You are here:
- Home
- Home/Garden
- Gardening
- Carnivorous Plants
- Ailing Drosera adelae
Carnivorous Plants/Ailing Drosera adelae
Advertisement
Question
I am having a problem with my drosera adelae. They had been doing very well and the larger of the two is even producing babies. Lately the leaves are becoming a pale green and the dew does not last nearly as long as it used to. The tips of the leaves are also turning brown. I am growing them in half peat purchased from your website and half Schultz perlite which should NOT have fertilizer. I am also using the tray method for watering and making sure it always has distilled water in it. They are about 6" under 2 40 watt fluorescent tubes that are on for 12 hours this time of year. Perhaps I should also mention that this plant was purchased at one of the big home improvement stores. They were also repotted at the same time last November in hopes of saving them and they did recover and looked good for a few months. I cut off the lower leaves while repotting since they were mostly dead.
)
I am also growing cape sundews, pygmy sundews, pitcher plants, and mexican butterworts under the same conditions and they all look great so I am pretty stumped.
Hi Jennifer,
Thanks for sending the photo. That always helps.
Overall your plant doesn't look that bad. More than anything it looks like it may be adjusting to brighter light which is fine. I do have some good news and bad news, however. Shultz does have some fertilizer in it's perlite. Even though they don't say so, it's made by the same company as Miracle-Gro, and we've just had too many people report the similar problems to yours after using it. Here's the good news. It doesn't have much. Drosera adelae is just more sensitive to it than your other plants.
Here's what you can do. It looks like your keeping the water level fairly high on your pots. Try keeping the water a little lower. Top-water your plants, especially the D. adelae frequently. I would take the adelae and hold it over a sink and pour distilled water into it until it runs off some. This will help flush out any remaining fertilizer and accumulated minerals. (I could see some mineralization on the top of your pots.) Do this a couple times over the next week.
After that give your plant some time and see how it does.
Good Growing!
Jeff Dallas
Sarracenia Northwest
http://www.cobraplant.com
- Ask a Question
| Rating(1-10) | Knowledgeability = 10 | Clarity of Response = 10 | Politeness = 10 |
| Comment | No Comment | ||
Related Articles
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.
|
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 |
Follow us on Youtube and Facebook!
©2012 About.com, a part of The New York Times Company. All rights reserved.