TheFury
Oh, the humanity!!
Hey everyone - I'm almost embarrassed to post up about this. I have several tropical and South African dews that are struggling mightily right now. Since November, my D. aliciae, D. venusta, and D. spatulata really haven't done much of anything. The D. venusta is looking sickly, the D. aliciae keeps developing humic acid on the crown (which I do wipe off with a Q-tip) and looking generally frazzled, and the D. spatulata--probably the happiest of the bunch--just isn't growing.
It's been nearly two months now and no improvement, as you're about to see. I was hoping some of the problems would abate after I moved my plants into my grow rack which I set up about a month before, but at this point these plants aren't just adjusting; they're pissed.
My conditions:
MEDIA - 50/50 Hoffman brand peat moss and Mosser Lee brand "desert sand," a little heavier on the sandy side. The sand passed the "white vinegar test" and doesn't contain any carbonate minerals.
WATER - RO water; I usually fill the trays up to about 1" and let them dry out, wait a day or two, and fill them up again. I also mist the plants from overhead every 2-3 days.
LIGHTS - 4x 32-watt T8 bulbs - 2x 4100K "cool white" and 2x Zoo Med Flora Sun grow bulbs. 11 hour photoperiod, on its way from 9 up to 16... aiming to get there in four weeks.
TEMPERATURE - the rack stays around 80-85 degrees during the day and low 70s at night. When the radiators are on in the apartment, temps in the rack might stay about 5 degrees hotter.
HUMIDITY - 55% humidity during the day and 80%+ overnight.
What really gets me is that I have a few Pings, a Nep, and a S. purpurea in the same conditions that seem totally content right now. Shouldn't these sundews, and these species in particular which are noted for being easy to grow, be more forgiving?? All I can think is bad soil... Any insight y'all can offer would be awesome.
Some pictures:
D. spatulata on 11/29/10:
D. spatulata on 1/18/11:
D. venusta on 11/29/10:
D. venusta on 1/18/11:
D. aliciae on 11/29/10 (please forgive the typo on the pant label):
D. aliciae on 1/18/11:
Frustrating, right
---------- Post added at 10:18 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:57 PM ----------
Ah, forgot to mention, I've also managed to kill not one but TWO D. adelae. I don't get it, they should love my conditions!
It's been nearly two months now and no improvement, as you're about to see. I was hoping some of the problems would abate after I moved my plants into my grow rack which I set up about a month before, but at this point these plants aren't just adjusting; they're pissed.
My conditions:
MEDIA - 50/50 Hoffman brand peat moss and Mosser Lee brand "desert sand," a little heavier on the sandy side. The sand passed the "white vinegar test" and doesn't contain any carbonate minerals.
WATER - RO water; I usually fill the trays up to about 1" and let them dry out, wait a day or two, and fill them up again. I also mist the plants from overhead every 2-3 days.
LIGHTS - 4x 32-watt T8 bulbs - 2x 4100K "cool white" and 2x Zoo Med Flora Sun grow bulbs. 11 hour photoperiod, on its way from 9 up to 16... aiming to get there in four weeks.
TEMPERATURE - the rack stays around 80-85 degrees during the day and low 70s at night. When the radiators are on in the apartment, temps in the rack might stay about 5 degrees hotter.
HUMIDITY - 55% humidity during the day and 80%+ overnight.
What really gets me is that I have a few Pings, a Nep, and a S. purpurea in the same conditions that seem totally content right now. Shouldn't these sundews, and these species in particular which are noted for being easy to grow, be more forgiving?? All I can think is bad soil... Any insight y'all can offer would be awesome.
Some pictures:
D. spatulata on 11/29/10:
D. spatulata on 1/18/11:
D. venusta on 11/29/10:
D. venusta on 1/18/11:
D. aliciae on 11/29/10 (please forgive the typo on the pant label):
D. aliciae on 1/18/11:
Frustrating, right
---------- Post added at 10:18 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:57 PM ----------
Ah, forgot to mention, I've also managed to kill not one but TWO D. adelae. I don't get it, they should love my conditions!