D. spatulata

[NewGuy]

I am interested in adding a sundew to my collection.  From review previous posting I am thinking that a D. Spatulata might work well with my VFT and min. Orchids.

My questions are:

1. Should I leave the D. Spatulata in it's container to bottom feed?
2. Will the terrarium become sticky?
   a.  If yes how do I prevent it?
    b.  If there is nothing I can do to prevent it...what is the best way to clean the glass?
3. Will a growth  and two floursent lights be enouth lighting to promote growth?
4. I have humid air blowing through the terrarium:
   a.  will this have any adverse effect on the plant?
   b.  is 75% humidity okay for a D. Spatulata type plant?

just thought of that.

5. Does anyone out there have any good photos of the Droser Spatulata in a terrarium or bog?
6. Any hints or suggestion will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for you time and effort in reading my post.

 

[schloaty]

Hey Newguy,
I can answer some of these for you:
1) not sure what you mean by "bottom feed."

2) Terrarium shouldn't become sticky. I have D. spatulata growing in my terrarium, and I've never had a problem with that. Best prevention, I guess, is don't let it grow too close to the tank walls.
3) Depends on how far the plants are from the light. I have mine under two flourescent lights, and they are about 10 or 12 inches from it. I think mine are a bit too far away, but they seem to be growing just fine. The only problem is they are completely green. When in good light they get a little reddish (at least mine do).
4) 75% is fine

I have a photo of my terrarium in the "terrariums" topic (terrarium/bogs/greenhouse section) forum that has six pages. I don't think the d. spatulat are visible, though.

 

[Tamlin Dawnstar]

Hi Newguy,

Welcome to the Forums.

D. spatulata is a very adaptable species. Many growers often keep their Drosera too humid in my opinion. Most of the commonly grown species will be happy with humidity over 40%. Depending where you live, you might not even require a terrarium, and may even be able to grow the plant outside.

If the plant has been grown in high humidity (as in a greenhouse) it might be necessary to slowly wean it to less humid conditions. Keep the plant in high humidity at first, until it adjusts to your conditions and shows good growth, then gradually reduce the humidity over the period of a week or two.

The air blower is not a good idea. A slight air movement is desirable, but beware of excessive air movement which can dry out the plant over time.

I have found, and others support this, that light is the most important factor in cultivating healthy, typical and well colored plants. As Schloaty mentions, 10-12 inches is a bit far for 2 tubes. I grow all my plants within 3-6 inches of the tubes. I use (8) 40 watt flourescents above each of my growing stages. When you increase the distance by half, the plants do not het half as much light, they get one quarter of it.

Best of luck with your plants!

 

[ludwig777]

Hi New Guy,
This is a good sundew to begin with, it was one of my first and is, like Tamlin mentions, pretty adaptable.  Here's my results with different light and humidity levels:

outdoors in full sun, low humidity:
great red coloration and good compact growth;

in a greenhouse with very high humidity but low light:
greener foliage but larger leaves and still rapid growth, but overall weaker plants.


Both are kept in several inches of standing water at all times.  I grow mine in pure long-fibred sphagnum moss, no peat; the plants outdoors grow and flower every year for me but the ones in lower light in the greenhouse have NEVER flowered.  I wouldn't say that all Drosera would like these extremes in cultivation but spatulata seems to do good in either.

p.s. Tamlin, do you use LFS for your Drosera or always the peat/sand mix; my slackii is also in pure LFS and it is enormous now...as soon as I get a digicam, I am anxious to share this with everyone!...(it's getting a little trunk)

 

[Spectabilis73]

Oops, please delete this post mods

 

[Spectabilis73]

drosera spatulata is a great beginer plant, the onl;y problem with growing it in a terrarium is the flower scape, mine grow to over a foot high! the best way to prevent it from bumping into the light/top of terrarium is to bend down the scape and pinn it to the terrarium floor with smooth rocks, but doing that will only work only in a classic terrarium