joshg
Seed
CP n00b
Posts: 25
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Post by joshg on May 3, 2007 9:18:12 GMT -5
Hello I just got my Cape Sundew and a tokiensis I got yesterday in the mail. They were wrapped in live sphagnum moss but i was wondering if i should take it off? and plant in just normal sphag ( and perlite). What else should i have? The cape and tokiensis have no dew! what am i doing wrong? Heres some pics and my tok that shiny thing is a dime. These are my very first CP's
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Post by vraev on May 3, 2007 9:29:13 GMT -5
The thing with sundews is two fold. 1) Light 2) High humidity....atleast 70% Once you meet those criteria....it will be full of dew.... it took like 4 months for me after I started growing to see dew on my plants. That was just becos I was trying stuff outside its ZONE! Meet its requirements...and you will see it grow as a weed.
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Post by lloyd on May 3, 2007 9:37:16 GMT -5
The medium looks bone dry. If it is, repot those sundews NOW. Most people plant sundews in 1:1 sand & milled peat. You must wet the milled peat with distilled water before potting. Take the sand (make sure it doesn't have salts in the sand) and milled peat, pour in the distilled water and mix till it looks like muck. Then pot the plants. Keep them in a dish with distilled water so they never dry out. Keep them warm and sunny and the dew will come.
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Post by vraev on May 3, 2007 9:54:33 GMT -5
oooh yeah! thats true! remember..peat out of the bag...doesn't take in water at all.. You need to put it in a bucket....pour distilled water...and squeeze it wet. Once it gets hyrdrated..you will know. You can then use it for making your mix and media.
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Post by Flytrap on May 3, 2007 10:28:57 GMT -5
Rick's plants are always very healthy, so you shouldn't have a problem getting them to dew up. I'd also suggest you keep them in a large terrarium , eg. 5 gallon aquarium tank with a cover for now... then gradually remove the glass cover over a period of a month.
I also keep all my sundews sitting on top of a a saucer of water, up to about an inch of height to the bottom of the pot.
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Post by canadianamphibian on May 3, 2007 10:42:54 GMT -5
Those are nice.
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Post by vraev on May 3, 2007 15:43:42 GMT -5
thanks. I got to say....capensis inspite of being a weed is pretty!
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joshg
Seed
CP n00b
Posts: 25
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Post by joshg on May 4, 2007 11:14:47 GMT -5
Do i have to do this soaking thing everytime i water it? or until it dries out?
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Post by mabudon on May 4, 2007 11:30:43 GMT -5
Ideally, once it is wet, you just have to keep it in a "tray", any container that will keep a water level- I like to fill my trays so the water is about halfway up the side of the pot, then let it evaporate slow
And just to set a common misconception to rest- high humidity is okay but really not necessary. All of my plants are in open trays in my PC room. They are all dewy like mad as anyone who's seen them can attest. Light and water are the main requirements, and seriously in my experience humidity causes more problems than it solves for Drosera (there are exception to every rule of course, the "queensland sisters" like their humidity and lower light)
Neps and Helis are MUCH more specific about what they will and will not "enjoy", but ALL of the more "common" sundews will grow well with pretty much any humidty levels
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Post by lloyd on May 4, 2007 11:33:42 GMT -5
As a general rule, NEVER let the medium dry out. The soil should always be either soaking wet, sitting in a saucer of distilled water or at the very least very moist to the touch. All of us have lost plants because we have forgotten about them on a sunny day and they've dried out. KEEP THEM WET. There are exceptions to this like dormancy or weird, difficult plants but by the time you're into that stuff you'll probably know as much or more than I do.
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Post by mabudon on May 4, 2007 12:21:23 GMT -5
Yes, I guess I wasn't as clear on that as I should have been, thanks Lloyd, for Drosera, it is a definite rule that the medium MUST NOT dry out. I should have realized from the pics that you might need that notion re-inforced, so thanks Lloyd for correcting that oversight Since they don't mind being literally soaking all the time, it is best just to keep them like that. Pretty much anything you CAN find, Drosera-wise, is fine with it. You have to look long and hard to find the "expert" stuff, it's rare in general due to the trouble of growing it, and that is compounded by us being in Canada. Cephs and the "Hard" sundews are a much more complicated balancing act, so enjoy the "beginnier" plants while you can. I always kick myself when I end up with plants that make me paranoid by being "difficult", but I can't stop- many of the downright coolest-looking things fall into the "tricky" category sadly, cos weird is my thing
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