I present the results of comprehensive laboratory experiments and numerical studies addressing droplet growth and droplet size distributions, in systems where droplets grow due to sustained supersaturation of their environment. Both for droplets condensing on a substrate (like dew) and droplets entrained in an external flow (like in clouds), we observe remarkable shortcomings of classical scaling theories addressing these growth processes. The origins of the discrepancies is identified, and appropriate extensions of the theories are discussed.