No dew

[FLTropical]

Hi all,

I grow some drosera capensis Alba, and I've been having trouble getting the light right. I grew them in bright shade for a while, and they had tons of dew but the new growth was about half the size of the older growth. Then I moved them a month and a half ago to full sun. And now they look somewhat tattered, and have now dew.

Advice?

 

[Steve Booth]

Stress often causes them to loose the dew, as does high temperatures. It could be that the relatively sudden shock of bright shade to full sun has set them back.

Cheers
Steve

 

[ArcanaCapra]

First of all, dont worry about it. Capensis is made of steel. Second, changing them too suddenly as Steve said, can cause a shock.
If it's used to bright shade, I would move them to a place that gets only one, maybe two hours of direct morning light at first, then move it to somewhere that gets 1-2 more hours of sun after 1-2 weeks, to finally move it to full bright sun after 2 weeks. Thats the time I usually let they adapt to changes, at least, but, different conditions means different needs.
Getting the soil slightly more wet than they're used to helps to deal with the shock as well, in my experience.

 

[Pitchgirl27]

I'm having sane issues. I'm new to cps. I have few different dews and one has gone from light colors to its turned red over night. Little dew on her. In morning sun from 8-12. I'm not sure how to attach photo I'm new here.

 

[Benurmanii]

First of all, dont worry about it. Capensis is made of steel. Second, changing them too suddenly as Steve said, can cause a shock.
If it's used to bright shade, I would move them to a place that gets only one, maybe two hours of direct morning light at first, then move it to somewhere that gets 1-2 more hours of sun after 1-2 weeks, to finally move it to full bright sun after 2 weeks. Thats the time I usually let they adapt to changes, at least, but, different conditions means different needs.
Getting the soil slightly more wet than they're used to helps to deal with the shock as well, in my experience.

I don't believe in acclimation. With hardy plants like these, they should recover faster if you just shock them and get it over with, rather than slowly adjusting your plant, and having a little bit of the new growth not fully hardened. I never acclimated my Darlingtonia nor D. linearis to 80+ degree weather, and while the old growth quickly died off, the new growth came out much sturdier (though 100 degree weather has caused setbacks).

 

[ArcanaCapra]

I don't believe in acclimation. With hardy plants like these, they should recover faster if you just shock them and get it over with, rather than slowly adjusting your plant, and having a little bit of the new growth not fully hardened. I never acclimated my Darlingtonia nor D. linearis to 80+ degree weather, and while the old growth quickly died off, the new growth came out much sturdier (though 100 degree weather has caused setbacks).

Interesting. Well, I've never had happy endings with shocking my plants, but those were a bit less hardy plants (The older growth never died off, but it had an overall unhealthy look, and so did the new growth, then I always ended up going a few steps back, slowly acclimating them). I assumed even capensis would have to pass through acclimation.

 

[Benurmanii]

Interesting. Well, I've never had happy endings with shocking my plants, but those were a bit less hardy plants (The older growth never died off, but it had an overall unhealthy look, and so did the new growth, then I always ended up going a few steps back, slowly acclimating them). I assumed even capensis would have to pass through acclimation.

It probably won't work for all plants, but recently, I have been skipping the acclimation step when I get plants that have been babied, or are otherwise not used harsh conditions. The D. linearis did fine as long as the weather wouldn't go above 90 degrees, but some of the seedlings couldn't handle it (they are all seedlings) and died off. Not everyone would probably like the method I chose, since all the old growth turned black and the only green on them was from the new growth in the center.

 

[tommyr]

Some sundews will slow dew production if they are too hot. Adalea does this I find for instance. Once it cools down a bit it picks back up.

 

[bluemax]

I'm having sane issues. I'm new to cps. I have few different dews and one has gone from light colors to its turned red over night. Little dew on her. In morning sun from 8-12. I'm not sure how to attach photo I'm new here.

Do your plants have plenty of water? These are bog plants and like the soil to be just short of soggy. They should be in standing water trays always. Another possibility is the soil. Is it a mainly peat mixture or long-fibered sphagnum moss? These are some of the more likely issues.

If you do a search for 'posting photos' or similar you will find several threads that will tell how to do it here. Welcome to TF!

 

[Pitchgirl27]

Yup. They all sit in dishes of rain water. My cape dews are in Peat and sand my Frasier dew and others are in sphagnum Moss. Someone told me to put in full all day sun. I think they got sun burnt. I think. We're growing great till then. Im in FL hot sun. I'm getting use to how to post stuff here. Bit confused on how to post pics but I'll figure it out. I appreciate your help for sure. I took the burnt one out of full sun for now.

 

[FLTropical]

High temps might be an issue for me too. I've given mine a hair more shade, more water, and had little result. They grow, but are still dewless. Temps are 78 at night and 90 during the day. Heat index is usually about 100. I'd bet that is warmer than their natural habitat. Fall should be better for them.


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[bluemax]

Yes, plants that have been grown in dimmer light will often take a serious hit when placed in bright sunlight, even though with time they will adapt and actually grow better for it. If you can gradually increase the amount of light there is generally less trauma. Too rapid a change in many conditions can kill plants though they will adapt given a more gradual introduction.

As for how to include photos with your posts you might want to look here: http://www.terraforums.com/forums/general-discussions/136281-embed-photos-host.html