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!

D. cuneifolia help

Does anyone have any good perimeters or cultivation tips for growing this plant? I purchased this plant about a month ago. I was told to grow it along the same lines as my capensis. Strangely enough, it's been struggling. Out of the time I had it, it has only produced 2 leaves (1 is already dead after feeding it a fish pellet) and the 2nd leaf is somewhat deformed and failed to produce any dew--which is strange to me because the capensis has been growing like a weed. Can somebody help me out here?

I'm suspecting it's because I'm growing it in lowland conditions? It shares the same bunk with my N. campanulata and the temps remain around the 70s at night and 80s during the day.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I had a colony, started from seeds, for a couple years. Their growing conditions were similar to that of D. aliciae and admirabilis. Good drainage, distilled water, strong lighting, occasiuonal food,.... That's about it.
 
i seriously don't get what's going on with this plant. i've had no problems with D. aliciae ever, and the D. capensis is totally fine. this is the first south african sundew that has ever given me problems and i don't know what the heck is going on.

when you mentioned good drainage, i take it i shouldn't be using the tray method for it? could that be the reason why it's doing so poorly?
 
It's rally hard to know for sure what's going on, but that could be one of the variables. what's your lighting like? What water are you using? What media?
 
Jim,
here are my specs:
lighting: 65w +55w CF @ 6500k and 10000k (respectively) for 14 hrs
water: distilled
media: this one im not sure of since i received the plant potted it looks like the standard peat and perlite mix.
 
Maybe try repotting in LFS. The photoperiod is long for this time of year.
 
i'll give it a shot. thanks for the tips.
 
hey amph,
I have no experience with D. cuneifolia, but I have read that they are one of the few South African sundews that normally go dormant during the warm months in nature. I don't know if 80F might be a little too warm, but I have to say that D. cuneifolia might prefer a bit cooler temps in the day. Once again, no personal experience here, but just trying to help.

Also, I have D. trinervia (also is normally a summer dormant plant), which has never gone dormant for me yet, regardless of the 85F temps that I had this summer, but I once read a post by Ferdinando Rivadavia that said as long as D. trinervia is in a constantly moist environment that doesn't experience extreme temps, that they do not need to go dormant.
 
thanks Aaron, that's what im suspecting--that it doesnt like the warm conditions in my tank...and apparently, Nepenthes mikei doesn't enjoy a warm balmy day time environment either, despite the low 50s cooldown every night either (i've been keeping my all my CP's within the same terrarium but move my highlanders and helies into a seperate cool down tank to save energy)

....and maybe the tank isn't in the mid 80s, might even be in the 90s. either way, the pings, lowlander, and petiolaris-es are happy. the time to invest in a thermometer?
 
  • #10
Some of the D. cuneifolia in collections is mis-labeled D. trinervia (or vice-versa). Some of this confusion arrives because it seems D. cuneifolia and D. trinervia were formerly lumped together as one species. It's easy enough to tell them apart - D. trinervia has the three "nerves" (slight ridges) on the underside of the leaves running the length of the leaf. These structures are most apparent on leaves not yet unfurled. D. trinervia will flower in the late winter/early summer and D. cuneifolia in the late spring/early summer (Feb-April vs May-July in the Northern Hemisphere, respectively).

Drosera admirabilis and D. cuneifolia are considered synonymous (same species) by some.

In my experience D. cuneifolia/admirabilis does not go dormant in the summer and that they prefer more highland conditions ( >10 degree temperature drop at night). Their range appears to be restricted to the Table Mountain complex in South Africa. Temperatures constantly in the 80's during the day may be too warm for them. Remember these are sub-tropical, not tropical plants.

http://tablemountain.net/visitor_info/weather.html

If your D. trinervia does not go dormant it may be D. cuneifolia. My D. trinervia goes dormant even when grown side-by-side in the same tray with D. cuneifolia. Dormancy appears to be triggered more by photoperiod change than temperatures. Half of my colony would go dormant in the winter making it difficult to water. Fortunately that half appears to half appears to have died out finally.
 
  • #11
FWIW:

IMG_0215.jpg
D. cuneifolia

IMG_0069.jpg
D. admirabilis

Picture079.jpg
D. aliciae
 
  • #12
If your D. trinervia does not go dormant it may be D. cuneifolia. My D. trinervia goes dormant even when grown side-by-side in the same tray with D. cuneifolia. Dormancy appears to be triggered more by photoperiod change than temperatures. Half of my colony would go dormant in the winter making it difficult to water. Fortunately that half appears to half appears to have died out finally.

thanks for that information Not a Number, that's been really helpful. I wish i came across this kind of info before actually purchasing. I looked around but not much is given regarding D. trinervia/cuneifolia/admirabilis cultivation. i've looked at the back of one of the leaves, and from what i can tell, no 3 nerves/veins. the tentacles however are bright red, which makes me suspect admirabilis, but time (and size) will tell.

so as for now i will be doing the following:
subjecting the plant to highland conditions.
is there anything that i should be doing with watering (wet/dry/waterlogged?)
i'll be taking my plant out of the "sauna" and hanging out on a window sill until it regains health.
or is it okay if i continue to place them in the 80*F tank and then move them out into a cooldown tank at the end of the day?

@ jim: those pictures definitely helpful. this was why i tried to avoid the majority of S. african sundews--plus that whole D. spatualta mess, which was why i tried to find a distinct rosetted sundew to add to my collection. I thought those wedged shaped leaves would allow them to be distinct from other species (at least in my head i could tell the difference)--now with D. admirabilis into the mess....maybe i should have went with a D. slackii instead. :scratch:
 
  • #13
It is difficult to find good cultivation information on these.

It's difficult to say what would be best how to transition them. What you want to avoid is an abrupt change of conditions. What are your cooling tank temperatures at during the end of the day? If there isn't that abrupt a drop from the lowland tank to the cooling tank maybe put them in the cooling tank in the late afternoon/early evening for a couple of weeks and then from the cooling tank to the windowsill first thing in the morning?

Most of the D. trinervia I've seen in cultivation have rectangular/strap shaped leaves. Most of the pictures of this plant in nature have more wedge shaped leaves. I'm not sure if they are different forms or just a matter of lighting. The wedge shaped leaves are typically a very deep red and the few "nature" photos of the more strap like leaves are much greener. My D. trinervia are getting far from optimal lighting and are mainly green. They will get red with more light but I'm not sure about the leaf shape changing.

Good growing with those. South African and South American Drosera can sometimes take up to a year to recover after cold or heat trauma.
 
  • #14
I think it would be better to have them in cooler temps during the day around 70F if possible, and then have around a 10F drop at night if possible. I'm not sure how important the drop really is to D. cuneifolia.
Honestly, most South African sundews are very easy to grow. A list of the one's I've found are easy include:
D. capensis (obviously :) )
D. aliciae
D. admirabilis (Ceres, RSA) has been extremely easy for me, so I think it should remain classified as D. admirabilis, because it has never needed a dormancy and constanly thrives.
D. madagascariensis
D. collinsiae
D. sp. South Africa
D. natalensis
D. venusta
D. trinervia (so far)

I don't have D. slackii yet, but I've been trying to trade for one for some time now.

So generally, most South African species are very easy.
The one's I've avoided include all the summer dormant ones besides D. trinervia and D. regia. These include D. alba, D. hilaris, D. cuneifolia (I didn't realize there was all this confusion before), D. trinervia, and D. regia and the newly discovered ones that we probably won't see in cultivation for a while.

For the easier one's I've listed, you can check out the following pages I made:
http://www.growsundews.com/sundews/aliciae.html
http://www.growsundews.com/sundews/Drosera_capensis.html
http://www.growsundews.com/sundews/natalensis.html
http://www.growsundews.com/sundews/venusta.html

As far as my D. trinervia goes, here is a picture:
drosera_trinervia_thumb.JPG

for larger, click this link:
http://www.growsundews.com/sundews/trinervia/drosera_trinervia.JPG

To me, it appears to have narrow leaves, characteristic of those of wild D. trinervia colonies I saw in Fernando Rivadavia's pics.
Please let me know what you think, though.
 
  • #15
Yeah Aaron, D. trinervia doesn't look anything like from what I understand D. cuneifolia is to look like. looks like leaf width to length ratio might help in taxonomic clarification. then again, so could phylogenetic studies...

@ Not a Number, by the end of the day/night the temperature goes down lowest to 50F, since the cooldown tank sits next to a window sill in my room (which is more excluded than the rest of the house)--so there really isnt a difference in temperature between the cooldown tank and the windowsill--but what does matter is controlling humidity, something that my heli and neps definitely appreciate.

Oh D. cuneifolia....I wish I knew what I was getting into before I bought you...
no worries guys, i will persevere, the final result looks well worth the work.
 
  • #16
That appears to be D. trinervia, you can see the "nerves" quite clearly, and similar to the plants I have. D. trinervia is supposed to be the easiest of the winter growers to cultivate. It appears to be fairly tolerant of moisture when dormant or survive completely dried out. When they go dormant, they die rapidly down to the root within a week or two.

Compare to these photos by Christian Dietz:

D. trinveria
http://icps.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=africa&action=display&thread=3361

D. admirabilis
http://icps.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=africa&action=display&thread=3478

D. cuneifolia
http://icps.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=africa&action=display&thread=3442

jimscott: I would say your D. cuneifolia is just that.
 
  • #17
okay...i thought i knew what the nerves where...but now i just dont see them. is there a way anyone could highlight them for me so i know what you are talking about?
 
  • #18
This is the best I can do with the digital toy I have:
P1110105copy.jpg
 
  • #19
This is the best I can do with the digital toy I have:

ahhh. now i know exactly what you're talking about. once when my mystery plant (still hoping for a cuneifolia) throws out a new leaf, i'll keep a look out for that.
 
  • #20
I just denuded this guy, but D. slackii does look different than those other rosetted types:

Picture006-4.jpg
 
Back
Top