Hi mo89,

I'm no expert, however; if your sundew is propagating itself from it's roots, it is likely fairly tolerant of root disturbance. If you want to keep the plantlets, I would advise to leave them there for a month or two until they grow larger and establish their own root systems.

If your plant is a D. adelae, a prolific root propagator, it will grow roots all over the pot and grow plantlets from them continuously. Most of the time, when they are ready to grow on their own, they will drop off during repotting. You could also cut them off with a razor blade, leaving plenty of root for the parent and the plantlets. In any case, let them grow a bit first. I had the same thing happen to my D. adelae and now the parent plant is dying (ending it's life cycle), but I have 10 new healthy plants that I separated and repotted about 2 inches from one another. Each had at least 4-5 inches of root system of it's own and some had to be cut free. All are still prospering despite how rough I had to be on them to separate them.

If your plant is not a D. adelae, I am not too sure, however; most sundews are fairly tolerant of root damage. I have a D. spatulata clump, another species that produces plantlets from root division, that had it's entire root system ripped off by accident, it survived and regrew it's roots within a month. Sundews are hard to kill from simply repotting and dividing them up.

Let us know what type of sundew you have and maybe someone will have a more conversant answer for you than I.

OTOH... you can just leave them be until the baby plants are more mature. Then they will become independent plants on their own. But I have also separated D. adelae, without repercussions. Not so with P. primuliflora plantlets!

Does the sundew in question look like the plant on the far left, a Lowes cube of death" survivor?{{gwi:428437}}

Here are a couple of my sundews.

Drosera spatulata clump in flower.

{{gwi:549664}}

The clump has tripled in size and required repotting to a 5 inch pot, reestablishing roots and never slowing in growth after having its roots ripped out.

This pic is of Drosera adelae after they were recently divided and repotted.

{{gwi:548549}}

New leaves are forming and producing mucilage, new plantlets are still going strong, and root pieces that I planted between the divided plants are probably still growing just under the soil surface. The dying adult plant is in center with a new plant growing from it's roots and a clone of itself growing from it's side like a phoenix rising from it's own ashes.