Question
QUESTION: Back in April, I planted seed of drosera aliciae, and put the pots under florescent lights. The seeds germinated and the plants grew for a while, then stopped growing and now they appear to be slowly dying. They are still in the conditions where they first germinated. There is a layer of moss covering the soil (1/2 peat, 1/2 perlite) I top water them every day and they stand in a water tray. They get no actual sunlight, but there is a florescent light close to them, about 16hrs. per day. The temp. is about 68 degrees.
This has happened to me before, with d. rotundifolia and d. binata. They grow fine, then stop and slowly die. I water them with water from dehumidifier and rainwater.

ANSWER: Hi Craig,

I would like you to send me a photo of the set-up to see if I can get a better idea of what your growing conditions are like.  Include a photo of the plants too.  You can submit two photos at once.

The only clue I have is that you're using water from the dehumidifier.  Compressor units often have copper pipes (our window air conditions do), and you may slowly be leaching copper into the water.  Sundews are very sensitive to copper, hence why you can't use copper based fungicides with them.  Try switching to just distilled water.  Are you collecting rainwater from your roof, or just setting trays out in the open?  Sometimes collecting off of a roof can cause problems since zinc products are used to inhibit moss.

Looking forward to seeing the photo.

Good Growing!

Jeff Dallas
Sarracenia Northwest
http://www.cobraplant.com

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drosera aliciae  
sundew light area   QUESTION: I use rainwater as well as dehumidifier water, gathered from bowls on my deck.
The plants here are in a second bathroom in the back of my house which I don't use. No windows. Seemed like a convenient place to set up lights for germinating seeds.

ANSWER: Hi Craig,

Ahh, this is why a picture is worth a thousand words.  In your original post you didn't mention that you were using compact fluorescent bulbs (CFL's) for your lighting.  There's a couple things going on here.

The first thing is that CFL's are locally fairly hot.  They're not as hot as incandescent bulbs, but still too hot to touch.  The sundews you mentioned that had problems, especially D. aliciae, are sensitive to excess heat.  The CFL will produce local heating of the soil and plants.  I just recently found this happening with a typical Cape Sundew that I had under one, and the same thing was happening.  I moved the light up some (mine is mounted horizontally) and the plant started to grow back more normally.  Yours are being illuminated from the side instead of directly overhead, and your plants show it.  Your D. spatulata are red on one side, and green on the other.

The other issue is the type of bulbs it looks like you have.  In the photo it looks like the typical CFL used for home lighting, and these are in the "warm white" spectrum to model standard incandescent bulbs which people like in the house.  Switching over to 6500K "Daylight" spectrum will give some improvement.  Here's an example, and these are very available these days:  http://www.amazon.com/89095-26-Watt-Daylight-Compact-Fluorescent/dp/B002YEXMUK/r  The standard types tend to be too orange, and you need them more to the blue end of the spectrum.  This tends to be different with fluorescent tubes since the standard "Cool White" tubes are have more blue than warm-white types.  Of course any CFL actually made for plant growing such as Ott Light would be fine.

Since this bathroom you're using is not in use you might consider switching over to using standard 4' shoplight fixtures.  With these you have more room for plants, they are cooler, and give better results.  Use either standard T-12 Cool-White tubes, or T-8's.  Daylight tubes are fine also.  Suspend the fixture roughly 3-4 inches above the plants.  You'll get much more consistent lighting this way, and better plant growth.

Good Growing!

Jeff Dallas
Sarracenia Northwest
http://www.cobraplant.com

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QUESTION: I bought the one you suggested, the 26 watt. The room is too small for the 4' fixture. They still are dying. So is the D. Spatulata. I bought that one in the clump in the picture. I separated out the better plants and replanted them in separate pots.
Would any of them do better in sunlight? Can Spatulata be set outside. Its very hot and humid here. When I set plants outside, I do it at night.

Answer
Hi Craig,

Your D. spatulata would do great outside.  You will probably experience some leaf burn at first, but the plant will get past that in a couple weeks, and will look dark red and dewy.  Give it a few days outside in partial sun if possible before you move it into full sun.  Some dappling from other plants would be good for about a week.

Good Growing!

Jeff Dallas
Sarracenia Northwest
http://www.cobraplant.com