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dew tank issue..

Slight problem.. I don't have A/C in the house and temps are creepin' into the mid-90's. The neps are doing great in the grow box, and I have computer fans going in my Ceph tank. But I don't have anything for my dew tank and my dews are drying up and starting to die. Any suggestions?
 
That's strange. All my dews (besides the Queenslanders) are grown outside with 90F+ temps. Why not hook up one of the ceph fans onto the dew tank, or place the dews with the cephs?
 
I'd suggest getting an attic fan, but that doesn't really help if the temp outside is mid 90s... Why does your house get hotter than the outside air? I wouldn't think most dews would have a problem in that temperature, temperates and tropicals would have to experience high temperatures if it's this hot in a temperate zone.
 
Why does your house get hotter than the outside air? I wouldn't think most dews would have a problem in that temperature, temperates and tropicals would have to experience high temperatures if it's this hot in a temperate zone.

I don't have a clue why it's hotter inside than it is outside. I've got all the windows open and an industrial size fan going. This fan about knocks me off my feet..
I just checked on the dews and the temp is 76degF and 65% humidity.. And all the dews are covered with dew, the pings are covered with.. dew, and everything looks great. But it all drys up during the day. That's not normal is it?

Why not hook up one of the ceph fans onto the dew tank, or place the dews with the cephs?

I only have 1 cord that both fans plug in to. And the tanks are too far apart to reach a fan for each. So the cephs won that war.. And I already thought of moving the dews. But the reason I have a tank for each is because I have so many of each that they need their own tanks.
 
Fans or A/C can really suck the humidity out of the air...

Humidity shock can cause these symptoms.
 
What species are we talking here? They may just be going dormant.
 
would say your first problem is your growing them in a tank......only a couple dews benefit from that kind of growing......grow them in an open tray in good light and get them out of the tank.....most dews dont give a rip about humidity, they need alot of light and good air circulation....i have really low humidity and the only dew i grow in a tank is prolifera.....
 
You're growing all of those in a tank? Is the tank covered or uncovered?

Your pygmy Drosera could be going dormant from the temps. The South Africans are probably too warm. South Africans like some temperature drop at night.

Take the cover off or turn the tank on its side. Or consider a grow shelf depending on what your winter temperatures are like. Humidity should not be a problem if you keep your plants adequately watered. Unless or course your ambient RH is consistently below 20%

It's the soil/root temperatures you have to watch. In a closed system like a tank everything in the system (air, pots, soil etc.) will equalize temperatures much more than an open system.
 
  • #10
even below 20% its no big deal, most the larger dews like binata and capensis are fine with ultra low so long as they are in really good light and kept watered and most the small ones see a bump in local relative humidity due to their proximity to the damp soil......when its -40 out and the central air is on the humidity here is in the low teens.....

most my problems with growing dews were as a newbie growing them in tanks, the higher humidity and low air circulation caused most to rot......they are much happier with really good air circulation and strong light and dont really care bout humidity......with the exception of a handful of species.....
 
  • #11
The tank is uncovered, with 4 Vita-Lite T12 greenhouse bulbs, and the dews are in a tray of water. There is 60% humidity in the tank, and 30%-40% outside.
 
  • #12
as i said, pull them out of the tank....30-40% is more than enough to get the job done.....
 
  • #13
I couldn't live without a/c!
 
  • #14
Yeah, a tank is totally inappropriate for that application. They don't need a significant amount of humidity - I've got conditions in that range and I grow my Neps uncovered. If I'm not mistaken, Drosera evolved dewiness first to cope with dehydration, before they used it to capture bugs.
~Joe
 
  • #15
Okay.. they just need plenty of light to produce dew and thrive, correct? So, why take them out of an uncovered tank that is providing them with an ample amount of light? I don't have a good window to place them in. And like I said earlier, there really isn't much of a difference in humidity. Only about 30% higher inside the tank.
 
  • #16
if you do ditch the tank, though, you can expect that if you're growing them in the same location indoors, the dew will still evaporate from the leaves even faster (unless you give them more light).
Where I grow mine (on the tray method), the air is pretty much stagnant, so they always have dew on the leaves even when it gets to 85F-90F under the lights during the summer (I have a separate grow area for my cool-loving sundews like pygmies and South American species). But the sundews growing in the warmer conditions are only ~2-3 inches from my T-8 fixtures, so most of them are completely red and have maximal dew production, it seems.

Not having dew during the warmest part of the day isn't necessarily a bad thing unless the plants look like they're declining. If they were growing outdoors and this happened, they obviously wouldn't be able to catch any prey during this time, though.
 
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  • #17
the problem is the 4 sides of the tank kinda kill alot of air movement.....lack of air movement is not good for drosera....
 
  • #18
the problem is the 4 sides of the tank kinda kill alot of air movement.....lack of air movement is not good for drosera....


There's plenty of air movement. I have an industrial size fan going and you can see the flowers swaying in the breeze.
I decided to go through and weed out my unsuccessful ceph leaf cuttings to make room for some dews. I was able to fit most of them in the ceph tank which has the 2 fans and 4 greenhouse lights. The dews I put in my ceph pot are doing really well, so I think the rest of them will do good too.
 
  • #19
I think some things may all depend on what species of drosera you plan to grow. Petiolaris complex and hybrids seem to thrive in high temps all the time and High humidity as well. My tank that I keep them in is regularly 90+F. OTOH, if temp was reduced by reducing light level, D. adelea seemed to do fine under normal output shoplight level lights and heat (although I am guessing it went up to the 80+ range also). D. sessiliflora also does well for me in the high light, high temp, high humidity setting. Maybe too well. It is jumping around pot to pot like a weed. D. intermedia 'Cuba' also is doing well same conditions. I don't run fans or worry about humidity, but it works for these species. I don't think it will work for all sundew species.

MTF
 
  • #20
well then im going with not enough light if your having problems......
 
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