Expert: Christopher Littrell - 5/11/2009

Question
We have a Drosera capillaris (green flower shaped sundew)that was doing great indoors in a kitchen window sill. It received lots of sun, always watered with distilled water using the tray method, and fed a live bug or two each month. It was moved to the dining room where there was less light. This was because the tomato plants needed the kitchen window sill prior to their being transplanted outside. A few days ago we put the Sundew outside, along with the other new carnivorous plants we bought. I noticed the tiny leaves forming the bud, where the new leaves grow, are black at the tips. Did he get too little light and will recover soon or is he getting too much sun now?

Answer
Hello Deeanna,

You might have a multifaceted problem here as you moved the plant several times from one environment to another. By moving the plant from a greater amount of light to an area of less light (if only for a few days it is no problem, but if for several weeks, it could be a problem) then to an area of much greater light, the plant went from low ultraviolet light to high ultraviolet light very quickly and its leaves were burned. Get the plant into some slight shading like under a screen or under a tree where it gets partial light so it can recover. In addition, if the plant was moved from a high humidity level to a low humidity level it could have suffered from humidity shock. Another aspect of D. capillaris care is to remember that these plants are annuals. They will usually flower once when conditions are right and then expire, allowing their seeds to carry on for another year.

Christopher