Question

D. adelae  
D. adelae   QUESTION: Bought this plant from Sarracenia Northwest in May of 2011. I transplanted it in May of this year because the leaves were turning brown on the and it seemed too big for the pot.  (It was still in it's original pot.)  It is in your mix for sundews and is watered with distilled water.  It is in a west facing window.  I live near Cleveland, Ohio.  Can you advise about how to care for this plant?

ANSWER: Hi Anthea,

Thank-you for the photos.  It always helps.

You may have a couple things going on here.  Drosera adelae is a plant that originates from boggy forest floor conditions in Northern Australia.  It's used to very stable conditions that don't change much.  As a result, if growing conditions have any big swings in temperature, light, humdidity, etc... they tend to suffer some.   What you may have happening is that the plant is shady during the day, then in the afternoon it gets blasted in a west window.  Drosera adelae is odd in that it is more shade tolerant than most sundews, and doesn't always respond well to hot sun.

Try moving your plant to an East window if you have one.  Morning sun tends to be better for this plant.  South windows work well too since they tend to have more consistent light over the day during the summer, and are brighter in the winter when the sun is low in the sky.

Be very consistent with watering this plant.  Don't ever let the soil dry at all.  Many sundews won't mind a brief dry spell, this one does.  They will loose all their mucilage and won't get it back until new leaves grow if it is allow to dry at all.   For this reason, terracotta pots are not a good idea with this species since if your water tray goes dry, the pot will speed drying.

You might also consider decapitating your plant at this point.  Since the leaves look pretty ratty, if you cut the plant back it will grow a whole new set of shoots.  It takes about 3 weeks, but you'll see numerous new little green shoots that develop into a carpet of new growth.  Don't be afraid to do this.  I've done it many times, and as long as the plant has bright conditions they bounce back with a fury.

Hope this helps.

Good Growing!

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

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: It is in a clay pot so I will move it to something else and an east window.  Can you tell me how to go about decapitating the plant?  How much should I cut back?  Thanks.

Answer
Hi Anthea,

Just cut them right at the soil surface.  If you're going to transplant to different pots, do that first, then cut the tops off.  You'll start to see numerous little green shoots from the cut stem and around it in about 3-4 weeks.  Make sure the soil never dries out.

Good Growing!

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