D. capensis L. (Cape sundew) is a small, erect perennial sundew
native to the Cape region of South Africa. Experimental plants were
grown from seeds under standard greenhouse conditions at the
Department of Plant Physiology in Bratislava, Slovakia. Welldrained
acidic peat moss (AGRO, Ceska Skalice, Czech Republic) in
plastic pots (6 6 6 cm), placed in a tray filled with distilled
water to a depth of 1e2 cmwas used. There are indications that this
natural, non-fertilised substratewas mineral poor like those used in
other similar studies (e.g., Adamec, 2002). The small pot size was
chosen to keep the experimental plants under conditions of slight
mineral starvation. During the experiments, 26 plants were grown
under controlled conditions in 150 L aquarium in a growth chamber
with a 14 h photoperiod [100 mmol m2 s1 photosynthetically
active radiation (PAR), day/night temperatures of 25/18 C, high air
humidity (80e100% RH)]. Daily irradiance was provided by white
and violet fluorescent tubes. Young, medium-sized non-flowering
plants (5e6 months old, 3e4 cm long leaves) of similar size were
used in the experiments. No potential animal prey was present for
the plants in the growth chamber.