Re: why isn't my sundew sticky?

John Walker (jorwa@syspac.com)
Wed, 4 Dec 1996 16:34:31 -0800

Hi PJ,

I only grow three types of sundews at the present time so I don't pretend to
know all of the answers, but in my own experience I have found two things
that have affected the "stickness" of my sundews. First I try to keep the
humidity at or above 70%. Any less and the leaves start to lose their dew.
And secondly, I don't put any kind of moisture on the leaves i.e., misting,
watering, etc. I have heard of other people misting their sundews but it
doesn't seem to work for me. Funny how different approaches work for some
poeople and not for others. You'll just have to experment and ask questions
until you find out what works for you.

Hope this helps,
John in Phoenix

**************************************************************
At 06:58 AM 12/4/96 -0800, you wrote:
>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)
>