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Carnivorous Plants/Sickly Sundews
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Question
QUESTION: Per our conversation at the market today Jeff here is a picture of the sundews. We don't know if we are doing anything wrong, they are two year old plants, and they are about 20" below the 6-40 watt hortilux lamps.
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ANSWER: Hi Fred,
I strongly suspect something is wrong with the soil. This looks very much like what happens when sundews are planted in regular potting soil. What was the brand of your soil ingredients? What was the mix? I noticed that you have a Phalenopsis orchid right next to the sundews. Were they ever inadvertently fertilized? I forgot, but do you have any other carnivorous plants in the same area? How do they look? Let me know and we'll see if we can help you get this turned around.
Jeff Dallas
Sarracenia Northwest
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Jeff, it's in the mixture of half peat and half perlite from Whitney Farms. We have no other carnivorous plants in the house. I know not to fertilize them, however Kevin may not have been so carefull, he now says he doesn't fertilize them, unless it was from overspray.
Hi Fred,
It's starting to look like it might be a combination of both things. It's very common for small bags of soil amendments to have either fertilizer, pH adjustment (lime) or both in them. We've had dozens of customers report problems from using small bags of peat moss. It's always best to use peat moss in the bales since that is just compressed peat and nothing else. If you're around next weekend come down to the Saturday Market and I'll give you a bag of ours free to transplant. I'm curious to see if they perk-up.
On the issue of the overspray, I did notice that the plant closest to the orchid is darker green than the one further away, and has more leaf burn. That screams fertilizer. Try fertilizing the orchid away from the sundews, or just do a dip with the orchid. We used to have many Phalenopsis and got great results by giving them a quick soak once every two weeks in 1/4 tsp. per gallon of water solution of orchid fertilizer.
Good Growing!
Jeff Dallas
Sarracenia Northwest
http://www.cobraplant.com
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Answers by Expert:
Sarracenia Northwest
Expertise
If your plant is showing poor growth, discoloration, abnormal leaves or possible infestation, the growers at Sarracenia Northwest can help! Carnivorous plant experts Jeff Dallas and Jacob Farin will help you diagnose the problem and get your plants on the right track. Their no nonsense approach has helped thousands of growers all over the world. They can help you too!
Experience
With over 40 years of combined experience, Jeff and Jacob has definitely taken a straight forward approach to growing carnivorous plants. They have encountered many types of diseases, abnormal growth and infestations related to carnivorous plants, and they know what it takes to get plants looking beautiful and healthy again.
Education/Credentials
Authors of Secrets to Growing Beautiful Carnivorous Plants for Your Home and Garden and producers of the Grow Carnivorous Plants! DVD Series. They also produce a monthly video podcast to illustrate how plants cycle through the seasons.
No terrariums. No myths. No nonsense.
Just the straight facts from guys who grow and propagate
thousands of carnivorous plants each year.
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PLEASE READ BEFORE SUBMITTING YOUR QUESTION: We no longer answer how-to questions (i.e. How do I propagate...?; How do I grow...?). Instead, we help growers by diagnosing a specific plant problem and offering solutions (i.e. Why is my sundew not producing dew?; Is now a good time to divide my Sarracenia?; Why are the traps turning black?; What's a good substitute for perlite?; Why didn't my seeds germinate?; Can you identify this carnivorous plant for me?) For general plant care, please read our care sheets on our main website: http://www.cobraplant.com/caresheets For business questions: http://www.cobraplant.com/contact |
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