Here you can find care instructions we use to grow our various kinds of Drosera, with a focus on subtropical and tropical species!
Drosera Care Instructions Download
Drosera
Watering
Most Drosera should be always moist. Use the tray method! Fill a tray with 0.5″ (1.27cm) to 1″ (2.54cm) of water and place the plant in the tray. Once the tray dries up refill with water.
Sunlight
Give your Drosera lots of light! Although long exposure to direct sun should be avoided, they do enjoy a small amount of direct sun. Bright but indirect light locations and sunny windowsills are happy places for these plants!
Fertilizer
Do not add fertilizer. Instead allow the plant to catch bugs or feed small bugs sparingly (fish food such as dried blood worms work).
Humidity
Humidity from the tray method or terrarium is preferred.
Repotting
Try to avoid disturbing roots. Use a tall pot as roots are very long in many species.
Soil
Tolerant of most water retaining media. Popular media include peat moss, long fibre sphagnum moss, orchid bark and perlite.
Notes
Ensure these plants have humidity and avoid heavy top watering which can knock off dew. Letting your water tray dry out for a day or so before refilling may help your plant to grow faster.
Questions
Why are my sundew’s leaves turning brown?
If the leaves at the bottom of your Drosera (sundew) plant are turning brown:
- Your plant could be acclimating to a new environment. The plant could be focusing on getting situated in its new conditions. Increasing the humidity of the plant, such as with a cover or plastic bag for a week or so, can help the plant acclimatize faster and keep its leaves.
- Your plant could be stressed, overwatered, underwatered, or has pests. If your plant has pests, overly moist or dry soil, or a black growing tip, it will most likely need more attention. Treat pests and follow our care guide here to help your plant recover.
- Your plant could just be cycling its old leaves. Like other plants, sundews will drop their old leaves, and new ones will grow in their place. Ensure that your Drosera has green growth coming from the centre of the plant.
Why don’t my sundew’s leaves have dew?
The most common reason that sundew (Drosera) does not have dew is that they are not getting enough light. Supplemental lighting or moving your plant closer to a windowsill can help give your plant more dew. If your plant still does not have enough dew, you can try increasing the humidity with a pebble tray, a terrarium, or a humidifier.
Hello reader! Please enjoy these care instructions! They are a short set of basics to get you started and have been adapted from multiple sources and our experiences as growers in Burnaby, British Columbia. We love these plants and find them to be one of the easiest carnivorous plants to grow! We have grown Drosera for many years on windowsills, under grow lights, and during the summer – outdoors, and have had a lot of growth using these methods. Please keep in mind these instructions are preliminary and more research is always helpful in getting better results or growing more difficult varieties.
Please feel free to contact us with any questions, amendments, or concerns. We would be happy to provide more resources, references, or just to chat with you! We will update these instructions periodically and add more resources to reference so please visit again soon!
Happy Growing!