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Artificially Feeding Drosera

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Howdy folks,

So I have always mainly been a Nepenthes man but I've had a few Drosera in the past acquired through trades which always died because they didn't catch enough (i.e nothing beyond a very occasional gnat) in the terrariums. But I picked up a couple dews recently as I'm getting back into plants and I read some websites about feeding them betta flakes and betta pellets.

So last night I mixed up a soup of a pinch of powdered flakes and pellets with a few drops of R/O water and put a droplet on each alive looking leaf of the D. capensis and D. adelae "Giant" and it appears as of this morning nothing at all has happened on the capensis (which is flowering) and only one of the adelae leaves looks like it kind of curled up to absorb it. What exactly am I supposed to see and should I wash the goop off the leaves that don't seem to be reacting?

Thanks for any input you might have!
 
I always feed them dry, and generally just place whole betta pellets on the leaves for larger plants. D. capensis will gobble them right up, and even small D. burmannii are quite voracious. It may be you didn't have enough food in the drop you placed on the leaf to cause a visible reaction.
 
Hmm the websites all seemed to say it needed to be mixed with water - but dropping a plain pellet or crumbled flakes would be a lot less monkeying around.

So here's a couple pics of the droplets on the leafs what do you all think? It's been like this since about 7 pm last night.

DSCN9924.jpg

DSCN9925.jpg
 
Oh you certainly put a lot more on the leaves than it sounded like. That is quite odd that the capensis isn't reacting to it - I've found that the leaves tend to fold in half pretty quick when fed. I know a lot of people recommend mixing with water but I've never found it necessary and I certainly don't want to deal with the mess. Using something more potent like mealworms it might be necessary though.
 
These are new arrivals - maybe I fed them too soon? Should I use a mister to spray the uneaten food off the leaves? I don't wanna rot the leaves.
 
I would suggest that if they don't respond within, say, 24 hours you probably should remove the food as it is then likely to rot. Did the leaves have dew before you fed them? If not they are probably not receptive. This still leaves the possibility of feeding an easily-absorbed foliar fertilizer like Maxsea, in diluted form. Then it matters much less if the digestive tissues of the leaves are fully functioning. Having said that, it might just be easier to let the new plants settle in and develop dewy tentacles before you feed them again.
 
OK thanks I will probably spray them off then and wait a while until a number of new leaves unfurl.

I don't have maxsea but I have non-burning urea free orchid fertilizer (20-10-20) that I use on Neps and most everything else I grow as well as some Organic Plus fish and kelp fertilizer (2-2-2) which stinks something fierce!
 
OK thanks I will probably spray them off then and wait a while until a number of new leaves unfurl.

I don't have maxsea but I have non-burning urea free orchid fertilizer (20-10-20) that I use on Neps and most everything else I grow as well as some Organic Plus fish and kelp fertilizer (2-2-2) which stinks something fierce!

The orchid fertilizer you mention will work fine, I used to use that before switching to Maxsea. I think either orchid fert or Maxsea works better than applying dry or wet fish flakes, etc., because you don't have to worry about blobs of food rotting on the leaves. The only downside of foliar spraying/misting with fert is that it can cause moss to grow really fast and take over small plants if not careful to avoid misting the soil. I tip the pots to the side when misting my plants to avoid hitting the soil as much as possible and that helps.

Also, as Bluemax mentioned spaying liquid fert onto the leaves works even without optimal dew production.
 
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I've never had any issue with fungus on solid food myself other than on very small seedlings, since I grow in open air. It can definitely be a problem in an enclosed terrarium environment though. Sundews will digest 95% of betta pellets so they don't leave much behind to cause a problem.
 
  • #10
So it's OK to foliar feed Drosera but not to flush the roots with the fertilizer?

Is that only due to excess moss growth (I would actually like to get some new moss cultures going for a planted vivarium I want to start up) or is it also that their roots are super sensitive - more so than Nepenthes roots?
 
  • #11
So it's OK to foliar feed Drosera but not to flush the roots with the fertilizer?

Is that only due to excess moss growth (I would actually like to get some new moss cultures going for a planted vivarium I want to start up) or is it also that their roots are super sensitive - more so than Nepenthes roots?

You would find that most Drosera strongly dislike fertilizers at their roots. I would say certainly more so than Nepenthes do. On the other hand I do know that some do get overspray on the surface of the soil with no bad results. Maybe because they flush the pots often? I avoid it, myself.
 
  • #12
It's hard to tell, as the photos are not close up, but it does seem to appear that the leaves don't have any dew on them. And if you just got them, that is common. I'd wait to feed again until new leaves open (that have dew).
Good Luck! :D
 
  • #13
There is some dew but they are very tiny droplets compared to the flashy photos online of big glistening red droplets.

The capensis I got at the greenhouse by the grocery store on Thursday or Friday and the adelae "giant" came by mail about 2 weeks ago.

I do almost always flush pots when I water - the Nepenthes really seem to grow faster when you do it so I will for dews as well but if they don't go for root feeding I won't do it intentionally.
 
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  • #14
A urea free orchid fertilizer should work fine. Look for the highest NPK emphasis on NP. Maxsea is very good. You might have to experiment with concentrations. Start at quarter strength of recommended concentrations. The late great Bob Hanrahan said to use a concentration so that quick reacting Drosera such as D. capensis shows some reaction within an hour or so.

If you use ground betta pellets of fish food flakes I find it best to mist the plants lightly after feeding to aid absorption. Otherwise the "dew" gets soaked up and the glands dry out and stop functioning.

Fruit flies and Maxsea are what I use these days. Just put some fruit flies in container and into the fridge or the freezer until they stop moving. Freshly dead fruit flies work just as well if you leave them in the freezer too long.

Freeze dried flies "Anole Food" work too, but again I either wet them first or mist or moisten (eye dropper or small syringe) after applying to the leaves.
 
  • #15
Thanks NAN I will probably try a diluted grow more misting, seems like it would be the most hassle free way to go since I already use it on almost everything else.
 
  • #16
Let us know how it's going, I've got some Orchid fertilizer laying around here somewhere...
 
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