Plant description and types, growing tips, watering and fertilizing, soil selection and replanting, pest control methods and cultivation problems. Rosyanka (Drosera) is a member of the Droseraceae family, which includes plants of 4 more genera and about 100 species. This representative of the green world grows throughout the planet, where tropical, subtropical and temperate climates prevail. But still, the lion's share of sundews live in Australian and New Zealand areas. In general, all plants that feed on insects were grouped into 6 families, numbering about 500 species. Some representatives, which are located in temperate climatic zones, can even endure cold wintering, since by this time they form buds, characterized by strong and dense compression. They can then be used for reproduction. The British gave a synonym for the name of the sundew - "sun-dew", which means "sun dew". There are several more popular nicknames for this green "predator" - the king's eyes, god's dew, crabgrass. Hence the name of the plant in Latin, which Carl Linnaeus suggested, "drosera" is derived from the word "droseros" - dew or dew.
For indoor cultivation, species that grow in tropical conditions predominate, since they do not require cold wintering. These are herbaceous (very rarely shrubby) plants with a perennial growth cycle, possessing a powerful rhizome and choosing marsh or watery areas for habitation. The stem is characterized by a thickening and tuberous appearance, round or oblong in shape.
Dewdrop has special devices for catching insects, with their help the "green predator" replenishes its diet with nutrients. To catch the prey, the leaves of the plant are covered with droplets of a sticky substance. They stand out from the glandular hairs that are located along the edges and on the upper surface of the leaf. As soon as the victim adheres to the leaf plate, the sundew, sensing the vibration of the caught insect, sharply curls up, wrapping it up and then digesting it. The substance that covers the leaves contains the alkoloid horsein (due to this substance, the insect is paralyzed and immobilized) and enzymes with digestive properties. On one bush of the plant, which is called the Royal Sundew - biblis, there may be 300 thousand hairs and 2 million glands.
The leaf blades are collected in a very dense rosette, which is located at the very rhizome; they grow on short petioles or sit directly in the rosette. Their sizes vary from 5 mm to 60 cm. The number of leaves on each rosette reaches 10 pieces. Most species cannot boast of bud inflorescences, as they are very inconspicuous. They are located on long flowering stems above the rosette, at a height of 10–20 cm, so that insects that are to be pollinated do not fall into the traps of sticky leaves. The shape of the inflorescences is spicate. The color of the flowers can be white or pinkish, the sizes are small or large. After the flowering process, the fruit ripens in the form of a box, which is filled with a large number of small seeds, with a predominance of protein.
If the type of sundew is winter-hardy, then it forms specially folded buds, which in the natural environment go deeper into the moss and so overwinter. As soon as the summer days pass, it is no longer possible to find sundews, as they are prepared to wait out the cold snap and frost, but as soon as the snow melts from the swamps and the spring sun begins to warm up, annual shoots appear from the buds. Such a shoot does not differ in length and thickness; it grows in the thickness of the mossy cover. The leaf rosette is located directly on the surface of the moss, snuggling tightly to it. Vegetative buds can be stored in a plastic bag lined with sphagnum moss and refrigerated in the vegetable compartment. Their exposure time is 4–5 months.
Some types of sundew are used medicinally for severe coughs, headaches, candidiasis, epilepsy, and colds.
Recommendations for growing sundew at home
- Lighting. Since under natural conditions this plant is located under trees or shrubs, it does not need an increased level of illumination. Like most plants, the sundew does not like to be in the bright sun. Soft and diffused lighting is most suitable for her. Therefore, the pot with the plant should be placed on the windows of the southeast or southwest orientation. If the sundew stays in the sun for a long time, then its appearance will not only worsen, but the plant may die. And if the flower pot is on the sill of a south-facing window, then it is worth shading with light curtains made of transparent fabrics or making curtains from gauze. Sometimes tracing paper or plain paper is glued to the glass, which will scatter too hot sun rays. In the summer, the daylight hours for the plant should be 14 hours, and in the winter months at least 8 hours. You can supplement it with phytolamps if there is not enough lighting.
- Temperature of the "solar dew" content. The temperature indicators at which this plant feels normal have a very wide range, since the sundew grows in areas with different climatic conditions. If the flower is a resident of temperate climatic zones, then during the spring-summer months it is preferable to maintain rates within 20 degrees, but for these species then wintering with reduced rates of 5-10 degrees is required. But, if this is a representative of the tropics or subtropics, then in the months of spring or summer the thermometer should fluctuate within 25-30 degrees, in winter - 15-18 degrees.
- Content moisture. For this plant, a high degree of humidity of the environment in which it grows is very important. The sundew will feel great in the florarium (or any glass container with a lid), in which high humidity is always maintained. If there is no such vessel, then it is recommended to put the pot with the plant in a pallet of sufficient depth, which is filled with small expanded clay, pebbles or chopped sphagnum moss. These fillers should be regularly moistened, and it is not recommended to spray the sundew itself with water.
- Watering the home green "predator". Since the plant in its natural environment chooses marshy and riparian areas, the moisture content of the soil should be increased. Therefore, moisturizing is carried out regularly and abundantly. In the summer, if water remains in the stand under the flowerpot after watering, then it should not be removed, the plant will collect the required amount of moisture on its own. When the colder months of the year come, the humidification must be reduced and the water removed from the pot holder. This is especially necessary when the temperatures of the content are lowered. If the "predator" is in the florarium, then you can water it only once a week. If the leaves begin to dry, then you need to spray the plant and start moistening the soil more often, and keep the lid closed. But the main thing here is not to get carried away with waterlogging of the soil, otherwise the root system will begin to rot. If moisture does not leave the surface of the soil, but remains, then the pot with the plant is turned over, the excess water is drained. For irrigation, it is necessary to take softened water, free from impurities and salts. If this rule is not followed, then the plant will simply "burn" from an excess of mineral compounds that are in the water. Filtration, boiling and settling of water in open containers is carried out for at least two days. It is important when watering that water does not fall on the leaves of the outlet.
- Fertilization. This plant is not at all adapted to extract nutrients from the soil. Sundew replenishes its diet with insect biomass. But if feeding with live material is not made, then the flower should be fertilized with a monthly or two-month regularity with special fertilizing for hydroponics, but in a very weak concentration (the concentration is reduced by almost 4 times).
- Feeding the sundew. If the plant is not fed and fertilized, then its growth becomes weak and sluggish. Sunflower must receive a certain dose of nutrients and nitrogen compounds. A few large flies a week are enough to feed the "predator". If the plant itself cannot provide itself with a sufficient number of midges and other insects, then it needs to be helped. In this case, it follows that the trap leaves are always moistened. As soon as they begin to dry out, it is required to spray them from a spray bottle. Insects should not be large, otherwise they may break the plant or simply run away.
- Transplantation and selection of soil for "crabgrass". Since a plant naturally lives on depleted soils, transplanting into ordinary universal soil mixtures can be fatal for it. A self-made soil mixture based on chopped sphagnum moss, fine quartz sand, peat is best suited (all parts can be equal or 1: 0, 5: 0, 5). Moss will help the plant to feed on the water retained in it for a long time. It is not recommended to use ordinary river sand, since it may also contain some mineral components, so they take quartz. Perlite can be added to the mixture to increase its friability. You can transplant the plant if the soil has lost its looseness or silted up. For planting, not deep pots are selected, it is recommended to take special bowls. Several specimens can be planted in one container, but do this so that the rosettes of the leaves do not overlap each other. You should also plant different varieties of plants in one pot.
- Winter holidays. As soon as the summer heat leaves in its natural environment, in the swamps, it is not possible to find a sundew, as the plant begins to prepare for deep hibernation. This usually occurs from late autumn to the last winter month. At this time, some leaves begin to die off, active growth stops, and trap leaves lose their sticky properties a little. With the advent of this time, the sundew should be sprayed, watered and fed less. But it is required to ensure that the soil in the pot is always slightly moist.
- Sundew blossom. As soon as spring days come, the plant begins to bloom. The sundew produces a long peduncle, which is located almost 10 cm above the leaf rosette. All this time, the plant spends a lot of energy, so the growth of the leaf plates themselves practically stops. You can pollinate the sundew by hand if the plant is not outdoors - you need to gently rub the flowers against each other or transfer pollen from one flower to another with a soft brush. At the end of the month, fruits will appear in the form of boxes with seeds that can be cut off. This material is later used for propagation of sundew.
Important! Never give a flower raw meat - this will lead to its rapid death.
How to propagate a sundew on your own at home?
There are several methods for obtaining a new flower: seed material, layering and cuttings, dividing the rhizome.
The seed propagation method is the simplest. Flowers are pollinated and after the ripening of the fruit, material for planting can be obtained. Seeds are poured onto the surface of the soil (wet peat with sand), which is placed in a prepared container. The container is covered with a plastic bag or a piece of glass and placed in a bright and very humid place. Growth temperature is maintained at about 20 degrees. Seed germination is very good and a mature plant can be obtained after a few months. If the seed has been purchased, then the seedlings should be expected up to 5 months.
Reproduction with the help of layering consists in separating the baby plants from the maternal leaf rosette, which grow side by side in the form of shoots. These plants are planted in a peat-sand mixture, which is suitable for the constant growth of sundew, and covered with a bag to create increased moisture. It is necessary to regularly ventilate the plant and moisten the soil.
When grafting, a healthy leaf of the plant is selected and cut off. You can wait for the roots by placing this stalk in water, or by planting it in the ground (peat mixed with sand). In any case, the future plant must be covered with a plastic bag. As soon as a dewdrop leaf, which is in the water, has roots, it should be planted in a prepared bowl with soil.
When dividing the root, it is important that the cut part is 2-3 cm long. Then it is planted in a prepared pot with soil made of peat and sand (or perlite) and placed under the bag for further rooting.
Problems in growing sundew at home and possible pests
The plant is not affected by insects, they themselves are its food, but from waterlogging of the soil, the plant can begin to rot, sometimes aphids or botrytis (gray rot) can appear on it. As soon as alarming symptoms appear (darkening of the leaves or stem), it is necessary to apply fungicides to eliminate the problem, urgently transplanting the plant into a new pot and changing the substrate. To combat harmful insects, an insecticide treatment can be carried out.
Growing problems include:
- the lethargy of the plant and not such stickiness of the leaves indicates that there has been an overfeeding with mineral fertilizers;
- sundew decay can occur due to too low temperatures and strong waterlogging of the soil in the pot.
Types of sundew
- Round-leaved sundew (Drosera rotundifolia). It is also called ordinary sundew. The plant is characterized by good frost tolerance, has a leaf rosette. This species is most common in the countries of the former Soviet Union. During the summer-autumn period, the sundew forms inflorescences of flowers of white and pink shades. Also, this variety can still be found in the cold sphagnum marshlands of North American, European and Asian countries. But, since the swamps are currently being actively dried up during the harvesting of peat, this plant is under the threat of destruction. Included in the Red Book since 1997. The plant reaches a height of 20 cm. The leaf petioles are long, the shape of the leaf plate is rounded. The reverse side of the leaves, from which the rosette is assembled, is smooth malachite in color, on the upper side there are reddish cilia for catching insects.
- English sundew (Drosera anglica Huds.) - native habitat in many areas of the globe (North America, Europe, Japan, etc.), where a temperate climate prevails. Also included in the Red List as an endangered plant. The leaf plates are more elongated than that of the round-leaved sundew.
- Cape Rosyanka (Drosera capensis) - they are distinguished by an oblong-ruled shape, measured 3.5 cm in length with a half-centimeter wide. The native growing areas are South Africa.
- Royal sundew (Drosera capensis). The largest of the species, in nature, the length of the leaves can reach up to 2 m. The place of growth is South African areas.
You will learn more informative information about the sundew from this video:
