FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hi everyone, I found some very sorry looking plants in the 'rescue' part of my local garden centre last week and felt so sorry for them I brough them home.
Ive never had carniverous plants before, but am a big houseplant person.

I currently have them housed in my office at work, with LED lights on for 12 hours a day. I repotted them into carniverous plant compost and they are sat in a saucer with about 2-3 cm of De-Ionised water (i work in a lab and this was the quickest i could find as they were very dried out when i got them). Temperature in my office is around the 24 oc during the day.
The fly trap has perked up a little and has even opened a trap. I gave him a little amount of crushed and reconstituted mealwork and calci worm. I also cut of quite a tall flower.
The sundew is looking very sorry for herself, more leaves/flowers seem to be dying off every day and there is no dew at all.
Just after some advice please. I know the conditions are not the ideal, but is there anything i can improve for them ?

Welcome to the forum. I would say for one thing is that the plant needs probably more light than what it's getting...more intensity and more time (like 16-18 hours per day). Where are you located (nearest large city is close enough) so we can get an idea of climate?

Hi, I'm located in County Durham (UK) - Pretty rainy cold weather 95% of the time

Are there better lights i can buy for them ?...these ones do go brighter than i currently have them, and i can leave the lights on for longer.

The images are fairly large and my slow DSL Internet connection is really, really slow so it took a while for the images to load. Yeah, I stand by my statement that the plants need more light. They would be much better off with an overhead light. If you could possibly afix those strips to a square panel and suspend it over the top of the plants that might work. The way those light sticks are positioned are not doing much good for the plants.

Either a square LED panel light like this VIVOSUN VS1000E LED Grow Light or either a screw-in bulb like a SANSI 24W Grow Light Bulb would work good. Both of those lights are good brands. Those are listed on Amazon's US website, the UK website should have something similar. The problem is suspending them over the plants. You need a support of some kind. Either secure hanging hooks in the ceiling or some type of floor or tabletop support structure. Beware that if you go for a large bendable goose-neck-type of light that it has to be able to hold weight without collapsing...gravity makes many of those not workable (but, gravity *is* the law!!! ). If aesthetics isn't an issue and you have permission to do so, you could *securely* mount a large plant-hanger to the wall over the table to hang the light from...just be sure you mount it high enough to allow a good bit of adjustment (lowering/raising). Either suspend a panel light from the hanger or purchase a hanging light fixture of some type. Or, you could get light like this one: clamp-on work light and place something beside the table to clamp it to for support. If you notice the clamp light that I linked to has a white ceramic socket which usually is used for a "brooder light" for raising baby chickens...it is more durable and can handle more heat (rated up to 300watts, I think). Other clamp lights are considered "work lights" and only go up to a 150 watt rating due to having a plastic socket. Using LED bulbs would work in either one, but you definitely have a margin of safety with the brooder light over the work light. Hook a timer up (like this one) to any of the lights and you have a fully adjustable automatic lighting system.

Being in the conditions that you state...rainy, cool/cold, etc., you will be doing yourself a favor to get a decent light setup...these plants require very good light, especially the flytraps. What I've linked to is some of the good, but basic lights...depending on your budget, there are many different setups out there.

Best wishes with the plants!!!

Thank you so much, i'll buy them some good overhead lighting

I second the low light answer.
A low cost solution is to get a 100W equivalent LED bulb in daylight color ( 5000K - 6000K ) and place it within 15cm of your plants. If you can find a socket with a built-in reflector, so much the better.

A second comment is that your Drosera is a member of the Drosera petiolaris group, AKA the "Wooly Sundews". These are from Australia and need tropical temperatures and certain seasonal variations to get them to survive, much less thrive. They are absolutely not a beginner's plant unless you live in the area from which they originate.

Beginner sundew seeds are available from the seed bank on this forum. Drosera capensis, D. spatulata, and D. tokaiensis are fairly easy for the newcomer to CP cultivation.

As always, just my 02¢ worth.

EDIT: Original reply wrongly stated 150cm, should be 15cm. Sorry about that. Non-Metric American here.

Ahh thank you. Poor plant, i'll see if i can find anyone near me who is able to look after it properly.

Shadowtski is *very* knowledgeable about sundews, etc.,. I had no idea what the plant was. If you go with the bulb he recommends (regular 100W equivalent LED bulb in daylight color ( 5000K - 6000K )) then a goose neck or clamp light should have no problem holding it up. I've used them myself.

In regards to the seed bank...the instructions for using it are down at the bottom of the inventory list. Being as you are international (to the USA) you get to request more than one type seed...there are bonuses and freebies to choose, too!

One quick fix for your lighting: turn the light sticks horizontal and position them 15-20 cm / 6-8 inches above the plants. This will greatly increase the light intensity for the plants.

And a note about your flytrap: clean the dirt off the crown. The growth point should be exposed to the open air, like this:

(Red Shark Teeth, for sale in the Flytrap Store)

Covering it with dirt can lead to crown rot.

Here is a quick link to the seed bank post listing rules and current inventory.
As a new member, you are eligible for Tier 0 species/varieties.
flytrapcare-community-seedbank-inventor ... 33352.html
After you've been here a while, you'll be able to request seed from the higher Tiers.