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HELP

I had all these plants on the side of the house at first.. getting about 4 hours of sunlight a day.. i let them sit there for about 2 weeks and now i moved them into the front of the house which is south facing. I live in southern California in the high desert, Santa Clarita where it is a very dry heat and somewhat gusty at times. Will these plants make it? what am i doing wrong?? The sunburns are almost unbearable to see.. The VFTs are losing all their leaves and the sundews are losing their dew. Do I just sit back and watch? i water them at least twice a day and drench them with a misting water bottle whenever im home.

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Keep up the watering but stop the misting. The misting lets water droplets sort of cook the leaves (in my experience) as it seems to focus the light onto 1 point. If it's really dry the misting wont help with RH, plus VFTs do no require a high RH.
Just keep watering and give them a little more time, keep up the good work!
 
Thank you, and is it possible to over water these plants?? or should i water them as much as possible as long as they dont have pools.. just wondering on average how many times I should water them a day.. Even though the sundew pots have built in water trays, they also seem to drain themselves, as well as the VFTs hydroponic type watering system also has drainage holes but they don't drain as fast..
 
It's very hard to overwater them. In the wild they may be submerged for days at a time (not that you have or need to do this) but they can tolerate high levels of water. I would worry more about low then high levels. Let the soil dry up a little bit every once in a while to make sure you get a steady supply of oxygen in the ground. Just keep up what you're doing for now. Can you tell us what your temps are like? if they're above 100 consistently for days and days at a time you may consider using a very light shade cloth to lessen the blow.
 
during august it can get up to 120 for days at a time.. for the next 10 days the forecast says mid to high 80s and a few low 90s.. it hasn't been terribly hot yet.. the funny thing is the sundews seem to be doing better than the VFTs... but then again i cut them down when i first got them
 
Your temps sound fine then, no need for any shade cloth. As long as you're using the appropriate water and medium they'll begin to put out some new growth soon! Good luck!
 
also my parents purchased a filter that runs through the whole house and was about 2000 dollars, its supposedly removes all minerals. So i can water as much as needed, right out of the faucet : )
 
Very cool, lucky you ;) I've been looking for one myself and found some RO/DI systems for around 250. That will be my next big purchase. If you are wondering how hard your water is I recommend buying a TDS meter. I got mine on amazon for 20 dollars or so. Very cheap and pays for itself when you're trying to figure what's causing the damage. Saved some plants more then once thanks to it.
 
How about moving them back to the side of the house (preferably the East)? If they did OK there, leave them there until they're well-established. And I would go with the shade cloth to reduce their stress. I have no experience with such conditions, but that's what I think.
 
  • #10
is it normal for the sundews current leaves not having any dew on them at all? are they like the VFTs where the newer leaves will be stronger than the old?
 
  • #11
Yes, the new leaves should be adapted once they come out. What type of dew is it? If it is an adelae I suggest moving it to a shadier spot, a window does well. It's one of the few dews that does not do well in full sun.
 
  • #12
what about capensis, marstons dragon, Dicatoma, and Multifidia extrema can all of these endure full sun ?
 
  • #13
They sure can, all of those LOVE full sun. New growth should look fine and be full of thick dew.
 
  • #14
California desert is a very different environment from what any of us know in the East. Verify what you should do with people in your area, or maybe with Andrew, the owner of Terraforums, since he's in Tucson.
 
  • #15
HNorth makes a good point Spin, shade cloth may help or early/late sun and shade during the hottest parts of the day will help if your temps are consistently 100+
 
  • #16
well hopefully someone from the westcoast will see this before its too late lol
 
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