Another newbie Q: why isn't my sundew sticky?

Pat Jellison (jellison@ceps.nasm.edu)
Wed, 4 Dec 96 09:50:33 EST

Hello all,

I'm another newbie in cp culture; I received as a gift two 15 cm
terrariums, each containing one pitcher plant, one sundew and one
venus flytrap. The label said they were from tissue culture, but
did not give species information. I'm still trying to figure out
exactly what I've got (using books and www sources). They were
very cramped in these tiny terraria, so I did repot them all into
one 40 cm terrarium (with a 3 cm layer of fine gravel at bottom
followed by about 6 cm of sphagnum moss). Also there's a top layer
of live sphagnum. I water with RO water (so far). Illumination is a
VitaLite, photoperiod is about the same as outdoors (mid-atlantic USA).
The pitchers perked right up, the flytraps are happily trapping (I know,
anthropomorphism :->) but the sundews can't seem to "catch" anything.
Fruit flies, ants etc. can walk right off.

Is this normal? If not what do I need to do? Haven't found the
answer in any of the resources I've explored so far.

And one other question: would these three types of plants likely
be found in close proximity in their natural habitat?

This seems to be a great list! I'm impressed with the knowledge and
level of discussion (and hope someday that I'll understand what it's
all about! :-)

Thanks in advance for any answers,

PJ Jellison (jellison@ceps.nasm.edu)