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Does Capensis ever die!

So... the first carnivorous plant I got, was my D. Capensis. Had it for now, well since august 08, and it must have been 6 months old, making it roughly two+ years old now. If I were to compare from when I bought it, it grew a good 6 inches, making it about 8 inches tall now.

Does this thing ever die or does it just keep going, and going, like the energizer bunny :-D I love the palm tree look! How old is your oldest specimen of D. Capensis, and how tall is it? Mother plant, not generations of roots making offshoots...

Thanks!

***EDIT*** What I really wanted to know was from the long time growers, those that have had this plant for many years, eg. more than 2 years ;) Anyone can kill a plant, I'm not interested in knowing how to kill a cape or how they always come back from the roots(but thanks for your replies anyways :D), I'm interested in knowing what is the life expectancy of a capensis, and what height can a capensis get after x number of years?

(Do they get to 12 inches tall, and live to 10 years?)
 
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i think i bought my first one 2-3 years ago, huge root system and i bought it as a mature plant, though its stalk doesn't seem to be as large as yours, after a recent repotting the tip died but now it has 2 growth points at the top of the one stalk :), mine are in a 14in pot and the roots are close too if not already go to the bottom of the pot on my larger plants. but my 2 mother plants are still alive after all this time, even when i take them from partial shade windowsill conditions to putting them outside in direct sunlight without acclimation. very hardy plants, great for catching bugs since it was one of my first dews i used to love setting bugs on its leaves and comming back later and finding the leaf curled around the bug
 
I always kill mine for some reason (wrong soil, poor light, over-watering, etc).

However, I have a pot of them in my mini-greenhouse that I've had since last summer (the longest I've ever kept them alive). I think I finally found the best way to grow them.
 
Mine recently died, sorta. I did the lop off method to get it restarted after 2+ years, moved it to the humidity dorm, and when I moved it back out once it had roots it didn't survive.

However, the 6.5" pot that it was in had about 5 Capensis in it, all clones of the mother plant, and after lopping off the mother plant the roots sent up about 4 plants. So...

Yes, it's impossible to kill Capensis if you aren't using the wrong environs. ;)
 
Yes its quite simple!: Give your plants to your girlfriend before you go to basic training, wait 6 months, screw up the relationship and wallah! Out of sheer hatred for you your Cape along with other plants will be dead for "Hell hath no fury like a woman's scorn" (from the play Macbeth if I remember right..).. Wish I knew exactly what she did with them..
 
yes. i did. the stem grew too close to the CF lighting and fried the growth point. i was hoping that off shoots would sprout out of the main stem. the stem then proceeded to shrink and fall over. and that was the end of that.
 
The seem to be be best!!LAst time I repotted one and it just kinda died and grow right back..still very nice!xD
 
reformulated question, see above post #1

basically, until what age will capensis live?
 
Eventually the peat will become unsuitable and this is when the plant will die. From what I've read though, if you make sure to supply fresh media every 4 or 5 years (just to be safe) I'm guessing it could live longer than 10 years. But this is a complete guess based off of what I've read from old posts. My only question is- what form do you have? The Cape seeds I started 3 years ago have only formed a 1.5 inch stem. I've always wanted to have a cape tree. do you have any pics? I saw one 2 years ago that made my day, but now i can't find it :(

Edit: I just found this:
I've seen 'capensis trees' which seem to be low level light condition side effects. Not really a bad thing, but the plant can end up looking like a mini palm tree if taken care of well.

Anything for survival in capensis' book.
-Nathan
 
  • #10
I have a "mother" capensis plant that is about 10 years old..
although im no longer sure exactly which one is the "original"..
because I treat them like African Violets when they get the long "neck"..

the plant keeps growing from the growing tip..the "bottom" leaves are older, and eventually turn brown and die off..every once in awhile I trim away the dead leaves, so eventually you have a capensis with a "long spindly neck" several inches long before you get to green living leaves..

perhaps every two years or so I decapitate the plant, right at the soil surface..
I cut the neck shorter, perhaps an inch long, and stick the "top" into a new pot, where it roots to form a new plant..meanwhile the "mother" root stock also sprouts a new plant..

My original capensis plant has evolved into 4 to 8 plants via this process..im not even sure exactly how many, because I have given several away..this has been going on for 10 years at least..maybe longer.

Scot
 
  • #11
just the answer i was looking for, thanks CPlantaholic and scottychaos :D
 
  • #12
Old dews are fun! These aren't D. capensis, but they show what some rosetted sundews do over time.

These were my D. slackii and D. admirabilis before I gave em away (making room for neps!):

D-3.jpg


D-2.jpg
 
  • #13
Old dews are fun! These aren't D. capensis, but they show what some rosetted sundews do over time.

These were my D. slackii and D. admirabilis before I gave em away (making room for neps!):

D-3.jpg


D-2.jpg

thats cool!
D. capensis tries to do the same thing, but eventually becomes too top-heavy and just flops over ..but I like those "tower form" sundews! :)

I dont really know what D. capensis would do in the wild..flop over and re-root naturally perhaps? its an odd growth method..to grow upright but not be able to really support yourself..but also clearly not a "runner" or any kind of deliberate horizontal growth..anyone have any "capensis in the wild" info?

Scot
 
  • #14
Caps, how long did it take you plants to do that? That looks neat!
 
  • #15
I read some where else on here, that very tall capensis sprout roots from the stem that support the plant like buttrus roots on a Pandanus tree. Havent seen this myself though.
Very cool D admirabalis photo capslock.
 
  • #16
That's awesome Caps!
 
  • #17
I read some where else on here, that very tall capensis sprout roots from the stem that support the plant like buttrus roots on a Pandanus tree. Havent seen this myself though.

I had a plant that started a root like support similar to this. I repoted the plant (mainly because it outgrew the three inch pot it was in) and buried this in the process. I didn't get any pictures of it though.
 
  • #18
No, I do not die! :<
 
  • #19
I read some where else on here, that very tall capensis sprout roots from the stem that support the plant like buttrus roots on a Pandanus tree. Havent seen this myself though.
Very cool D admirabalis photo capslock.


I have a variety of D. capensis that grows upwards quickly. It does make buttress roots. :-O
 
  • #20
Wow, Capslock, I think that's my newest favorite sundew pictures!
Thanks for sharing :)
 
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