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Carnivorous Plants/Drosera Adelae Picture

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Expert: - 1/31/2011


Question

Drosera Adelae
Hello again. I'm so sorry that I have been bothering you guys a lot. I have figured out how to send a picture or my Drosera Adelae. I am worried about the lower leaves and slight lack of dew. I have taken the 23 watt flourescent off of it completely because I heard from a friend that household CFLs kill plants. Is that true? The plant is still doing fine after 4 days w/o the CFL. I get 3-4 hours of morning sun if there are no clouds. The soil that came with it and now am using distilled water. I was using tap water before but I stopped just in case. Our water is from the South Umpqua river and it is treated here at our school. We are at Milo, OR. Thanks so musch!

Answer
Hi Sterling,

Your plant looks totally normal.  Older leaves will always look like that on D. adelae.  As long as new leaves growing look dewy, you're fine.  

Switching the water is a good idea.  It might have been ok, but until you test it for total dissolved solids, you won't know for sure.

I'm not sure what your friend is basing the information on cfl's on.  I've never heard that, and seen nothing that supports that.  Common ones that are used in houses tend to be in the warm-white spectrum, which is a little on the red-orange side, and the "Daylight" bulbs are definitely better, which have more blue.  However, I've never heard of them killing plants.  No light will kill them for sure.  All that being said, your window sounds just fine.

If you want to use artificial light, the best, most economical method is a two-tube "shoplight" fixture with 48", 40 watt cool-white fluorescent tubes.  We discuss this at length in our volume #2 DVD.

Good Growing!

Jeff Dallas
Sarracenia Northwest
http://www.cobraplant.com
    Questioner's Rating
    Rating(1-10)Knowledgeability = 10Clarity of Response = 10Politeness = 10
    CommentAlright Mr. Dallas! Thanks so much and I am really excited for my next plant to come! I really appreciate your patience and speed of response every time. Thank you!


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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!

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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.

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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.

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