New to this world

[Mobious]

Hello
I live in upstate NY and I read an article on cape sundews that said they are unkillable. I started them from seed they were about 3 months old the articles said
they need a lot of sun the more the better, so when it was warm enough I put them in the sun, came home from work pans are full of water [distilled] and the plants are dead.

 

[bluemax]

While there are certainly those who would describe capes as "unkillable" that is a bit of an exaggeration. If they are unused to very bright sunlight and are then exposed to a lot of it that would probably be enough to get them to bite the dust. I am sorry to hear of your losses but I would encourage you to try again. All successful growers have killed plants, though not meaning to.

 

[Grey Moss]

Welcome. While cape sundews are very tough and adaptable, they still are very killable. Especially if they're very small. At that size a few hours of hot sun can easily dry them out and kill them if they were used to much dimmer conditions before. If you'd want to try capensis again I can send you a small one for the cost of postage.

 

[fredg]

so when it was warm enough I put them in the sun.

There's the clue.

Mistakes are good if you can learn from them, provided it's not the mistake of not seeing that semi.

 

[DragonsEye]

D. capensis does indeed like lots of sun. But, as others have mentioned, you MUST harden them off if they have been growing indoors for any length of time. Consider the following scenario: Take someone who is Caucasian and lives in a climate wherein winter lasts 4-6 months or so. After months of being indoors and bundling up in coats when outside, what do you think would happen to that person if you were to suddenly transport them to Arizona for a hike of 6-8hrs outside (in typical summer attire) with no sunscreen? That is essentially what you did to your young plants. I find capensis can handle 8hrs of direct sun on my balcony where the balcony gets hot enough to blister ones feet, provided the plants are hardened off and always sitting in water.

So chalk this up to a learning experience and give it another go. If you have more seeds, I'd sow them in the pots the now deceased capensis are in. You can leave the pots sitting in the sun -- just keep the pots sitting in water. The seedlings will not need to be hardened off this way.

 

[Mobious]

Thank you

Welcome. While cape sundews are very tough and adaptable, they still are very killable. Especially if they're very small. At that size a few hours of hot sun can easily dry them out and kill them if they were used to much dimmer conditions before. If you'd want to try capensis again I can send you a small one for the cost of postage.

Thank you for the response, information and especially the offer for another plant. But I still have 225 seeds of various pitcher plants, sundews and flytraps I'm waiting to see if they germinate. I bought the seeds in Feb. and planted them at the same time. I started to get a white fungus on the soil and I contacted the seller and asked what to do and they said the seeds would handle any fungicide of the shelf and follow the manufactures instructions and I did. Still no germination from any of the other seeds yet.
This is my first attempt at this with CPs. I'm probably going to have a lot of questions as I venture into this new world.Is it normal for CP seeds to take this long to germinate or did the fungicide kill them?

 

[Mobious]

D. capensis does indeed like lots of sun. But, as others have mentioned, you MUST harden them off if they have been growing indoors for any length of time. Consider the following scenario: Take someone who is Caucasian and lives in a climate wherein winter lasts 4-6 months or so. After months of being indoors and bundling up in coats when outside, what do you think would happen to that person if you were to suddenly transport them to Arizona for a hike of 6-8hrs outside (in typical summer attire) with no sunscreen? That is essentially what you did to your young plants. I find capensis can handle 8hrs of direct sun on my balcony where the balcony gets hot enough to blister ones feet, provided the plants are hardened off and always sitting in water.

So chalk this up to a learning experience and give it another go. If you have more seeds, I'd sow them in the pots the now deceased capensis are in. You can leave the pots sitting in the sun -- just keep the pots sitting in water. The seedlings will not need to be hardened off this way.

Thank you for the info and I am one of those people that live in the winter 6 months out of the year. I live in the Adirondack mountains in upstate NY.
Thank you again very much, and I do have 225 other seeds of various sundews, flytraps and pitcher plants that have not germinated yet. I'm keeping my fingers crossed as this is my first attempt.
Tank again

 

[Mobious]

There's the clue.

Mistakes are good if you can learn from them, provided it's not the mistake of not seeing that semi.

Thanks and I will be sure to watch for that semi

 

[Mobious]

While there are certainly those who would describe capes as "unkillable" that is a bit of an exaggeration. If they are unused to very bright sunlight and are then exposed to a lot of it that would probably be enough to get them to bite the dust. I am sorry to hear of your losses but I would encourage you to try again. All successful growers have killed plants, though not meaning to.

Thank you for the encouragement, And I will try again