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WELCOME TO SUNDEW MATT'S
CARNIVOROUS PLANT WEBSITE


INTRO: Thanks for visiting my web page.  My name's SundewMatt and I'm a carnivorous plant (CP) grower from the Northeastern U.S.  I have been growing carnivorous plants indoors in terraria, under artificial lights, for many years.  I started when I was only 12 - I'm now almost 30.

I am unique among CPers in that I specialize in sundews (Drosera).  The sundew's leaves are covered with many sticky tentacles - when an insect lands on these tentacles, it gets stuck.  As it struggles to escape, it gets covered with adhesive and digestive enzymes which eventually help to break down the insects body so that the plant can absorb nutrients it can't get from the nutrient-poor soil in which it grows.  Many of you know of the Venus Flytrap (Dionaea muscipula).  This plant is said to have "active traps" because of its moving parts.  While sundew tentacles often slowly fold over their prey, they are considered "passive fly-paper traps".  Although it's not as much fun watching sundews catch their prey, they are, in my opinion, much more beautiful than any other carnivorous plants.

Sundews are quite diverse - they come in all different shapes and sizes and can be found all over the world.  They have adapted to a wide range of conditions.  Many grow in permanently wet areas.  Others, particularly Australian tuberous and South African summer-dormant species, experience seasonal drought and go dormant when it's dry.  There are temperate species from North America and Europe which form tight, protective buds called hibernacula in preparation for the cold winter.  Tiny pygmy species from Australia often grow no larger than a dime and reproduce asexually by means of gemmae.  I concentrate on growing plants from South America and Africa as they are rare and unusual yet easy to grow under the conditions I can provide.  I also grow a variety of other "tropical" Drosera, such as the northern Australian petiolaris complex.

It is likely that there are sundews growing somewhere near you!  In fact, there could even be new species in your part of the world waiting to be discovered!  Of course, if you find plants growing naturally, it is best to leave them where you find them - plants collected from the wild rarely survive the trauma of being dug up and transplanted to what are always less than ideal conditions.

It is a personal goal of mine to promote interest in this beautiful genus of plants and preserve them in cultivation for years to come.  Most people think they need a greenhouse to grow carnivorous plants.  This may be true of pitcher plants but is not the case for sundews.  While greenhouses cutlivation is easy, many sundews remain small and are ideal for indoor plant growers with an eye for unique indoor plants.  

Unfortunately, I don't have much spare time these days.  So, here are some links to places where you can find answers to many of the questions you might have.


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All text and images are Copyright SundewMatt and may not be copied without permission.
 
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