Question
Ok so when I bough my cape sundew it didn't have any dew on it a leafs. So I decided to have the pot sitting in a plastic jar of water with a plastic lid with holes in it to increase the hummidity.and I keep it out on full sun light. It was working pretty. So I decided to repot them and seperate  them from one another and decided to try and let them grow in open air.Then I noticed the leafs were turning red and one of the experts said it was because of the strong light. So I decided to pit the plastic lid on it and that night when I came home I noticed that the hole plant was black. Leafs and crown. I wanna know if it is dead or how long should I wait to figure out if it is in fact dead.  I decided to cut off all the leafs since they where burned ........ Please help

Answer
Hi Jontue,

Part of the problem is the constantly changing growing conditions.  It takes plants a couple weeks to fully acclimate to their surroundings.  When you decide to change their conditions, such as taking it out of a terrarium or placing it in strong sunlight, you have to give the plant time to adjust it's growing habits to the new conditions.  During the transition period, some leaves may deteriorate, depending on how severe the change was.  Carnivorous plants will acclimate to lower humidity and stronger lighting, but you have to introduce them to these conditions gradually over the course of a couple weeks or so.  Any sudden changes will likely shock the plant.

Cutting off the dead leaves is acceptable.  Only time will tell you if the root stock is healthy enough to produce another plantlet.  This might take about a couple more weeks.  If you don't see any new growth by the third week, dump the pot and start over.  If you see new growth, it will take another few months before the plant reaches a decent size of 2 inches or more.

Depending on your level of patience, you might consider starting anew with a healthy plant that was properly grown in the right growing conditions from the very beginning.

For more information about growing tropical sundews, read our care sheet online:
http://www.cobraplant.com/caresheets

Good growing!
Jacob Farin