What's new
TerraForums Venus Flytrap, Nepenthes, Drosera and more talk

Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Drosera capensis issues

gill_za

Never Knows Best
First let me apologize for the quality of the pictures. They are taken with my n900 since I do not own a camera. To compromise I tried to take shots from different angles to help see the problem better.

The issue:
The portion of the leave with tentacles on some of the leaves has turned brown as can be seen in the pictures. Some of the leaves started to turn brown and dry out even before they fully uncurled.

<a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/FMivUbo_F4r3ilMPTeEtin8ik2EUib-dR-xTa3Qn1CM?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-H-L3hI9qqx8/TiBVkP0eVYI/AAAAAAAAAXE/bQ2tKNd-7nE/s144/20110715_002b.PNG" height="109" width="144" /></a>

<a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/7NOjx7G8Qf5uRtlYA4sE5n8ik2EUib-dR-xTa3Qn1CM?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-hZV2bgHz-S4/TiBVkVbqhNI/AAAAAAAAAXM/li1ZIqD-wbE/s144/20110715_001b.PNG" height="109" width="144" /></a>

<a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/Dz8a0yMt3FMGJQzM2hcatn8ik2EUib-dR-xTa3Qn1CM?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-7StRL59yJYQ/TiBVmI1YtUI/AAAAAAAAAXU/RNn8xXGV3OA/s144/20110715_005s.PNG" height="109" width="144" /></a>

The plants are grown using the tray method and are about 6 months old (including the germination period).
The plants are grown about 6" under 4x32W 48" T8 lights (2x 5000 2x 6500) 16 hours photo-period.
The temperature varies from 75F to 85+F but stays in 85+F about 80% of the time.
Humidity in the room varies from 50 to 70% mostly staying closer to 70% and only very rarely dropping to 40%.

Is it the endosymbiotic fungus issue known to be associated with these plants?

P.S. hmm could it be the fact that the plants are in a 2.5" tall pots in about 1cm in water... Sundewman (CPlantaholic) suggests 4" pots to prevent the flooding of the roots..
 
Last edited:
I don't know how to help, sorry.

but I do know that those are D. capensis, not nidiformis.
 
That's D. capensis, not D. nidiformis. Comfort zone for almost all the South African sundews is 50-85°F. They'll tolerate much higher and lower but will the best vegetative growth in this range.

This is D. nidiformis
P5030139.JPG
P5030140.JPG
 
Last edited:
Hmm... the plants were seed grown and seeds were ordered from a nursery and were my first plants/seeds. Now that I look at the pics (and I wonder why I never bothered googling them) you are both absolutely right. The packets must've been mislabeled when I got them (or I mislabeled the containers...).

Well that is rather embarrassing and silly of me... My apologies for misinformation...


So with Plant ID properly established the culprit is the temperature, High 80 is not to good for them?

P.S. Now i need to get me some D. nidiformis :)

Thank you to a moderator for correcting the title!
 
Last edited:
Last summer temps in my terrarium reached 90F or so and the D. capensis was one of the plants that did not like that...I would definitely try to get that temp closer to 80F at the very most.

edit: also, if I am not mistaken, 16 hours is a bit much for a photoperiod. Might be a good idea to cut that back a couple hours as well.
 
Last edited:
That soil looks a little too wet. You may or may not have root rot.

In my opinion, cut back on the following:
1) Photoperiod (12-13 hours instead of 16 hours)
2) Temperature (my capensis' are struggling at 90F. I read they do best under 80F)
3) Soil wetness (if kept too wet, they rot. Keep the soil moist (maybe an inch or less of standing water in the water tray. If undrained pot, keep the soil moist and not waterlogged)
 
Thank you all for replies.

Photoperiod is adjusted to 13hrs and I will try to keep the temperature from climbing over 85F. Plants will be repotted at earliest opportunity into 4" pot.
 
Back
Top