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Carnivorous Plants

imaguitargod said:
Best growing material for VFT and Nepenthes is a mixture of Sphagnum moss (60%), peat moss(20%), and some perlite (20%)(wash the perlite before use)
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well I picked up 4 VFT's today (basic kind I think ?) after I was at the mpls farmers market today, bought some chiles & herbs.
I'm now on my way to making my own little killing fields of VFT's :cool:
well I was ready to buy a container & transplant them but it dawned on me I forgot some simple questions to ask you IGG.

1st, that percentage mixture above do you mix it all together or have it layered. example peat moss mixed with perlite & then have the sphagnum moss at the top ? or just mix it all together ?
& I hope milled sphagnum moss is ok (which I think it would be)

2nd, is what type of container to use. do you use the type that allows water to drain out of the container at the bottom ? I thought you'd like to keep as much water as you can in the container so the roots dont dry out as quick. so I bought a cheap dish pan container :lol: it'll hold water in & I can get a BIG container of VFT going :cool: I just didnt like the other types of containers because of their size (depth) but if best to have draining type of container then not a big deal (dish pan container was only $1.50)
what about using the bottom watering types ? I like one style they had but didnt know if bottom watering is the best way for this type of plant (VFT)
or should they be allowed to drain off water ? or would evaporation be fine as long as I dont over water them ?
can they live in standing water ?

they also had one of those pitcher plants for sale (like the one stillz posted) thought about buying it but some of the pitchers were dying (brown at the opening, or is that normal)

I'll get a couple more VFT later, I think I'll order some different types for my 2nd container of VFT.you can mix different types together, right ?
 
http://www.sarracenia.com/faq/faq2000.html

that link has alot of your answers Barry Rice seems to be very well recieved withing the carnivorous plant gardeners world lol.
From what I've been told by commercial growers keep em moist but not constantly "soggy" (remember peat wicks up) rain water or distilled only.
And VFT outside full sun and they will do very well, very easily.
Mine are all slowing down into a dormancy so I got a about 2 months before they kick back well.
 
1. Mix it together. Milled's fine (fine get it, fine, bwaahhahaha), but live sphagnum's the best.

2. They like to be moist, not drowned. Like Stillmanz said, sphagnium holds water quite well. Get a pot that is well drained but don't get the "bottom watering" types. I've had nothing but failure with that and one of my prized Nepenthesis died because of it. For VFT, just keep the soil moist (throughly). An eventual dry out can happen (and probably will) and they are fine with that (occasionally). It actua;lly encourages them to root deeper.

As for the pitcher plant, remeber the main plant is a white ball attached to the roots. The pitchers are basically their leaves. Like any plant, leaves die off and the plant produces more. So you'll be fine if you buy the plant. Mixing different VFT's together is completely fine.
 
ok I'll just buy another dish pan container & drill some holes in 1 of'em & keep the other one hole free for run off.

if you're asking yourself,why am I gonna use these containers ? well the other ones for sale are bottom watering types or the size of other containers are really small or really huge. & with that dish pan container its not to deep & offers plenty of room to get abunch of VFT growing in it - 11" x 12" x 5" deep

oh yea 1 more question, well water should be alright to use ? its very very clean water just like drinking bottled spring water.
 
why distilled water ?
are they not plants that live in swamps/bogs ? & considered the most disease infested waters. so what gives ? clean well water is basiclly spring water & without tests done as clean as any bottled water.
 
its the salts amd minerals that burn and stuntthe root growth, it just depends on the water quality of your well. I wouldn't use bore water here in Oz asit tends to be high in mineral content.
But heres the thing to. alot of people do use tap water or what ever and alot of there plants look ok, guess it just depends whats in the water.
I'm a bit cautious as I got a heapI intend to sell so I use distilled. Its actaully pretty cheap andfor 4 vft it will go a long way. I am using about 4litres a week for about 100 plants but it is in our cooler months and most of the plants are entering dormancy.

Mick
 
I took a couple of pictures of my little Carnivorous Plant collection today, if anyone can identify some please help me shead some light:)


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I collected these guys at a local spot.

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A work mate gave these to me.

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My work mate also gave me this plant too.
 
Sorry I haven't really been reading this thread just looking at the nice pictures so I don't know if this has been mentioned before (feeling a bit brain-dead this morning) but how would a Venus Fly-trap do in a greenhouse?
 
billy, cool looking plants.

this one is really cool looking & strange in a certain kinda way, like fungus or some underwater type of plant (but of course a land plant)
& it kinda looks like theres someone staring from under the plant with sunglasses because of the liquid in the plant - it kinda looks like sunglasses to me :lol::rolleyes:

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Looking good BB. drosera are cool, mine are coming into flower. my fly traps are developing there short dormancy leaves they all look a bit haggard but the new arms are comming through and nice and healthy. Should be getting my 18 varieties of pygmy drosera wednesday or thursday!!!!!! OH yeah.
 
Thanks for identifying my plants IGG, now I can tell my work mate what they are, he said hes had the ones "Drosera capensis" for many years, Ive developed a particular liking to the "Drosera spatulata" as I collected them myself:)
 
BB I grow my nepenthes in hanging baskets They kind of similiar requirements to alot of the easy orchids. the oneI have has got really big now, huge leaves. I'll try and get a pick up.

Can you take a pic of the drosera flower. Some of mine are flowering too amazing colours in someof them.
 
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