Question
Ailing Sundew
I am having a problem with my drosera adelae. They had been doing very well and the larger of the two is even producing babies. Lately the leaves are becoming a pale green and the dew does not last nearly as long as it used to. The tips of the leaves are also turning brown. I am growing them in half peat purchased from your website and half Schultz perlite which should NOT have fertilizer. I am also using the tray method for watering and making sure it always has distilled water in it. They are about 6" under 2 40 watt fluorescent tubes that are on for 12 hours this time of year. Perhaps I should also mention that this plant was purchased at one of the big home improvement stores. They were also repotted at the same time last November in hopes of saving them and they did recover and looked good for a few months. I cut off the lower leaves while repotting since they were mostly dead.
I am also growing cape sundews, pygmy sundews, pitcher plants, and mexican butterworts under the same conditions and they all look great so I am pretty stumped.
AnswerHi Jennifer,
Thanks for sending the photo. That always helps.
Overall your plant doesn't look that bad. More than anything it looks like it may be adjusting to brighter light which is fine. I do have some good news and bad news, however. Shultz does have some fertilizer in it's perlite. Even though they don't say so, it's made by the same company as Miracle-Gro, and we've just had too many people report the similar problems to yours after using it. Here's the good news. It doesn't have much. Drosera adelae is just more sensitive to it than your other plants.
Here's what you can do. It looks like your keeping the water level fairly high on your pots. Try keeping the water a little lower. Top-water your plants, especially the D. adelae frequently. I would take the adelae and hold it over a sink and pour distilled water into it until it runs off some. This will help flush out any remaining fertilizer and accumulated minerals. (I could see some mineralization on the top of your pots.) Do this a couple times over the next week.
After that give your plant some time and see how it does.
Good Growing!
Jeff Dallas
Sarracenia Northwest
http://www.cobraplant.com
