Question
QUESTION: Hi can you tell me everything i need to know to grow cape sundews i live in north Ga thanks.

ANSWER: Hello Ian,

Well, I can give you the basics, but everything would take a book and more of material.

1. Partial sun. Cape Sundews like a lot of light all day long. Make sure they get about 6-8 hours of preferably morning and evening sunlight from a window or from a slightly shaded patio like under larger plants. If you have them under artificial lights, you can give them 12000 or more lumens of cool white florescent lighting for 14-16 hours a day about 8 inches from the leaves. They do not require full sun like Venus Flytraps, but they need quite a bit more than an ivy for sure. Adjust light intensity as you see the effect of the light on the coloration and dew production in your plants. If they produce very little dew and have pale, green, drab coloration, increase the intensity and hours of light some. There are some species of sundew that have pure green leaves and tentacles, but most, including most species of Cape sundews, produce red tentacles in good lighting, making those species your test plants for proper lighting intensity.

2. Make sure the soil is sphagnum peat moss with a mix of silica, or horticultural sand, or perlite in a 1:1 ratio. Never fertilize them and do not use any other kind of soil or potting materials as they might contain fertilizers or minerals that could harm/kill your carnivorous plants.

3. Make sure the water you give them is soft and does not contain salt. Distilled, reverse osmosis, or rain water should all be safe for your sundews. If in doubt, you can test your water with aquarium Ph/ammonia/hardness test kits. You will want the water below 50 parts per million in hardness or it will harm/kill your sundews. Water them frequently and in quantity. Sundews like a lot of water, so top water the pot and let the runoff collect in a large tray under the pot up to about 1/4 the pot in depth. If you have a 4 inch tall pot, put about 1 inch of the bottom of the pot in a tray of water. As the tray evaporates and dries out over a couple days, water the plant again.

4. Cape sundews are sub-tropical plants that can be grown all year long in room temperatures. Make sure they do not experience dry, warm air or they will brown along the leaf tips a bit. Keep them at room temperature and if air is blowing, make it cool and humid. If the sundews experience temperatures down to freezing, they will die back to the roots and usually grow back when the temperature warms again, so they usually do not die in cold weather unless it gets so cold their roots freeze dry.

Those are the basics that will help you to keep your Cape sundews happy for now. As you have further questions about specifics, by all means send them to me or one of the other experts on this site.

Christopher

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

QUESTION: Hi again do you know when they bloom and do they need a terrarium? also how much of direct sunlight should i give them and when in the morning, midday, or afternoon and should i grow them inside or outside i live in metro Atlanta Ga in the house we keep the temp. between 69 degrees and 71 degrees. and outside for the future forecast it will be between 83 degrees and 92 degrees. for ten days i hope you can answer everything and thanks.

Answer
Hello Ian,

Cape Sundews bloom whenever they reach adult stature. Many tropical plants seem to bloom continually or sporadically as they do not have harsh winters to worry about.

As for your other questions, I believe I have answered most of them already in the previous questions you asked. You asked about terrariums a few weeks ago and the answer is no, terrariums are generally a bad idea for many carnivorous plants. I see that you have not yet read that answer, so you might need to check the SPAM box of your email if you have not seen that answer before.

As for lighting, read over my response about lighting that I provided about two hours ago and it should cover the basics you need.

Christopher