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unschoolingmomto4

Newbie w/ lots of ?'s re sundew and octopus

unschoolingmomto4
15 years ago

Hi,

My son and daughter saw an octopus plant and a sundew plant at Lowes today. We have been trying to find a VFT but they had none. I have figured out the sundew is a Drosera adelae but very long from lack of light (it was in a death cube, lol). We have opened the container already was this a no no? Can anyone tell me or link me good care instructions? Also should we transplant it? What size pot? What to put in the pot (dirt, compost, peatmoss) and where to get it? Do these need covers or an open pot? I really don't want to kill them. I'm in the rainy PNW if that changes the care instructions any.

Thanks so much!

Comments (5)

  • mcantrell
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Get it all the way out of the Deathcube asap, it will have trouble living in there.

    You don't need to repot immediately -- indeed, you might want to let it grow a bit before doing so, as it's probably a bit stressed out. A good indicator is if you are seeing little drops of gooey dew on the leaves -- the ones that have already grown probably won't get dew ever, but the new leaves should. Gooey Sundews are happy Sundews. Once you have a good layer of dewey leaves it might be time to repot.

    Potting CPs is pretty easy, what you will want to use for the most part is a combination of Perlite and Sphagnum Peat Moss. Perlite, in case you don't know, is a very common soil additive, it's the white pebbles in almost any commercial soil mix.

    Gardening Sand and/or Long-fiber Sphagnum is also pretty common -- it's very likely that your Lowes plants are currently growing in pure Long-fiber Sphagnum, every one I've seen is in it.

    What I like to do -- and I am no expert, mind you -- is use 1 part Perlite and 1 part Sphagnum for just about every one of my plants. I actually use an empty Lowes Deathcube for such, what I do is I pour in about a cup of Perlite and Sphagnum, then shake it like a martini, this mixes it up quite well.

    I have heard that whatever pot you use needs to have good drainage -- although I've also heard of people using pots with no holes at all. I've had a lot more luck with glazed or plastic pots than clay or terracotta ones, which seem to get a little white fuzz on them around my house.

    I've gotten all my pots from the local Fred Meyer, with about half of them being fully glazed neon-colored nightmares, and the other half being half glazed and half terracotta (the glaze stops halfway up). They have a single large drainage hole at the bottom which isn't ideal, I don't think, but as far as I know, works fine.

    You do not need to cover the pot per say, especially in a humid area like yours. What I would do is just put it in a windowsill and open it when it's warm out for humidity. You might even be able to keep it outside -- do you know what USDA zone you are in?
    http://www.arborday.org/media/zones.cfm

    I am in USDA zone 6 according to that list, and my D. Adelae and D. capensis var alba (Albino Cape Sundew) didn't like being outside all night too much (they lost their dew) but they do great in a windowsill.

    One challenge you are going to have is watering it -- it will likely not live with Tap water. You will need to collect Rain Water (assuming you do not have Acid Rain) or Distilled Water and use that instead. Distilled water (*not* "Purified" or "Drinking" water, those contain salts and minerals which will kill your plant) can be bought at most stores, I get mine from a WinCo, but I've also bought it from KMart and Fred Meyer in a pinch. Costs about $0.50 - 0.75 a gallon, 1 gallon should last you a week or 3.

    I use a turkey baster to water my plants, as well as a small squirt bottle to mist them every few days.

    One thing I've happily discovered is a "deep dish" Saucer for my plants -- I got mine from CaliforniaCarnivores, but you may have better luck finding them locally:
    http://www.californiacarnivores.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=13

    They are standard 5" wide saucers but they're also about 4-5" tall, which means they hold about a cup of water. The soil will suck that up quite nicely and keep the plant at a perfect watering level. In a pinch you could make one out of the Deathcubes, I imagine, but that would require a hacksaw or something.

    Also, if you are going to purchase something from them (Venus Flytraps, Pots, Saucers, etc) I cannot stop singing the praises of the owner's book:
    http://www.californiacarnivores.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=3

    It contains a wealth of information on the various types of Carnivorous Plants as well as caring for them and has a billion and one photos.

    Oh, and just one question -- what did the octopus plant look like? It was likely another type of Sundew, but I'm curious as to if it was what I think it was: My Cape Sundew was sold in a little pot with a baggie and a piece of paper that advertised it as an Octopus Plant, which I thought was pretty neat.

  • the_girl
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    If you still want a fly trap, you can ask the clerk about them; I'm sure they have them. They order more whenever they run out so you probably have to wait a week or two.

  • unschoolingmomto4
    Original Author
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I think our octopus plant is a Drosera graminifolia but not 100% sure. It is kind of sad looking. Green with reddish hairs. The tops curl a bit and some are flattened at the end. No dew at all on any of the hairs.

    The Drosera adelae had dew on every arm (branch, stem, tentacle, what would I call it?) before I took it out of the package. Now it has none at all. It is very tall and pale. the leaves are large and come directly off the main center stem.

    If I should take them both out of the pots (I have only taken one out so far) and wait to transplant what should I keep them in for now? One is in a little baggy inside the bottom of the death cube. The other is still inside the plastic box with a plastic pot inside that.

    We have no shortage of rainwater here so that is what we will use to water them.

    Thanks so much!

  • mcantrell
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    How tall are your Deathcubes? As far as I know, there are two types, one is like 6-8" tall with basically a plate on top, the other is about 3-4" tall that separates in the middle. The taller one will have the plant inside be in it's own pot, the smaller ones forgo the pot to have the moss be right inside the cube.

    If it's the taller one, go ahead and pop the pot on out and put it in a windowsill. If it's the smaller one, take the top of the Deathcube out and use the bottom as a pot for the time being.

    Hm, D. graminifolia... could it be a Drosera filiformis? The two look pretty similar to me, but I think the filiformis is more common?

    http://www.agristarts3.com/Plants/Plant_Images/Drosera_graminifolia.jpg
    http://users.skynet.be/duchene_gilles/images/DROSERA_FILIFORMIS_03.JPG

    My deathcube'd D. Adelae also had "dew" on it before I removed it, but it wasn't real dew -- it was clear, so I am guessing that it was probably the water they were misting it with. Unless you have an alba version (not sure if there is a D. Adelae var alba -- albino -- out there or not) the little tentacles on the leaves should end in a drop of bright red dew.

    It actually didn't make dew until it had new leaves, the old light-starved leaves still do not have dew on mine, only the new ones have any red dots.

    The fact that it's really tall means it's light-starved, when they're doing good the leaves will basically come off the stem one after another, really compact. That's another good way to tell if it's happy.

    Did you put it in the baggy or did it come in the baggy? There's no reason to take them out of their pots before you're ready to transplant, but you can take the pots out of the deathcubes (they occasionally have a little plastic film inside to keep whatever bugs you might throw in from getting past the pot) and put them in a bright bright windowsill, which would probably be ideal, to be honest. They like a lot of light, a lot of humidity, and an occasional bug (No hamburger!). :)

    For transplanting, you can probably find Sphagnum locally. Look in your local stores' gardening section, it's very very frequently used in Orchid mixes.

    I've heard you should avoid Miracle Grow Sphagnum, they tend to put in plant food and fertilizer which will kill your plants.

    I use a company called "Whitney Farms" which I get at Fred Meyer for mine, their label says it has plant food but as far as I can tell it doesn't, and that's a generic label -- they also sell Perlite, and the label is the exact same.

    You can also buy it by the bale, if you have a shed you can store it in. I normally pay like $5 for a 1 pound bag but recently paid $10 for a 75 pound bale of the stuff. I am still investigating if it's the right stuff, though... ;)

    I found this exact bag of stuff at my local Lowes, as well:
    http://www.californiacarnivores.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=19

    Same brand and everything. That's the long fiber stuff, looks a bit like you're planting with long fuzzy strings. Kinda neat. It's highly likely that's what your plants are currently planted in, at least, every Deathcube I've seen has had them in there.

    If you have a moment, I found a few good videos that you might want to look at:
    http://www.expertvillage.com/video-series/185_carnivorous-plants-video.htm
    http://www.expertvillage.com/video-series/295_pitcher-plant.htm
    http://www.expertvillage.com/video-series/331_venus-fly-traps.htm

    Wes shows some good information there, especially on how to transplant plants and the proper soil and water to use.

  • petiolaris
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I've never seen D. filiformis at Lowes but that would much more plausible than graminifolia or another similar plant - Drosphyllum.

    What you've experienced is taking a weak and neglected plant and changed its environment, leading to shock.

    As to purchasing more CP soil media, I would go with a $3 bag of dried LFS (Long Fibered Sphagnum). A little bit goes a long way, especially for the price. Unless you plan on having an extensive collection and mix different media, LFS is the best and easiest medium to use.

    Just get your plants at a sunny window sill or under a fluorescent light, sitting in about an inch of water (distilled, rain, RO, deionized) and allow them to overcome their shock. They need to be in stable, uncovered conditions.

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