FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hey all,

I don't know what's going on with my sundews, but they have been severely declining in health the past few months. I decided to get them out of the LFSM they were planted in originally a year ago and refresh them with new peat moss two weeks ago, and after doing this they're just rapidly declining like crazy. They were all green and now some of them are turning completely brown which doesn't look good. When I took them out of their original LFSM I made sure not to break any of the roots, and all of them had super long, healthy root systems.

I provide them 14 hours of light under a Yescom 225, it's around 68 degrees in my house with 45% humidity. Distilled water and rainwater only bottom watering. Peat moss/perlite mix is what I use with my other sundews and VFTs with no issue.

I'm going crazy, they were just perfectly fine a year ago and now they've just decided to start dying off for no reason. I haven't had any issues with my other sundews and I have no idea why these young ones have just suddenly nosedived after a while.

In the pictures below, the one in the center was literally green last night, and today it's brown!

First thing, if you haven’t already, I would bag them; get that humidity up. My guess is that they are shocked from the repot. Had this happen with a large amount of D. Spatulata recently. Definitely bag them, maybe just a touch of liquid fertilizer.

Got it, I've put them in a ziplock bag now.

What I don't understand is that they were severely declining before this as well. Like they used to be an inch long during the summer and then just....stopped growing and started dying off one by one in the LFSM.

It's not one of those peat moss brands that sneak in some extra fertilizer, is it?

Adelae wrote: ↑Mon Jan 09, 2023 1:16 pm It's not one of those peat moss brands that sneak in some extra fertilizer, is it?

Thankfully no Miracle Gro or anything like that. Just plain, regular peat moss and perlite from Lowes. I tested them with my TDS meter and its like 2-3 ppm.

Intheswamp wrote: ↑Mon Jan 09, 2023 1:23 pm I'm a newbie, no expert, so I'm just throwing darts at a swinging dartboard here. It does seem strange that the capes are declining while all your other plants are reported as not having any issues. Some thought provokers...

Were there any changes in the plants' environment...either in the immediate vicinity or at least within the same room? New heating/cooling system? More space-heater use? New air-freshener?

Same brand of distilled water? Do you test the TDS of your rainwater? What is it? Anybody besides you tend the plants?

You've got a pretty good algae growth for two weeks of growing. Could you be keeping them too wet? Did you change your tray/watering system a few months back?

Did you rinse the peat moss perlite before repotting them? What brand of peat moss did you use?

After thinking about it, with the look of the plants, the algae on the surface, and the general wet-looking conditions I'm not so sure that bagging them is the correct move.

I've heard several people say that capes will sulk for a month or so after repotting but that doesn't explain their decline prior to repotting.

Yeah dude I'm just in shock at what's happening. Like I've been growing these little hitchhikers since they appeared last summer in a pot of B52s I purchased back then, and haven't had any issues with them growing in 100% LFSM. Then suddenly for no reason they started looking horrid during November, then one of them turned brown at the start of December, and after repotting them at least 2 more have turned brown.

1. Definitely no changes in environment. I keep all my inside plants on an industrial rack thing with 2 Yescom 225 growlights hanging above them, on a timer of 14 hours a day. It's in a small room with an AC/Heater vent thing in the floor to the side of the rack, but it doesn't really blast the plants as far as I know.

2. The main thing I think could have hurt the plants originally was I used to water my plants with water from my dehumidifier. I always tested the water with my TDS meter and it always said the dehumidifier water was around 2-5 ppm. All my other plants, indoor and outdoor, used this water since 2021 without any issue. I've tested all the distilled water and rainwater I have and the distilled is 0 ppm, and the rainwater is like 2 ppm.

I sometimes buy Reverse Osmosis water from Kroger as well, but I've tested it and it only reads 1 ppm.

Nobody else tends my plants.

3. I tray water the plants and it seems moist. Not super damp or anything, just moist, so yeah I am surprised that they're growing algae already as well. All my other plants are watered the same way with individual trays of water as well.

And yeah I'm just confused as hell as to why they're declining so fast. Literally all the other drosera next to it, my binatas, capes, spatulatas, and adelae, are thriving right now and growing without issue, but these 2 year olds plants just keep declining.

I've had similar experiences as you. Some capes just don't enjoy indoors despite exact same conditions as other sundews. I've driven myself crazy going back and forth trying to make it happy. Eventually after breaking my ankle I sent the problem ones outdoors and they died and came back. Some crisp up in heat during summer but they've made a rebound for winter.

Guess it wouldn't be possible for you since I think where you are it snows? You're not alone in going crazy trying to figure out what it wants. I've just come to the conclusion capes hate me.

Lain wrote: ↑Mon Jan 09, 2023 5:58 pm I've had similar experiences as you. Some capes just don't enjoy indoors despite exact same conditions as other sundews. I've driven myself crazy going back and forth trying to make it happy. Eventually after breaking my ankle I sent the problem ones outdoors and they died and came back. Some crisp up in heat during summer but they've made a rebound for winter.

Guess it wouldn't be possible for you since I think where you are it snows? You're not alone in going crazy trying to figure out what it wants. I've just come to the conclusion capes hate me.

I'm in Georgia in a 7b zone so during the spring and summer I usually put them outside, then move them inside under growlights so they can survive the winter. The babies I've just kept inside since I didn't want to roast them outside.

But man, when I got them as free hitchhikers in my VFT I thought I was blessed, but instead I've been cursed with the most petulant sundews ever lmao.

Intheswamp wrote: ↑Mon Jan 09, 2023 6:16 pm I dunno. Maybe it's like Lain, said, the capes hate you.

Your meter measures 2-3ppm on peat/perlite drainwater and the dehumidifier water measures 2-5ppm? Those are some *very* low readings...better than some rainwater!

I know right? I don't understand how I can be getting such low readings, especially on the dehumidifier water, and the cape sundews are still struggling.

I just feel like these are just problematic and weak sundews honestly.

Lain wrote: ↑Mon Jan 09, 2023 5:58 pm I've had similar experiences as you. Some capes just don't enjoy indoors despite exact same conditions as other sundews. I've driven myself crazy going back and forth trying to make it happy. Eventually after breaking my ankle I sent the problem ones outdoors and they died and came back. Some crisp up in heat during summer but they've made a rebound for winter.

Guess it wouldn't be possible for you since I think where you are it snows? You're not alone in going crazy trying to figure out what it wants. I've just come to the conclusion capes hate me.

I think I may have the same problem. My capes are in practically identical conditions as @Nikson, but they are staying the same size. The roots are growing well but the leaves aren't that big. Some of my cousins use smaller pots and have more capes in one pot, and yet, their plants are somehow bigger than mine. I'm gonna try putting my biggest plant in a large pot and see if that helps anything.

This is just a theory, but I'm starting to wonder if it's actually something in the spectrum that plants are receiving too much or too little of. I grow my plants under yescom 225 too. Again, this is just a theory.

An update, even after bagging up the sundews they're just all turning brown super fast now. I'm at a loss as to what's happening.

I repotted a bigger, older sundew that had also declined in a similar manner at the same time as these, and it's shrunk into a stump but is now putting out fresh, little baby traps consistently now so I know it's recovering, but these look like a lost cause.

Will they grow back from the roots if they all die off?

Nikson wrote: ↑Sun Jan 15, 2023 6:27 pm Will they grow back from the roots if they all die off?

In my experience it's 50/50. I've had some grow back after months since dying off and some developed the same issue of declining health after growing for a couple months and others are going really strong. All from the same group so no clue why they're so different.

At this point I would just keep it moist and neglect it and see if it bounces back. Clearly it isn't happy with anything and sometimes doing more isn't going to get you better results. They just like throwing tantrums.