Question
I recently purchased a Drosera Spatulata and it came in the mail in pretty good condition.  I put it in my window where it gets sufficient sunlight and I also have it sitting in a shallow bowl of water.  I also use only distilled water.  After about two weeks my plant's leaves started turning brown and it looks dead, there's also a weird long stem coming out the top.  Is my plant hopeless or is there a chance that when spring comes it will come back to life?  Thanks for your help, John

Answer
Hello John,

Without more information I am unable to determine what exactly happened to your D. spatulata. It is according to who you bought the plant from and how they ship it as well as what conditions the plant was grown in previous to your home conditions. Changes in humidity and temperature can drastically affect plants. D. spatulata also need warm, bright conditions, basically as much light as they can get, to survive. It sounds like the plant was trying to flower when it was sent to you and the light level it gets in your home might be lower than what it was used to when it decided to flower, causing the plant to expend too much energy flowering. D. spatulata are quite tough plants that can survive a great many changes and adversity, however; once the plant is brown, it is dead.

Christopher