Question
Hello. I have Cape Sundews on a south facing window sill in NC. Our home is passive solar, so they have had plenty of sunshine all winter & still do until the sun moves even more overhead. Then they receive bright indirect light all summer til the sun creeps back into the house around end of August. My question: as the old leaves are trimmed off, the stems are becoming brown trunks which is not so pretty. Should I repot, sinking the stems underground or let it be? If let be, how tall will these get & how does the lanky thing stand up before laying over? I've got plenty of blooms on them & making seeds like crazy. Just the brown trunk is bothering me. Thanks for your help. Holly in NC

Answer
Hi Hollly,

The brown trunk is actually normal for this species.  As the plant continues to grow, the older leaves will die off and expose the stem.  You can repot the plant and move the stem further down into the soil.  There is a small risk in doing this, however.  The stem portion may rot in the soil.  But the main goal is to encourage root formation along the stem.

Another option is to cut off the upper portion of the plant, right near the soil line.  A new plant will sprout up from the roots.  With the upper portion, you can repot it into a fresh pot of soil (1 part peat moss and 1 part perlite).  Make sure the stem portion is deep in the soil.  Keep the cutting in very bright light, and make sure the soil is moist at all times.  Within a few weeks, the stem will produce its own roots, and you'll have two plants!  Of course, there is also the risk that the stem cutting won't produce any roots, but you can also increase the odds for success by dipping the end of the stem in rooting hormone.

Otherwise, you can also let the plant go and stake it up with wooden skewers or chopsticks.  As long as you grow the plant in lots of sunlight, the plant should be strong enough to stand on its own.  We have many large mother plants that look like miniature trees.  If the light levels decrease, as it does in many homes during the summer months, then improper lighting could be an issue.

Good growing!
Jacob Farin