New leaves not producing any dew yet

[Sera08]

Hi everyone, I wasn't fully sure if I should start a new thread or update the previous one.

I received my alice sundew about early december, and I consulted the forum then. It seemed the original tendrils were damaged and couldn't produce dew.

It's been a couple months now, and it's been growing some new tendrils. The most developed of these new tendrils haven't started producing dew yet though. Also, some of its old tendrils are browned at the ends, which probably isn't good.

I moved it closer to the light, so it's now around 10cm away. I keep the bowl full of water, but I wonder if that's giving it enough humidity.

I'm just not sure what I need to change in her conditions. Also, I've seen many red alice sundews, so I'm not sure if I'm meant to be seeing some colour changes this soon.

 

[hcarlton]

Leaves are different from tendrils; D. aliciae doesn't have tendrils.
The only real thing that needs to be focused on here is light; if it's not turning red, it's not getting enough light. These are full sun plants, that means if you are growing them inside you need incredibly strong illumination to mimic even approaching that (lights that are producing 4,000+ lumens of full-spectrum light, your average mild desk lamp or the dim grow bulbs found in most stores won't cut it). Humidity is not a factor, dew is a carbohydrate compound and that takes energy, not extra moisture, to make.

 

[Sera08]

Thank you! I always get the terminology mixed up, I'm still very new to sundews! I'm glad humidity's not a factor, as I sometimes hear it bought up in sundew discussion and I was a bit worried.

So, would it be better to get a secondary light source to work with the current light, or to try to find a stronger grow light to replace it?

 

[adnedarn]

If your light is 10cm/4" away from the plant and it's not strong enough I think I'd just replace it with something better. Piling up multiple lower intensity lights can work... but it is not always ideal. Do you have a link or any details on the light you have?

 

[Sera08]

I decided to buy a new light, but I'm still not sure if I should use both or if they'd be too much together. The old one was an Ainiv grow light I think, and the new one is a Nuzamas 50w. It already seems far stronger, but I'll have to see how my plant fares under the much brighter light. Will I need to put this one farther back so it can adjust to the sudden jump in intensity?

 

[adnedarn]

Not generally necessary. If you feel like the extra work you could and move it in over time. You could also likely use your phone to check light intensity to compare the lights. I don't know the difference between the two so really can't give a good suggestion. But even too much light will likely just burn leaves. The chance it would just kill the plant straight away just isn't there.

 

[bluemax]

Almost certainly further away than 10 cm. If your light consumes 50 watts of electricity, I'd say try at least 30 cm and I'd start at about 45cm while you watch your plants for signs of burning or overall improvement. You can always bring it in closer as needed.

 

[adnedarn]

I took it as 50w equivalent but I guess that's a good point since I was totally assuming.

 

[bluemax]

Yeah, those are the terms I usually deal in as well. But I looked up the unit and it looks pretty powerful. 'Might be good for quite a few more plants besides. But, as you imply Andrew - it depends. I use 100 watt equivalent leds all the time and they are usually about 12 - 15 watts, actual.

 

[Sera08]

Ok, I'll keep the light about 45cm away for now, and just see how things go. Thank you both!