Question
two carnivorous plants
Hi i have heard that you can cut lance leaf sundews down to the ground if they where sold in death cubes from Lowe's so i have a picture of it and so should i cut it down all the way and is September a good time to do it and can you tell me what type of carnivorous plant this is thanks.
AnswerHello Ian,
1. The Lance Leaf Sundew can be cut back to the ground at any time basically. It is considered a biennial tropical. It will live about two years, then die off, but can easily be reproduced through root cuttings and the method of cutting the entire plant down to the ground. The roots react like weed roots and regrow a number of new plants constantly as the adult is cut back or repotted. It would be a good idea to cut the plant back as it is growing in an elongated phototropic position as it has been light deprived. The terrarium does not help either. You can cut the plant back and remove the terrarium, then let the new plantlets grow out from the roots. The new plantlets would be adapted to your local humidity that way. D. adelae, as it is termed, is an indirect to partial sun plant. Grow it in a bright window where it can get morning sun for a few hours a day and plenty of indirect light all day. It will burn in full sunlight. Other than a little less sunlight, its care is virtually the same as Cape Sundews.
2. The other plant is hard to see through the death cube, but it looks like a Butterwort of some type, possibly Pinguicula moranensis or similar species. You will need to slowly adapt it to your local humidity over a couple of weeks by punching about half a dozen 1/8 to 1/4 inch holes in the death cube (punch another 3 or four holes in the cube every three days after that if you use this method) or by lifting and bracing the sides of the death cube, one side at a time, a fraction of an inch every three days. First you would lift one side about 1/4 inch and hold it up with a pencil or some object. In three days, lift the opposing side and brace it up similarly. Every three days, keep lifting and bracing each side about a quarter inch until the humidity is no longer held in and the terrarium/death cube can be removed. This plant needs the same kind of light as the Lance Leaf. Give it less water, only about 1/4 inch in a tray, and water it every few days just enough to keep its soil moist. Let the tray dry out betwen waterings. Too much standing water under the pot can induce root rot in Pinguicula.
Christopher
