Question

Drosera Adalea   Hello!

This is my Drosera Adalea, I have had it for about 10 months, have been growing it in the standard 1/1 peat perlite or what it came in. I have been using only store bought distilled water, I live close to Days Creek in Oregon and right now the plant has been getting 0 direct sunlight because of the winter setting in, I haven't been using any artificial lights or anything because my Drosera Multifida Extrema and my Drosera Capensis have been flourishing just in the same window sill which is east facing and usually gets about 6 hour morning sunlight. I have been keeping my room about 70-75 degrees consistently now.The issue before was that the older Adalea was not growing proper leaves at all ofter a dry out time, the plant didn't have enough water for about 2 months, then I bought a tiny little baby Adalea that was right beside this "senior" right back from the drying out and it is flourishing but this one is not at all. So you had told me to check water, get more sun, check for parasites or fungus. Well, I don't have any resources to get rid of any pests so I dug up the plant and decided to check out the roots. I found this obscure protrusion coming right out of the base of the plant just right barely below the soil. It is not a root as far as I can see, it is slightly bumpy, has a brown stem and a black end. As you can see in the picture the roots look great even though they are very very small but they are healthy colored and not rotten at all. What you see in the picture is the whole entire plant by the way, the roots end just below the end of the picture. The odd protrusion is just above the roots kinda in the center of the base of the plant. It is so weird! I have put the plant in just a bowl of mostly distilled water and soil, that is currently how I am growing my Multifida in just a try of water, not in a pot because it severely dried out but the Multifida is flourishing like a fertilized plant. Please let me know what you make of this, if you need more detailed pictures or picture from another angle just let me know in your response. Thank for all your help and patience!

Sincerely,
Sterling

Answer
Thank you for the detailed information.  Unfortunately, I don't have any specific diagnosis for your plant.  While the roots might seem healthy in the photo, the overall root system isn't.  Ideally, after 10 months, the roots should be abundant.  

You mentioned, that your "Multifida is flourishing like a fertilized plant."  Have you been fertilizing your plants?  If so, hold off on doing so with your adelae.  This species tend to be a bit sensitive and can tolerate only a very weak solution of fertilizer.  

I don't have my original response in front of me from the time when you wrote last, but I suspect your plant might have thrips.  Adelae are prone to it, and it will cause leaf deformation.  It won't harm your plant to spray it with an insecticide.  It's the only way to get rid of thrips.  (They are very tiny critters, and you'll need a magnifying glass to see them.)  

You mentioned that you don't have any resources for insecticides.  If this is the case, then you should throw away the plant because it can likely affect the other plants.  As we enter fall and winter, the lower light levels will cause your plants to slow down in growth, which will make them prone to pests as well.  It's also hard to say if the adelae will rebound, even after spraying with insecticide.  The roots system isn't thriving as it should be and it doesn't have enough leaves to sustain itself properly via photosynthesis.  (The obscure protrusion you see is part of the root system.)  If it does rebound, it will take many months for it to produce a full set of normal looking leaves.

So based on the information and photograph you provided, my recommendation is to spray the plant with an insecticide or toss it into the compost bin.  At this time, I don't know of any alternative.  Even in my care, I would be faced with the same issues.  For information on using insecticides, watch our video podcast on the subject.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbRCdJ8ZNF0

Good growing!
Jacob Farin