Carnivorous Plants/Drosera Adaela

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Expert: - 11/7/2007


Question
When an insect lands on the leaves of my sundews, the dew gets removed in that area and the tentacles turn black at the tips and dries out.  However the the plant is growing fine producing dewy leaves.  Is this common

Answer
Hello Matt,

Your Drosera adelae sounds healthy. An unhealthy sundew will not produce dew and will have a hard time catching insects at all. Sundew tentacles are rather delicate, so can be damaged by the struggles and caustic chemical defenses of insects like ants and beetles. It is not uncommon for sundews to lose the function of several tentacles even when capturing small prey. The plant takes account of this loss by speedy leaf replacement. Often enough, a sundew will capture only one or two insects on a particular section of leaf in that leaf's lifetime, the husk of the insect held like a trophy for weeks afterwards.

Drosera adelae tend to specialize in the capture of small flying insects like fruit flies (their leaves and flowers smell slightly of fruit punch if you have a sensitive enough nose to detect it), gnats, and occasionally, mosquitos. Stonger or larger insects, even flies, can often escape them.

Christopher

Carnivorous Plants

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Christopher Littrell

Expertise

I am capable of answering questions about the most common carnivorous plants found in cultivation. I have no personal experience with Byblis, Drosophyllum, Aldrovanda, and Heliamphora. I have not cultivated gemmae forming pygmy sundews nor tuberous sundews. For information regarding those aforementioned species, I would suggest contacting other experts. I can answer questions regarding most species of Nepenthes, tropical and temperate Drosera, Mexican Pinguicula, Sarracenias, and Dionaea. I have some limited experience with growing Utricularia, Cephalotus, and Darlingtonia.

Experience

I have grown carnivorous plants off and on for about 27 years. I have made the same mistakes and suffered the same mishaps that many growers make as they attempt to separate the myths from the realities of growing these plants. Currently, I am successfully growing a variety of tropical sundews, a Nepenthes, several Venus Flytraps of varying ages, and Sarracenias. I have been successful in stratifying Sarracenia seeds and providing artificial dormancy requirements for my temperate plants when needed.

Education/Credentials
I hold a Master's degree in Educational Psychology. Over my lifetime, I have constantly read books involving the growing conditions of carnivorous plants. I hope to incorporate the educational aspects involved in psychology with teaching other people how to cultivate carnivorous plants.

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