Question

drosera unidentifieda   QUESTION: hello, my name is jasen.

I just bought a Sundew at Lowes today, and im pretty sure it's going to die if i
dont do something about its current condition. It's not very mature (i dont
think) and its leaves have hardly any dew. I have heard that sundews arent as
picky about humidity as they are about light and water, and it is obviously
rather humid inside the little 2-inch-wide, four-inch-high terrarium because
there are droplets all over the inside walls. I have heard that transplanting it
into a small pot with drainage holes, and then placing the pot in a small
saucer of water works well,  but i have also heard that the transition may be
too extreme for the factory-weakened plant to bear, and it simply dies. so
should i try to make the transition gradually? like put it in the sun with the lid
off during the day and replace the lid at night for a few days?

by the way, the soil i'm using is what the plant came packaged with: "a
mixture peat and sphagnum moss". i am currently using sunlight, from a
windowsill, and the only water ive used thus far is "natural spring water",
from a bottle of drinking water. (this was before i knew to only use
distilled/rain water...) I live in  northern michigan.

oh, and one little problem... they didnt even tell me what kind of sundew i
was growing. so i honestly have no idea... im sure it's just one of the
commonly grown ones, though; ive heard there are like 2 or 3 that are
popular in hardware stores. if that tells you anything... ive included a picture
of it as well.

thank you so much!

ANSWER: Hi Jasen,

This sundew is Drosera adelae var. "Deathcubensis".  They are commonly found growing in the most neglected areas of big box chain stores.

All joking aside, it's definitely a Lance-leaf sundew, Drosera adelae.  What I'm going to tell you to do will sound a bit radical, but it will give you the nicest looking plant with a minimum of effort.  You'll first need to get a 4" pot (a bit bigger is fine).  Prepare a mix of equal parts peat moss to perlite.  Get the peat moss from a bale since the little bags contain fertilizer.  Put the ingredients together in a bowl dry, then add distilled water and mix it until the peat is saturated.  Fill your pot with the mix and make a hole big enough for the root mass of your sundew.  Take your sundew out off its cube and knock of a little of the old sphagnum it was packed in, otherwise just put the whole thing into the hole of your new pot.  Gently firm it down.  

Now, cut off all the leaves.  It's almost impossible to save leaves like these that grew in low light and excessive humidity.  Cutting them off stops transpiration from the roots.  Place the pot in a dish and place it in a sunny window.  Make sure there is always some distilled water in the dish.  You should see dozens of new sprouts in about 3 weeks.  In a month and a half you should see beautiful dewy red leaves that will make you think it's not even the same plant.

Good Growing!

Jeff Dallas
Sarracenia Northwest
http://www.cobraplant.com

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

QUESTION: Okay, thanks! couple questions though:

If i can't make the transplantation right away, should i cut off the leaves
anyways and just leave the plant in the little terrarium-bottom it's in now?
(the whole top section of the terrarium comes off; the plant is in the open?br> see pic)

And other question: there's an annoyingly flexible and pliable layer of film
around the stem of the plant, covering the soil. What's up with that? Does it
provide any kind of necesary protection? It's getting on my nerves anyway, so
I want to take it off as soon as possible if I can/should, haha.

Thanks! I'll probably have more questions later, but not now. thanks for your
service!

ANSWER: Hi Jasen,

Still cut off the leaves.  See if the cube has holes in the bottom.  If it doesn't, drill a couple.  Use the cube like a pot and set it in a shallow dish of distilled water and place it in a sunny window.  Discard the top.  It will only cause you problems long-term.  Get some scissors and cut the film and remove it.  It was there just for shipping.

Good Growing!

Jeff Dallas
Sarracenia Northwest
http://www.cobraplant.com

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

QUESTION: Okay, GREAT. thanks! :)

Now: my flurry of questions:

This is just until transplantation, right? Cuz I'm sure I'll be able to do that
within the next few days. How necessary are the holes in the bottom? if i just
keep it watered enough, will it do fine until then?

oh yeah, and where can i find peat moss "from a bale?" What is a bale,
anyway? And about the cutting, I leave the stem, right? (sorry, i hope these
arent all stupid questions...)

And another thing: (I'm just throwing these in as I remember them) Would it
be faster/simpler to just buy a new, more healthy plant from a different
source? Like one that specializes in CP growing/selling? Or are all the
"healthy" plants not worth buying because theyre priced higher and arent
really that far from death anyways? (I'm talking about buying them online,
just so you know) Is buying them online generally bad? Just tell me about
replacing the plant as opposed to reviving it.

thank you!

Answer
Hi Jasen,

If you are going to transplant soon you wouldn't need to do the holes.  Be sure to use just distilled water since it won't drain.

Any bigger garden center will carry bales of peat moss.  We get ours at Lowes.  Most people use it for their lawns.  A 2 cubic foot bale will be about $8.00.  We sell the soil premixed on our website also, but it's definitely more expensive than mixing your own.  Cut the leaves off right at ground level.  You shouldn't see any green left.

Generally speaking carnivorous plant specialty nurseries will have a better product.  Check to see if the nursery ships potted plants.  Otherwise you may get a bare root plant which wouldn't be much better than what you already have.  If you go to our website, you'll see photos of plants next to the descriptions.  Those photos are the actual plants we send.  What you purchased was meant to be a throw away novelty impulse purchase item.

On the other hand, this is a good activity for you if you are going to get into the hobby of growing carnivorous plants.  You'll be learning how to mix soil, and how to salvage a sick plant.  This is a great one to start with since Lance-leaf sundews are so easy to bring back from near death.

Good Growing!

Jeff Dallas
Sarracenia Northwest
http://www.cobraplant.com