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Drosera Capensis help!

I have a drosera capensis that doesn't seem to be doing well. The leaves had red hairs when I got it, but there is not much of that left. It has never produced any dew that I could see. Lately, some of the new growth has developed black tips. I have the cape and 4 other CPs in a terrarium with flourescent lights and I tend to keep the lid closed to keep the humidity up. Is this a good environment for them? I have another drosera that is growing well, but it is not producing much dew.

Any advise would be appreciated!

Thanks,

Jim
 
What other plants do you have in the tank? What are the temperatures in the tank?

Drosera capensis is sub-tropical, not tropical. Perhaps it's getting to hot for it even though D. capensis tolerates a wide range of conditions.

Unless you have tropical species such as petiolaris complex Drosera I would lose the tank and just grow them under lights. Outdoors would probably be better but I don't know your housing situation.
 
I have the other drosera (not sure of the species), a Sarracenia purpurea, a Nepenthes (not sure of the species either), and a Pinguicula (Butterwort). I'm not sure of the temp but I would guess it is in the 70's. I will be getting a thermometer to know exactly.

I was wondering if it was too hot for it. For a while I had one 18" fluorescent bulb in the tank. I added a second one, a 13" fluorescent, thinking it would help with the humidity/heat of the tank. I replaced the 18" bulb with a blacklight because I was told it would put out more UV. The plants seemed to like it at first, but it may now be too warm for them.

I was going to try to grow some outside. I have a nice area on the patio that I think would work and am going to put up some shade cloth so it doesn't get too hot for them.
 
70F is not too hot for it.
 
It could be the UV light. Reptiles might like it but plants generally don't have much use for it.

What other CPs are you growing?
 
your dew problem is probably related to your lights.....try to post a pic of the plant
 
I have the other drosera (not sure of the species), a Sarracenia purpurea, a Nepenthes (not sure of the species either), and a Pinguicula (Butterwort). I had 2 Fly Traps but I lost them recently.
 
I will post a pic of the droseras soon.
 
Except for the Nepenthes (and depending on what it is) you should be able to grow everything outdoors.
 
  • #10
ya know if you had insufficient light I would think your VFT's would be the first to go becuase they require the most intense light out of the plants listed... were they in there also?
gotta be the lights... post that pic :)
 
  • #11
Unless I'm using a compact fluorescent bulb, I don't use anything smaller than the 48" bulbs and two or four of them at that. It does sound like the light is the issue to me.

Are you using the same water for all of them? When my plants started to inexplicably fade and die on me it was due to the water machine that I was filling my bottles from having not been properly maintained.

But it does sound light related to me as well.
 
  • #12
yes, the VFT's were in there also... i will try to post some pics later today after work
 
  • #13
I buy gallon jugs of distilled water and use it on all of them

Could the plants be too close to the lights? The terrarium is a 10 gallon tank and is partially filled with sand and peat.... the plants are maybe 6 inches or closer
 
  • #14
Some of my Drosera are only 1-2 inches away from my lights in my tropical tank.

I'd guess it's the blacklight frying your plants from the UV and/or too high temps. My tropical tank gets up into the high 90s without heating.

Try replacing the blacklight back to a regular tube and leaving the cover off.
 
  • #15
Ok, thanks! I switched out the blacklight and will leave the cover open
 
  • #16
Here is a pic of my Cape:
CPs003.jpg


This is the other drosera (not sure of its name):
CPs006.jpg


The Sarracenia Purpurea:
CPs007.jpg


The Nepenthes (not sure of its name):
CPs010.jpg


The Butterwort:
CPs017.jpg


Please let me know if they are not clear enough or if I have mislabelled anything.

Jim
 
  • #17
Drosera adelae

Have you checked for pests like aphids, spider mites or mealy bugs? These can cause similar damage too.
 
  • #18
Thanks for identifying the other drosera!

I don't see any aphids..... would spider mites and mealy bugs be visible? or would they be in the soil out of sight?

Would it help to re-pot?
 
  • #19
well, your light is one of the problems...the sundews look like they can use more light
 
  • #20
would 2 fluorescent bulbs be enough in a terrarium? i just took out the blacklight bulb and put in a regular plant bulb. or would they do better outside?
 
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