Cape Sundew Care: Sticky Traps & Pretty Flowers

How It Works

Drosera capensis forms a rosette of narrow leaves covered in red, sticky-tipped tentacles. Insects mistake the glisten for nectar, get stuck, and the leaf curls around them. Digestive enzymes break down prey.

Care Essentials

• Light: Bright indirect.
• Water: Keep medium evenly moist. Rain or distilled water only.
• Humidity: Moderate to high. Below 50%? Increase it.
• Temp: 60–75°F. Cold/low light may induce dormancy—don’t panic, it recovers.
• Soil: Live sphagnum or 1:1 peat:horticultural sand.
• Fertilizer: Never. Burns roots. Feed dead flies (spring–fall) if no bugs caught.

Flowers & Seeds

Dozens of pink flowers in early summer (each lasts one day). Seed pods burst, self-sowing readily. Collect seeds from dried flowers for propagation.

Propagation

Seeds (sow fresh on moist peat, warm, 2–4 weeks) or division of new rosettes.

Terrarium candidate. No winter dormancy if conditions stay constant.