...errm...northwest, not southwest. It's been a long day. You all know who i'm talkin about tho :)

D. adelae can be quirky. I would give it more time... weeks. I wouldn't change its conditions. They do like room temp, "bright shade", wet, and LFS as their soil. Was it you I promised a link to year round temperate plant mulching?

boy, these plants are sure teaching me about patience! (and impatience, because I've just spent the better part of the day trying to decide which one I want to get next, lol. I've narrowed it down to a half dozen or so :)

Should I trim the dead leaves off? That might satisfy my urge to bother the plant for a little while...

Sorry, no, it wasn't me.

Thanks!

LOL! You didn't happen to pray for patience, did you? Seriously, I would trim any dead plant material. TommyR has the Midas Touch with this species. I did better as a beginner. A really easy and attractive CP is the D. capensis. I highly recommend that one. Mexican butterworts also very easy. D. adelae is like having children!

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Just wondering, what does LFS stand for?

I just think it's hilarious that one gets almost completely eaten by the cat, it's the one doing the best! I checked them over last night and there IS the beginning of a few new leaves on that one. The other is still completely brown - i'll get rid of all that and hope something pops up from the root. Darn death cubes...my new nep's baby pitcher is already starting to brown and i've barely cracked the lid. Patience, Jen, patience...

Anyway, I almost went for it and got 3 varieties of d. capensis yesterday from sarracenia northwest, but this morning found these guys on bugbitingplants.com

D. Binata
D. Rotundifolia
D. Spathulata
D. Adelae (i know i already have this, but this is a "sampler" set..maybe i can keep kitty off this one lol)
and a P. moranensis

More of what look like good beginner plants, but for less $$. It also looks (correct me please if i'm wrong) that I can keep all these guys on the same shelf and lighting conditions without much trouble. Whatcha think?

LFS is Long Fibered Sphagnum and can be purchased at Lowes, for like $4.24 a bag. This is the material from the bags:

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Ame stuff, only alive:

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Jen, your fellow forum hobbyists can ave you a hunk of change with trades / Priority stamp / SASE.

My Adelaes grow in a 50/50 mix of peat moss and Perlite. They sit in a west window and get bright light, no direct sun. The pots sit in water trays with about 3/4 - 1" of water in them. They grow like weeds for me. Go figure!

I also bought a few red dewthreads a few weeks back. Neat plants!

I have similar issues with my D. adelae I got from lowes. It was doing fine until i put it in the sun one day and the leaves looked burned. The new leaves are brown and dry looking as well with no dew.
never really recovered although grows new leaves.
all my other CP are doing well. got them as a trade/ gift really small. The D. capensis is tiny but growing and my P. moctezumae made babies and is catching a lot of gnats.

the sick looking D adelae made some babies but seem to not thrive like the rest.

They are in peat moss and in a tray with distilled water under shopliglights...
not sure.
any advice?
also I like the look of live sphagnum. where can you get that?
stefano

My guys are actually in a north facing window that gets quite a bit of indirect light. Since winter is coming and we're getting less light, I've got compact florescent bulbs (23w = 100w, one for each of the 3 shelf levels)to supplement - they're about 8" from the plants (just put those in yesterday, so somebody fess up if it's a bad idea please!). Everybody seems happy (I have 2 african violets on the shelf as well) and the miranda is shooting out new leaves everywhere!

Petiolaris, i wish wish wish I'd seen your post before i put my order in. I toldja, I'm still learning about patience lol! Here's what's on the way:

D. Binata, D. Rotundifolia, D. Spathulata, D. Adelae, D. Aliciae, D. Capensis, N. "Judith Finn", and p. moranensis. I spent about $50 and everything's coming bare root, so i have about a week to get all the pots ready.

If you do have extras that you'd like to unload, I'd be happy to take them off your hands though! I'm really excited to see how all these different guys do, and how I do at learning what they need :)

What i can't seem to find without breaking the bank is live LFS. Any ideas? I think it would be a nice addition to my pots...

Jen,

Feel free to send me an Email, via the forum's links. What I do is request a priority stamp )$4.95) mailed to me to cover shipping. The plants, themselves are free. I catually have each of what you ordered in my collection. Don't shoot yourself quite yet. I could only provide binata, capensis, and adelae at the moment. I do have other sundews and butterworts.

Jim

well, the new babies arrived today, and I gotta say i'll probably make any future purchases from SNW simply because of their packaging. they sent a moctezume instead of my p. moranensis, I can't find a rotundifolia or an aliciae, and the binata is completely black with brittle roots. they also sent a mystery sundew...a lake badger? reh? the ping's leaves are awful twisty and very light green, the adelae is showing serious shock but the biggest of the batch, and the rest of the sundews are tiny but look healthy enough. judith finn is looking shocky too, but has an adorable little pitcher and only one leaf that's browning. oh, and the box arrived smashed on one side with no label stating 'live plants' like SNW had. i'm not a complainer by nature, but methinks I will send bugbitingplants an email tomorrow...pics for you guys tomorrow too, as I left my camera at the office. i'm having some mixed feelings right now...

oh! and one sundew was simply labeled scovp. huh? hopefully some pics will help sort this mess out. everybody is nested in their temp homes for now until I can find some perlite without miracle gro...lfs and peat moss...

Sounds like D. Lake Badgerup for the pygmy sundew. I've got baby D. aliciae and D. binata. Good luck with P. moctezumae. I can't get mine to grow. The hybids with them in the mix do incredibly, contrastingly well. My own D. adelae is close to death. I would give SNW some feedback about that. I know one of the owners (online) and he's a real good guy. I haven't a clue as to what "scovp" is.

{{gwi:563686}}D. aliciae babies

{{gwi:563687}}D. badgerup

{{gwi:563688}}D. badgerup

{{gwi:563689}}young D. binata

Here's a link to some pics:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/melenkolee/sets/72157622425235611/

I apologize for the poor quality...these guys are tiny and my camera isn't the best :) I sent an email to bugbitingplants.com and am waiting *patiently* for their response.

Here is a link that might be useful: pics of plant order

Well, they responded promptly, but i sure don't like what they said:

"I am sorry that you are a little dissatisfied with your order. We actually make a lot of adjustments to the sundew orders because some items are not in stock anf we wait for many species to grow out a bit more before shipping. This is the reason why you did not receive exactly the advertised Sundews.

Regarding the Drosera Binata, this is not a problem you need to worry about, After the shipping process most of our Drosera Binata's will look half dead. They are fast growers that will be sending up new shoots very shortly."

Sooo...i spend my time researching the specific plants I want, order them from a company that says they are in stock, receive only half of what i requested because they aren't actually in stock, and am expected to be ok with this? Am I being unreasonable here?

Here's my response. It had to be revised a few times...the first few versions were pretty nasty, lol...

"My problem is that you advertised everything I ordered as in stock, but did not send me what I paid for. I am willing to see if the binata pulls thru, it looks more dead than half dead and I am more than happy to provide pictures. I do, however, expect to receive the plants I am missing, or at least a refund. You have sent me one that I can't even identify (scovp?) and a pigmy (lake badger). I really had no interest in adding pygmies to my collection at this time and wonder how I am to care for a sundew when I don't even know what it is. I am missing a rotundifolia, an aliciae and a moranensis, 3 plants that I specifically wanted to add to my collection, paid money for, and did not receive. Nowhere on your site do you state you will substitute other plants for ones you specifically list as having in stock.

I ordered from your company because you were reported to be a reputable and trustworthy one. I trust you will live up to this and rectify this situation."

*sigh*. I did email SNW and thank them for their excellent service, made me feel a little better. I can't stand drama!

Well...they stink. Just to share, here is the remainder of my correspondence with these guys:

BBP: I am very sorry but we do reserve the right to make substitutions when it comes to our plants, it's a right that all nurseries exercise. I am sorry that you are disappointed. I will have to make this standard policy more evident on the website as I can see that this practice is upsetting to some of our customers.

Me (not feeling so nice anymore): What you are doing right now is false advertising and illegal. I spent my time researching the specific plants I wanted for my collection, and your site said they were in stock. Now you are saying they are not in stock and I should be just fine with you sending me plants I didn't ask for? Including a plant I can't even identify? What on earth is an scovp supposed to be? And I haven't even mentioned that my package arrived smashed and improperly labeled. I'm trying to be reasonable here...I just want what I paid for.

I've done business with other nurseries and NEVER had this issue, so this argument is not holding a lot of water here. I'm not feeling disappointed, I'm feeling robbed. I can understand why your other customers are upset, if this is what you are claiming as standard practice even though you don't actually state it anywhere unless there's a problem. I'm willing to bet you don't have very many repeat customers, if this is how you handle things. You can bet I won't be one.

If this situation is not rectified via either partial refund or prompt shipping of the remainder of my purchase for the three plants I did not receive, I will do my level best to make sure everyone knows the kind of business you are running here, including the Better Business Bureau. I really hope it does not have to get to this point.

BBP: Jenni, I am very sorry, but right or wrong, I am standing by my decision. You can let anyone you feel would be interested enough to know about this, it really does not affect me since I have many loyal customers who actually do plenty of repeat business with me. You may also log any complaints you feel necessary with the Better Business Bureau. (I usually just throw them in the garbage when I get them in the mail by the way) Life is to short to get so bent out of shape about carnivorous plants. Please enjoy the very interesting sundews that we have already sent you.

...So I've accepted his invitation and shared their policy with you all. Buyer beware!

Yes, I will be enjoying my sundews, but BBP will not get another dime of my money. And I still want my d. rotundifolia, d. aliciae and p. moranensis!! SNW, here I come!

*end rant, thank you for reading*

I do hear good things about SNW and have corresponded with one of the owners. Buying from an online store is buying from a professional and they are best equipped to ship / package plants, as well as stand by their product. Getting plants from another hobbyist is more hit and miss, but if you're fortunate, you can stumble upon one with lots of TLC, and for a fraction of the cost. My own D. rotundifolia is now dormant and I only have 1 specimen of P. moranensis. I do have many P. moranensis huautla x ehleresiae, and a bunch of baby D. aliciae. Check my link for the pictures.

Here is a link that might be useful: JimScotts Plants, 2009