Question
D. scorpiodes - Pygmy
Hi! I got a D.scorpiodes late summer last year. It never really seemed like it came out of travel shock but it wasn't dead so i took care of it and let it be. it grew a little and i figured it might bounce back this summer. in the spring it started growing what I thought it was a hibernacula, which was out of season but we did have a really cool rainy cloudy spring in Tacoma. but when we had a week of warm sunny weather the plant suddenly started growing and there are shoots coming out of the sides and out of the hibernacula (?# on the top. The bottom stem of the plant looks dead and the plant is really top heavy right now. What is the best way to save my plant? #right now it is in a window getting morning light and sits in distilled water.)Thanks so much for your time!
AnswerHi Katie,
The brown stem on the sundew is normal. As the plant grows, it gets taller and the older leaves die off. We lots of mother plants that are about 3-4 years old. They're about 4-5 inches tall and have brown stems with lots of new growth on top.
What's unusual about your plant is the side growth. I've never seen that before. Normally the plant grows from the top. I'm not sure what caused it, but it sure is interesting. I'll have to check my collection of mother plants to see if any of them did this. In any case, it won't harm the plant other than make it top heavy. For now, use a toothpick or wooden skewer and some thread to stake it up.
I also recommend giving the plant more sunlight. This plant will tolerate full sun, and during the warm months, we grow them outside. So a sunny south or west window would be better.
We also cover this species and how to propagate it via gemmae in Volume 2 of the Grow Carnivorous Plants DVD series.
Good growing!
Jacob Farin
