Expert: Sarracenia Northwest - 9/2/2010

Question
QUESTION: Hi i have three cape sundews and i live in north Ga and i have them growing inside on a east facing windowsill getting about 4-5 hours of direct sunlight i have them in sitting distilled water and the house temp is about 69-71 degrees Fahrenheit. and they have no dew on their leaves unless i give them a ton of humidity so i was wondering why they don't have any dew on their leaves do you know why thanks.

ANSWER: Hi Ian,

If they are truly getting as much sun as you say, they should be doing just fine.  Dew production is a direct result of photosynthesis, and you already have very humid weather in Georgia.  Have the plants had any kind of recent disturbance such as transplanting or recently coming out of store cubes or shipping?  That can sometimes cause loss of dew.  If that's the case you'll just need to give them a couple weeks.  If you transplanted them, what kind of soil media did you use?

If you can send me a photo, that would help me diagnose this better.  Be sure to include your growing area, especially a morning photo when the sun is on them.

Good Growing!

Jeff Dallas
Sarracenia Northwest
http://www.cobraplant.com

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: 1. so have had a disturbance they just came out of my terrarium.          2. and i did not transplant them.          3. I will send you a picture tomorrow in the morning.

Answer
Hi Ian,

The move out of the terrarium is probably why your sundews lost the dew.  When plants are moved from a place of high humidity to low humidity they need to adapt to the lower humidity conditions.  This process is know as hardening off.  This is true of all plants, not just carnivorous plants.  It's just more noticeable on plants like sundews that have very specialized leaves.  This is best done as a gradual process.  We have a section in our DVD, "Grow Carnivorous Plants" volume #2 on this.  This DVD focuses on growing tropical sundews and butterworts.  http://cobraplant.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=38&products_id=256&

It you probably won't see normal, dewy looking leaves until new ones grow.  Feel free to cut off any bad looking leaves.  Cape Sundews are pretty good about growing new ones quickly.

Good Growing!

Jeff Dallas
Sarracenia Northwest
http://www.cobraplant.com