drosophyllum drying out..

[NewspaperFort]

too hot? (90s in the daytime...)(45 at night)
too long photo period? ~12 hours
too little water? Huge pot. Im scared to drown this semi-arid species!

It did TREMENDOUS for me outside. Weather got cold, VERY wet, had to bring it in. I would loooove to bring this beautiful plant through winter.

about 3 weeks ago it wilted slightly, so the bottom 3cm are at 45 degrees, the rest is growing straight up. yesterday, all old 'leaves' seem to have dried well up. newest leaves NOT dewy.

 

[Tony Paroubek]

hmm doesn't sound good.. Pretty much how I lost mine one Summer.. cold and rainy for too long outside. When I brought it inside it was ok for a little but clearly went downhill fast and wilted blackened.

Not sure I understand your main concern. Is the plant still wilted or just not dewy?

Can you tell if the mix is still damp? If it is and it's wilted then that's a bad sign of root problems. If it clearly is dry dry and you give it a good drink then it will either perk up if the roots are healthy or not if they are bad.

as for your other questions not sure what you mean about too hot? Are these temperatures since you brought it in? Then maybe it's a problem? 90's in the day sound excessive, if that's the case though then you would expect it to be 'recovered' the following morning after the heat has cooled for a while.

photoperiod, 12 hours if anything sounds like as short as you would want to go. I have my seedlings under 16hours at the moment.

 

[NewspaperFort]

Excellent, sound as I have taken the right precautions. I did water it a little more, and i've moved the light further away. any notes on how cold it can take? it wont go under 38..
But wilting is the main concern, not dewy came after it wilted here the second time.
I'll keep a close eye on it

I believe I got it out of too much rain, I had a 90% dome cover on the pot to keep it dry and slightly humid for the month of september.

 

[Brie]

I just brought mine a couple weeks ago, when they forecasted a few 25 degree nights..It's been great inside so far, so lemme go over what my situation was, see if it helps...

Previous to bringing it inside, it'd been outside the whole time, getting dumped on and tolerating 30s at night with no prob. Still perky and dewy.. I brought it inside and set it on a small table in front of a window, then aimed two table lamps with 6500k CF plant bulbs in them RIGHT at the droso.. like literally almost touching the tips of the leaves.. I watered it for the first time since bringing it in, not because it showed any visual signs of needing water, but I stuck my finger into the substrate near the plant. It felt barely damp so figured it was dump to drench it.. I've read that drosos tolerate ALOT of rain in the wild.. I looked up weather maps for their various localities in the wild, and they actually get almost an identical amount of rain compared to the PNW.. So the whole "over watering" thing I think is a little over-dramatized.. They ALWAYS need to be damp.. and need super bright light.. So maybe yours is too dry, or not getting enough light? The important thing is you cant really sit it in stagnant water.. just need to feel the soil and water when it starts to feel dry.. The age of the plant also matters I think.. young ones are less hardy to dryness then older, larger plants with thicker roots.

Here's a photo of my little guy when I first bought it and potted it in its permanent home.. You can see how wet it is..

 

[DJ57]

I think your temperatures are fine, mine are in the garage right now with temps into the mid 40s at night and high 50s to 60 by day and did fine outside all summer in the hot sun and rain, and going through a couple of light frosts. Inside I have a 2-bulb 40 watt shop light right down as close as it can get without touching the leaves and they are in front of a large south-facing window. They need as much light as you can give them. Droso leaves will wilt if too dry, so a combinaton of too little water and light may be the issue. I have noticed over the last month since they have been in the garage that they are not as dewy as when outside, but I think that is because of the lower temps and lower light levels, but the plants are still green and look healthy. I have been feeding them baby crickets and whatever other small bugs I can catch, but not sure they need as much food in the cooler temps. Unless you see the stem turning black from the bottom (bad sign), your plants are probably just going through adjustment to colder temps and less light as they would naturally in the wild.

Do you have a pic?

 

[Natalie]

Keep in mind the native climate of Drosophyllum - they are adapted to be cold and wet during the winter, and looking at the recent accelerated rate of growth on my plant, they don't go dormant during the winter either like most CPs do. In mediterranean climates, most plant growth occurs during the winter and early spring when water is most abundant, and Drosophyllum likely follows that pattern too. If you're having daily high temperatures in the 90s (!), I think the plant could simply be suffering from heat exhaustion at a time when it's expecting to have daily highs in the 40s and 50s with lots of rain. It's a bit of a stretch to call Drosophyllum a semi-arid plant - they are adapted to little to no rain in the summer, but do receive a lot of summer moisture from fog in their native habitat. Their winters are cool and extremely wet (which they handle fine since they are cold and have free-draining soil).

For example, take a look at the climate of Porto, Portugal and compare it to that of Eugene, Oregon... It's basically the same, however Eugene gets a bit colder in the winter. But the rainfall amounts are pretty much exactly the same with similar distribution throughout the year. If I was living in your area, I would continue to grow the plant outside during the winter, but move it into the garage on nights where the the temperature was supposed to drop below freezing (the plants are frost hardy to 22 degrees apparently, but I wouldn't let them experience that more than a few times a winter).

Hope this helps!

 

[MICKEY]

thats why I need to get some seed anyone know where to get some

 

[Natalie]

If mine makes some seed next spring I'll be going a giveaway on here for sure.