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lizasaur

Charlatan
So, I have a varied collection of sundews (Binata, Aliciae, Rotundifloria, Filiformis 'Tracyii' and 'Florida Red', Venusta, Spathulata “Pink Flower", Capensis “Typical”, Capillaris, Adelae, Intermedia, Roseana) and I have difficulties giving them the right conditions to produce dew.

I read on Jacob and Jeff's site that the secret is light! However, it seems when I give them the light my Sarracenia receive, the dew-producing stops. Dew producing definitely stops in low-humidity too.

Before my collection recently expanded, they produced dew under a sealed greenhouse (made with packing tape, chopsticks, and saran wrap), and under the bright, direct light.

Since putting them in a portable, shelved greenhouse, they haven't produced any dew at all. I mist the inside of the greenhouse atleast twice a day as well.

Any help is appreciated. I live in Florida.
 
My vote is not to mist the dews, because the glue created by the plants is sensitive and constantly misting the leaves of the dews will dry them out.

From what I've read, just give them plenty of light, but make sure the temperature is not too hot. However, Jacob gives his plants full sun and it occasionally gets into the high 90s where he lives, and the dews still thrive.
 
When I got my first sundew (D. Intermedia) I put it on my windowsill because it was really windy that week and it got really dewy from being on my windowsill, but when the weather turned good again I put it outside and all the dew dried up from the sun and the heat outside was 20 degrees hotter, but got it back eventually, yours probably needs some time to acclimatize to the brighter light and heat.
 
I agree with master grower every time you change conditions it could potentially shock the plants. So you might need to give them time to recover. once they are in good conditions (plenty of light enough water and the right humidity) they should have dew all the time.
 
People confuse dew with water and think that they need a misting or more water. That is not the case. as stated above, dew production is a function of adequate light. A weak / stressed plant stops producing dew and if all of a sudden has too much light on it, it it gets stressed out and sometimes dies. A stressed plant's leaves usually, but not always, don't regain their dew but the new leaves of an adjusted plant should.
 
I don't mist the sundews, but the sides of the greenhouse, to help create humidity.
Some of the dews are quite established, which is why I'm so confused, it can't be "settling in" stress.
For awhile, it was just my Spathulata and Roseana, and they were in one of those mini-bog humidity dome kits. They were beautiful, and my Spathulata was producing new plants out the wazoo.
Since expanding, however, into the saranwrap contraption, and now in the greenhouse (spending a few months in each), they'd be dewy some days, but more often then not, not. The spathulata also isn't producing offspring like it used to, but its pretty much constantly flowering.
I think the biggest problem is the intense Florida sun, which is also very drying. It gets hotter in the greenhouse, too, but if I leave it unzipped, the humidity is low.
 
Other than your Adelae (maybe Roseana - not familiar w/ this one), most of your dews should be able to grow outside in a bog in Florida through at least 9 months of the year - & most all year. A lot of your plants grow in Florida naturally. However, they would need to be acclimated to live outside the enclosure - which can be difficult....

The above is for Northern FL - where do you live?
 
The deep south, where unfortunately, CPs are generally no longer seen.

And with the change of climate, Florida is hotter and dryer than before. I, as a native, am fully aware of the lack of rain and stifling heat so soon.
 
Hmm...well in that case, not sure if I saw you mention this, but are you using the tray method?
If not, you should use a taller tub, that extends either close to or above the top of your sundews (besides the binata, which can get out of control fast if in good conditions) This creates a microclimate that's about as humid as you can get. I've used this on a bunch of D. capensis and a smaller pot of D. rotundifolia in a school greenhouse that gets to 90F at the hottest part of the day and they manage to keep dew on their leaves all day now. Without the tub, the dew is blown off by the fans constantly blowing, and from the heat...just a thought :)

Some pictures so you can visually see what I'm referring to: (there's about an inch of water in there most of the time)
Capensis_tub_greenhouse.JPG
 
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  • #10
well from what ive seen (agamadragon's) roseana does exceptional in our climate so does scorpiodes just plain outdoors. a greenhouse type thing other than to raise humidity is serving as a pressure cooker in our weather. and seeing as our humidity is well above 'high' that might just be hurting them more than anything. i would say take a few plants and stick them outside of that contraption because it might be them getting acclimated, it might too much sun, and or just too hot. so my opinion (just taking our climate into consideration) stick one in full sun outside of the greenhouse, stick one in a place where its getting dappled sun and see how the rest do in the greenhouse thing. see where they seem to be doing best and go that route. my 2 cents.
 
  • #11
I misread the misting reference. Sorry about that! Do you, or can you have a fan installed to remove heat?
 
  • #12
Plantaholic- yes, I am using the tray method. It'll end up being a stupidly tall tub as some of the plants are in 4" pots (i.e. my capensis), but that's a very good idea. Outside of the greenhouse I'd be concerned about everything being drowned by rain- how would you prevent that?
Jafvortex- It's definitely pressurecookerish in there, but I checked today, and most of them had some level of dew. I'll keep in there (I've draped large palm leaves over the top to give them "partial shade"), because if I could keep it cooler in there, it'd be perfect, I think. I do think the sun is just too intense for them- I'll never forget one year, just having everything out without a dome or something, everything but some of the hardier Sarracenia died from the heat, and I wasn't keeping them any differently than I am now (i.e., no fertilizing, no tap water, etc).
JimScott-A fan would be rather difficult to rig up, unfortunately. That is a very good idea though! Perhaps we'll see if the partial shade does the trick, otherwise I'll toy around with giving it some ventilation by either leaving one side unzipped or popping a few holes in the plastic.
 
  • #13
I keep most of my dews(with the exception of D. adelae and D. prolifera) are grown outside. They are in humidity-low baking hot conditions(usually 20% humidity and 95F temps in the hottest part of the day). They take it, and thrive in it. I grow them with the tray method. My plants are in tall tubs too, because of the Sarracenia they are being grown with.
I just remove them when rain comes, since the tubs usually overflow.
 
  • #14
Dew production centers on 2 things:

#1: Keeping the plants watered - the tray method is most commonly used.

#2: Sunlight. Sundews (with some exceptions) need full, bright sunlight to produce dew. That's why they're called SUNdews.


The high heat and humidity won't bother the easier species like spatulata and capensis (to a certain degree). I think the main reason you didn't see dew on your plants after putting them outside is that they need time to acclimate. Sundews usually take a few weeks to start producing dew after going to a new environment. The hot, dry Florida sun you said was the "problem" is actually the solution. As a bonus, your plants will be healthier and more colorful in the long run. By the way, the dew is not water, but a special mucilage with different proteins and sugars in it, which is why misting doesn't really help.

I live in San Diego where it gets up to 100F in the summer and even my local nursery grows amazing looking sundews outdoors all year. Obviously, low humidity and scorching temperatures are quite easily tolerated by many species.

If you really think the sun is too much for the plants, get some shade cloth to drape over them and keep the water trays filled with cool (not cold) water.

EDIT: I looked on your growlist, and the venusta, adelae, and aliciae definitely do not like hot temps. Those (especially the adelae) will need partial shading and will do better with cool nights.

Happy growing!
 
  • #15
as for the tray method outdoors, you can drill several holes 1 inch or 3/4 inch into the tray, where you don't want the water to rise above outdoors.

I've had the best luck acclimating sundews in partial shade, and then I ended up leaving them in partial shade for the rest of the summer since they were doing so well.

But obviously, as w03 said, if they are able to handle it-generally speaking- the more sun, the better.
In my case, the dew gets "fried off" in bright light/ slight breeze/higher temps outdoors unless I use the taller tray (color should be white or clear preferably to minimize heat retention), since the plant doesn't have to waste as much water via transpiration loss if the humidity is as high as possible during the hottest portion of the day.

But these are only my experiences (in Iowa), and I can't speak for how they will actually do for you or other growers further south.
Best of luck.
 
  • #16
#2: Sunlight. Sundews (with some exceptions) need full, bright sunlight to produce dew. That's why they're called SUNdews.

All the literature I've read says they are called sundews because unlike other plants which only have dew in the early morning they retain their dew while the sun is up.
 
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