Expert: Sarracenia Northwest - 8/14/2011

Question
Hey guys,
So while watering my collection of temperate plants this afternoon I noticed that my giant staghorn I bought from you this past spring is quickly dieing.  It was very vibrant with lots of large shoots coming out and lots of sticky goo.  Now most of those shoots are completely black or on their way there.  This is the only temperate sundew I have growing outside but it is growing along with about a half dozen different sarracenia species and another half dozen flytraps, all of which are doing just fine.  My water sources are fine, it gets plenty of sunlight and is well acclimated to the area it is growing in. (It's been doing fine there for months)  We did have two slightly cool days in a row, but nowhere near what I would think would trigger a dormancy.  Is it possible it is going dormant or is it just dieing.  Any ideas or help you could give me would be great.

Answer
Hi Richard,

Most likely your plant is just going dormant.  Many temperate sundews will do this in the late summer.  Some strains of D. rotundifolia and D. filiformis will start dropping leaves this time of year, and Drosera anglica is often totally dormant by now.

Check your plant, however, to make sure you don't have any pest activity.  Look at the soil surface and see if you have any little piles that look like tiny mole hills.  If you do, you may have cutworms.  I've had them attack D. capensis, and they may like D. binata forms too since they have thick tasty roots.  Often a plant will look fine, then just start dying because the caterpillar is eating the roots and stem.   The best treatment is to repot to get rid of them and any eggs.  Insecticides will work also, but you need to get it into the soil

If you send me a photo I can get a better idea if this is just seasonal, or another problem.

Good Growing!

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