carnivorous plants

[lunaticvulpine]

ok so these are some of the most amazing plants right next to orchids. and probably make some of the nicest companion plants around does any one else grow these? im slowly building a collection of tropica pitcher plants and mabe a sundew and a ping here and there. currently i have these nepenthes:

ventricosa
sanguinea
burbidgae
densiflora
truncata and
copelandii

the real kewl thing about thes is that they not only are cool to look at they also some what help in controlling the fungus gnat population. so. does any one else have a small collection gowing ?

[Claire]

I can't keep them through the winter. I get a few in the spring/summer and them let them die- lack of water usually.

[lunaticvulpine]

they are super simple to grow all you do i get a little saucer of water and keep it on the warm side.. perhaps infront of the kitchen window where they can get sun. for nepenthes its probably better to have an aquarium to set them in so they can keep more on the humid side

[Filla]

I had a sundew and a venus flytrap in my terrarium but both became necrotic and died I dont think the soil had uniform moisture. I couldn't ever keep the top moist without it drying too fast!

[Claire]

The little saucers of water dry up a lot faster than I check on them. In the winter the moisture gets sucked right out of there and I find myself having to water constantly. Which is something I don't like doing.

I love 'em though. I was growing a pitcher plant quite well- but then we bought a house and I couldn't baby it any longer.

[lunaticvulpine]

Nepenthes dont need to be placed in saucers their medium needs to be kept moist though maybe a spritz or two every day with regular watering would do better but i think the sarracenia do need continuous moisture. so it depends on the type of pitcher

[janet_a]

my flytrap has slowed down considerably but it's still putting out new growths, and the sarracenia all shrivelled up and died but i'm keeping it in a north window with water in the saucer in the hopes that it's just doing the dormancy thing and will come back in the spring.

[nessy]

mine cleared out all the gnats in the greenhouse

[janet_a]

ok, the nepenthes at the local nursery kept whimpering "take us home!" whenever i walked by, so i broke down and brought one home today.

um, now what? tag says "bright light but no direct afternoon sun." plant was repotted from the peat mixture they all came in to long fiber sphag; frankly, it looks a lot happier than the plants in peat do.

for the moment i wet the sphag down again and stuck it in the isolation spot in the east window; i kind of had an idea of hanging it in the west window--what has your experience been with sun? can it *really* not handle western sun? TIA....

(oh and for humidity--i can stick it in a plastic bag like the baby orchids for the winter--how will i tell if the humidity's too low?)

[Kev]

I grow the following:

Dionaea muscipula (Venus Fly Trap)
Dionaea muscipula ‘Jaws’ x ‘Red Dragon’
Drosera capensis
Sarracenia flava
Sarracenia ‘Judith Hindle’
Sarracenia hybrid H-3
Sarracenia leucophylla (White Pitcher)
Sarracenia minor
Sarracenia purpurea (Purple Pitcher)
Sarracenia rubra?

The only one not dormant right now is the Drosera. That is the best little gnat catcher around. All the others grow outside in my pond during the summer and are kept dark and cold in my basement through the winter. These are some of the most beautiful plants around IMO. Now I want a Butterwort.

Kev

[Tommyr]

Carnivorous plants are not hard to grow, here is a link to the Carnivorous plant FAQ:

http://www.sarracenia.com/faq.html

LOTS of info on the web if you do a Google search too.

Tom

[janet_a]

that's a very cool site.

my new nepenthes has one big pitcher and one small one and seems happy (!).

[latsyrc]

I have a nice Asian pitcher plant that's putting out some nice big pitchers. I used to have it in only indirect light, but now that it's by a window with lots of morning sun, it's blushing! The pitchers have a pretty pinkish tint, and it's putting out new leaves like mad. I also have quite a few sundew plants. I didn't realize how many seeds would germinate, so . . . ") I just repotted several of them, and they seem to be doing well.

[MrSarge]

One of my long time gardening friends passed a link to me just today regarding this topic.

www.equilibriocarnivorousplants.com

[latsyrc]

I'm not thrilled by that website. I like www.cobraplant.com. They've got lots of good care sheets, and a good question-and-answer page. Shipping's a bit pricey, though.

[lynda]

The reason I went ahead and purchased the two venus flytraps from Home depot was:
1. I was there already
2. They were only $4.99 each

If these do well, and I decide on more exotic carnivorous plants and I can justify the shipping costs I'll order from these more reputable sites. Right now I only have $10.invested ----