This is my first time observing flowers on this plant, as it’s new to my collection.
Rockin_Otter
In my experience, Capes can bloom for so long that the bottom flowers can be dead and dry while there are still unbloomed buds at the other end! You can harvest pretty much anytime once the flowers start dying off – no need to remove the whole stem unless it’s completely finished. Just tilt the stalk over some paper and shake the flowers onto it. If you see tiny black grains – almost like a powder – you have seeds!
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That is a great question. I’m a new grower myself, and this is also my first Cape Sundew with seeds.
Here is what I observe.
1) The flower bud rotates to the top
2) The flower remains open for several hours
3) The flower petals dry and as they do, they twist. in that process, the anthers and stigmas get in contact with each other and fertilize the ovary.
4) The ovary swells, as the flower petals continue to dry
5) The ovary begins to blacken
6) Eventually the whole ovary and sepals will be all black.
7) When the sepals flare outward I believe the seed pod is ready to harvest.
8) Snip each seed pod off as it ripens
9) Look how insanely tiny the seeds are with a magnifying glass. They are like [dust](https://sciencephotogallery.com/featured/cape-sundew-seed-drosera-capensis-sem-science-photo-library.html).
[OR this](https://youtu.be/52idO9MhfFY)**.**
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This is my first time observing flowers on this plant, as it’s new to my collection.
In my experience, Capes can bloom for so long that the bottom flowers can be dead and dry while there are still unbloomed buds at the other end! You can harvest pretty much anytime once the flowers start dying off – no need to remove the whole stem unless it’s completely finished. Just tilt the stalk over some paper and shake the flowers onto it. If you see tiny black grains – almost like a powder – you have seeds!