Expert: Christopher Littrell - 9/29/2009

Question
I have a sundew plant I got at a hardware store, species not know. Large for a sundew, pointed leaves, I don't think its drosera alae. It grew great for a while, put out a lot of little plants on runners. If taken out of a terrarium the hairs dry up and it seems to be dying. Now it has mold on the leaves. I sprayed it with what was recommended by carniverous plant growers, but it doesn't look like its going to make it. I believe its either Australian or South African.  C. Gross

Answer
Hello Craig,

Hardware stores usually sell Drosera adelae or Drosera capensis. Neither are recommended as terrarium plants.

When placed in a terrarium, most plants will lose the waxy coating on their leaves that makes them resistant to low humidity. When suddenly taken out of a terrarium and exposed to low humidity they go into shock to varying degrees. The reason why terrariums are bad for plants in general is the mold you already described on the leaves and the problem with removing the terrarium from the equation. To remove a plant from a terrarium requires patience and slow baby steps. You need to open the cover and leave it open a fraction of an inch every three days until the terrarium no longer holds in humidity. This takes up to two or so weeks when the cover is open several inches. Such slow acclimation allows the plant to harden its leaves to low humidity. If the plant survives, harden it off and get it repotted in a regular pot. In the future, make sure to harden all your plants and they will be much healthier.

Christopher