Drosera tentaculata [Diamantina, Minas Gerais, Brazil]

Care instructions

How we grow South America Drosera?
In-vitro plants are acclimated in a Grow Chamber with controlled temperatures and humidity. This indoor setup ensure an easy adaptation to extra-vitro condition, guaranteeing the best conditions for plants in this delicate stage. All plants available at the Diflora shop have been acclimatized for at least 3 months. After this first step the plant is brought outside, under direct sunlight with the classic tray system as watering method and so, keeping always some amount of water in the tray. As with the majority of carnivorous plants, we use distilled water produced by our reverse osmosis system.

Lighting:
Like most carnivorous plants belonging to the sundew genus, South American sundews need a lot of light and sun, but to prevent temperatures from rising too high it is advisable not to expose them to direct sunlight, especially during the hottest hours of the day.
Many experienced growers prefer to grow these carnivorous plants in temperature-controlled terraria (ensuring the temperature difference) and this is the perfect solution for even the most demanding South American Sundews.

Watering:
South America Drosera likes stagnant water all year round (3-4 cm of distilled water always in the saucer). This serves to faithfully imitate the natural environment in which they live. It is important to use only distilled water or alternatively all waters that have an extremely low mineral salt content. For example rainwater or all condensation water (air conditioner, dehumidifier). It’s important that the conductivity measures below 50 micro-Siemens.

Substrate:
While 50% peat and 50% perlite is fine as a general substrate, we recommend the mineral substrate for Drosera we have developed and tested for the optimal growth of plants that thrive on ultramafic soils.

Seasonality and temperature:
Being tropical, the sundews of South America fear the cold. Some, such as Drosera tomentosa, are more resistant than others, which may perish if exposed to temperatures below 15°C for a prolonged period. However, they generally manage to overwinter inside a cold greenhouse or a double window without major problems.
Ideally, they should have a well-ventilated terrarium with artificial lighting in which they can replicate their natural conditions as tropical mountain plants: constant temperatures all year round of around 15°C at night and 20-25°C during the day.
If we opt for overwintering in a cold greenhouse or in a double window, we have to pay particular attention to the temperatures. As with subtropical sundews, tropical sundews from South America will also slow down their metabolism in winter (without, however, having a real resting period) and can, in some cases, withstand temperatures of around 5-8°C. During this unfavorable period, the objective will become the survival of the plant, giving up a little on aesthetic performance. With the arrival of spring, they will become vigorous and colourful again!

Additional info:
For more cultivation information visit our care guides or use our plant care support by writing to ilpigliamosche@diflora.it