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Carnivorous Plants/Multifork Leaf Sundew (Drosera binata ssp. multifida)

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Expert: - 7/13/2007


Question
Hello, I just bought a multifork leaf sundew and I just got it yesterday in the mail. Lots of forks that are already grown seem to be turning black, is that normal and a side-effect from the shipping procces or is something wrong with it. It gets hours of sun and I keep it watered.

Answer
Hello Jake,

From your description, it is only fully grown, older leaves that are dying back. If the plant is putting up new leaves from it's central growth crown, it is still alive and healthy. If the plant was in transit in a box for only 2-3 days, it should not experience any side effects of shipping, however; if it was stuck in that box for over a week, it will need a couple of weeks to recover. Just keep it in a good sunny window, morning or all day sun, and keep giving it distilled, reverse osmosis, or fresh rain water and it should be fine. Fork leaf sundews usually go through leaves quickly, so expect to see lots of browning tips and a lot of new growth coming out to replace old leaves. This is common in many sundews as all those tentacles get mired with insects and damaged easily, so the plants just grow new leaves quickly and let the old ones die rather quickly as well.

Keep up the good care with your sundew,

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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