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Post by WillyCKH on Apr 13, 2015 20:49:55 GMT -5
Hello everyone! Recently I have found dark spots on the center of my Drosera Aliciae, and D. Tokaiensis! I thought it would go away as the new leaves form, but they keep coming back! Have you seen this before? What's the problem? Are they sick? Any help is much appreciated! Thanks!! The temperature is 25-28 Celsius, lighting is on for 16 hours a day. I Water them by tray method, using rain water collected outdoor. The soil media varies from all Sphagnum moss to peat/perlite mix. I have some sundews growing under 23w CFL, while some growing under LED lights (white+warm white), and some growing under purple LED lights. Strangely, they all have this darken centers, except for my D. Capensis Alba (including seedlings), in all the different conditions! My D. Aliciae and D. Tokaiensis are new to me, for around few weeks now. They were without dark centers beforehand. My D. Capensis Alba and the seedlings moved in from 3 months ago. I also tried cleaning it with a damp paper towel, but nothing comes off. By the way, I think my growing conditions aren't great because my Sphagnum moss don't grow well unless I put them in closed containers. Otherwise most of them look sad and have black tips. Many thanks!
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Post by lloyd on Apr 13, 2015 21:05:07 GMT -5
If new leaves continue to grow/develop and form dew, just watch them. If they stop growing:
-check the TDS of the water, rain water can be contaminated depending on the collection method-straight into a clean bucket is best -consider changing the medium, new peat/perlite
Your humidity must be Ok, there seems to be lots of dew.
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Post by WillyCKH on Apr 13, 2015 21:15:36 GMT -5
Thanks, lloyd. I have ordered a TDS meter and it should be coming in next week. The Drosera Capensis Alba use the same water/soil though, are they more forgiving in a way?
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Post by sokkos on Apr 13, 2015 21:28:05 GMT -5
I've had something similar happen periodically to my D. aliciae. The center seems to die and the rosette follows, but it always regrows from the roots.
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Post by lloyd on Apr 13, 2015 22:03:22 GMT -5
Capensis are pretty tough. They would grow like crazy in a sunny room with low humidity.
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Post by will20013 on Apr 16, 2015 9:51:50 GMT -5
This happens to some of my sundews as well, I think it is just part of their growth cycle.
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Post by shoggoths on Apr 16, 2015 11:20:24 GMT -5
This happens to some of my sundews as well, I think it is just part of their growth cycle. Yep, me too. I initially thought it has something to do with humic acid (like I read somewhere) and started to spray water over the affected plants but it didn't change anything and all of the sudden, everything was gone.
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Post by WillyCKH on Apr 16, 2015 12:14:42 GMT -5
That's horrible... It almost sounds like a disease that spread between the rosette sundews! I should keep my other healthy ones away from these ones.
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Post by hal on Apr 16, 2015 20:46:09 GMT -5
Me three. Especially with aliciae and hamiltonii. They come round eventually and even if all the leaves die back they'll be good as new in a couple of months. I haven't seen it spread from plant to plant. It happens to individual plants at different times for me. Could just be a coincidence that you're seeing a few doing it. Have the light levels changed for them?
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Post by WillyCKH on Apr 16, 2015 21:24:25 GMT -5
The Light levels have not changed for a while (at least 2-3 weeks). Theses darken centers sundews are now growing slower and less dews, the new leaves are also smaller.
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Post by lloyd on Apr 16, 2015 22:04:49 GMT -5
I've had it too, I couldn't remember the humic acid thing. Don't know if it's true. Could be any number of things. Something cyclic that's missing in the growth environment maybe.
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Post by WillyCKH on Apr 20, 2015 23:27:08 GMT -5
Hi everyone! I got my TDS meter today. It turns out the water in my trays are not as nice as I thought, as worse as 76 ppm. I am top watering the plants now with 20 ppm filtered rainwater that is saved from a month ago, hopefully my dews will be well again! I will update more if changing water would help this center darken issue.
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Post by lloyd on Apr 21, 2015 11:29:23 GMT -5
Try collecting rain water directly into containers. The best are the plastic "bowls" that big pots are supposed to sit in. They are easy to clean and have a large surface area. Rain water collected this way has a TDS of 0 PPM (in downtown Toronto). Same with snow collected the same way.
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Post by WillyCKH on Apr 21, 2015 11:48:21 GMT -5
Try collecting rain water directly into containers. The best are the plastic "bowls" that big pots are supposed to sit in. They are easy to clean and have a large surface area. Rain water collected this way has a TDS of 0 PPM (in downtown Toronto). Same with snow collected the same way. 0 ppm!? That's impressive! I will definitely give that a try. I usually collect rain water with a big bucket in my yard, but there is too much going on, like there are a dog, a cat and kids living upstairs... The best water that I have saved so far is around 10 ppm.
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Post by WillyCKH on Apr 27, 2015 21:41:38 GMT -5
Hi Everyone! I am excited to tell you that I have found out how to solve this problem! The black or darken spots on the new growth of Sundews is caused by accumulation of humic acid or soluble substance in peat or Sphagnum. Humic acid: " Humic acid is a principal component of humic substances, which are the major organic constituents of soil (humus), peat, coal, many upland streams, dystrophic lakes, and ocean water. It is produced by biodegradation of dead organic matter." To solve this black-center problem and help my sundews recover, I have been changing water in the water tray daily, and also, flushing the peat moss very often. Today, I have found the most effective way to wash away the humic acid! What you will need: 1. writer bottle, or anything similar that shoot out water at a constant rate via a small opening, but nothing too violent like water gun 2. Good water (warm it first for best result!) 3. your sad looking sundews that are waiting for help 4. time and patient Writer bottle: Sundews before treatment of water streaming: Sundews after treatment of water streaming (took me about 10-15 minutes): This little one has been streamed for few days now, alive and recovering nicely!
Make sure to change your water in the tray occasionally, and top water from time to time to prevent this from happening again! Hope this helps!
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