Drosera: Basic Care (part 1)

Drosera / Sundew

Drosera or sundew are interesting plants that are present on virtually every continent except Antartica. They glisten in the sun as the light reflects from their dew, some are rather stunning. All are extremely neat. It is very difficult to take a picture that captures their glory. I have no desire to list every sundew known at this time, there are many. The goal is to educate you to the basics so you can care for any of the Sundews you come into contact with.

Drosera catch prey by excreating sticky drops of "glue". The dew drops are generally red but they can be clear too. The tenticales are also generally red but can be whitish. Insects confuse the glittering glue for nector or other sweet stuff. But when they land or crawl onto the dew they become stuck. Some of the sundews will move their leaves so more dew can entagle the prey, some even curl around it. Others have no motion at all. Most will at least move the tentacles to adjust the prey, generally pulling it in towards the center of the pad or leaf. All of them produce a long painfull death to their prey, sundews are not for the weak of heart! The dew doubles as a digestive enzyme of sorts, breaking down the soft parts of the critter and absorbing them through special glands called sessile glands. They are experts at catching small prey but capable of cathing larger prey too. D. Capensis can take down a large Dragon Fly!

Drosera have a wide range of root systems. Some Sundews have very long thick roots while others have very small thin roots. Drosera Adelae has long thick roots while Drosera Rotundifolia has tiny roots, for example. The ones with long thick roots generally reproduce well from the roots. Most of them are easy to make more of from leaf or root cuttings and most will produce clumps of plants from one or the other on their own.

They all grow in acidic, sandy, peaty areas with various amounts of rainfall. Most will self seed and produce hordes of seed when they do. Forked sundews do not self seed, they need pollinated by a plant that is not related. Sundews differ in preference of when to flower and how often, some flower once and die (rare) while others flower constantly during the growing season. I find one of the reasons I like sundews so much is the fact that they produce hordes of seed, and they mature very fast from it. A pot overflowing with sundews glistening in the sun is a sight to behold.

There are many sources for individual sundews, in books and on the web. Be very leary of what you read though, most of it is outdated and inaccurate. These are the basic growing instructions that can be applied to almost all of the drosera, excluding tuberous and pygmy sundews. They will be addressed at the end of the basic care.

Water

The most important thing about water is the type to use. Tap water generally kills but if your tap water has a total ppm count below 150 it may work. I personally use reverse osmosis water. Distilled from the store and rain water are also acceptable, if they are sodium free and NOT collected off a roof. Make sure it says "Sodium Free" right on the front of the jug. Or check the nutrition label to make sure sodium is listed as zero. If you have very many plants a reverse-osmosis under the sink model from Lowe's/ Menards/Home Depot/etc. will pay for itself pretty quick. Make sure to figure in the upkeep costs.

The other thing about water is how much to use. Use a plastic pot with drainage holes and place it in a plastic water tray. Keep at least a 1/4" of water in the tray at all times, more if in bright light. The more light the more water can be tolerated. If they are not in high levels of light you have to be careful not to over water or the roots will rot. When grown inside use 1/4" of water in the water tray, replaced after it has disappeared, generally works well for 4" pots. For 6" pots 1/2" to an 1" will do better. Plants with thicker roots can generally handle wetter prolonged conditions, those with tiny roots are generally prone to rot so keep them a little drier. All you need to do is use some method that keeps the media moist at all times.

To date I have not found one sundew that does not grow happily in moist media. Some people recommend growing some species in wet to semi-aquatic media. I have found this totally un-necessary so far. Just keep the media moist and they will do fine. Otherwise you risk root rot, especially when growing them indoors. Outdoor plants require more water, sometimes substantialy, because the sun dries out the media. Sarracenia can take water mid way up the pot when ground outside in full sun during the summer. Forked sundews can also be kept pretty wet during the growing season. Adalae prefers just moist, not a big fan of wet. Your plants will complain if it gets too dry, too wet and they will sudenly die from root, crown or rhizome rot.

Reference : Drosera Care