason that they usually die from tap water: too many minerals and chemicals. These burn the plants' roots and kill them. Drosera get all the nutrition they need from the sun (through photosynthesis like any plant) and from the insects they catch. If they are healthy and if you put them outside sometimes to "hunt," they will catch insects on their own. If you'd like, you can feed them captured flies or other insects (but not meat!), but they will likely catch all they need on their own.
Temperate Drosera Dormancy
Temperate Drosera must have a rest period of a few months every year. When the days become shorter and cooler in the fall, the plants begin to slow down and not grow as much. Some species of Drosera, such as the intermedia, will die back almost completely during the winter. During dormancy temperate Drosera should be kept cool. Although the plants can survive light frosts and brief freezing, it is better to keep them above freezing: 40°F to about 55°F degrees at night is sufficiently cool, and they can be warmer at times during the day, but should be cool to cold most of the time. An unheated porch or garage can work for most people. Drosera should not be watered nearly as often because they don't need nor use as much water during their dormancy. When spring arrives, your sundew will appreciate being placed in warmer conditions and watered more frequently again through the growing season.
A list of commonly cultivated temperate Drosera includes:
  • D. intermedia
  • D. filiformis
  • D. capillaris
  • D. rotundifolia
  • D. anglica
Tropical Drosera Winter Care
Tropical Drosera can be given the same basic care year round. They do well in a very sunny window and do not need a dormancy period during the winter. Where they are native to rarely gets below 55°F, but nearly all species can stand temperatures down to freezing. In fact, I grow my tropical and subtropical sundews with my temperate carnivorous plants all year long. I make sure that they never freeze, but they don't mind experiencing temperatures down to 35°F in the winter.
A list of commonly cultivated tropical Drosera includes:
  • D. capensis
  • D. spatulata
  • D. tokaiensis
  • D. dielsiana
  • D. adelae
  • D. binata
  • D. aliciae
  • D. regia
  • D. prolifera
  • Pygmy sundews
  • Woolly sundews
You're on your way!
If you follow the above tips, you'll be well on your way to growing healthy and happy Drosera sundew plants!