Pitcher Plant & Sundew Question - Orchid Board

Judi · #1 07-26-2012, 10:38 PM

After reading posts about using sundews to help control fungus gnats, I bought one a year and a half ago. It grew nicely, and I wonder if I need to do anything special with it. It is planted in live moss in a pot (came that way) and is sitting in a bowl of distilled water. It grew from 1 plant to a potful as seen in the picture. There are also roots coming out the bottom and new little plants growing off the roots. This is my first sundew, should I just leave it the way it is or do something with the baby plants? Does it need to be growing in moss?

My other question is about a pitcher plant that I just bought. It came without an id so I have no idea what variety it is. Can anyone tell me if it is going to get much bigger? There were other pitcher plants that looked different and were much bigger. I was just wondering if this plant is a variety that doesn't grow big. At the nursery it said not to touch the pitchers because that will cause them damage, is that true?

Any advise would be appreciated!

The3birds · #2 07-27-2012, 02:36 PM

I think you are asking the wrong crowd, I would find a carnivorous plant forum. By the way I am very envious on how well your sundew is doing. Keep up the good work!

Leafmite · #3 07-27-2012, 05:20 PM

There are some CP experts on the site. Hopefully they will see it. I have two pings (butterworts) and a sarc (purple pitcher plant) but I can't give you any advice. Good luck! Sounds as though you are growing them well.

Rowangreen · #4 07-28-2012, 01:14 AM

Not an expert, but I just got a pitcher plant too. One bit of advice I found is that you should put a bit of water in the pitchers of a new plant as they tend to loose the bit they have due to being moved around, and it can lead to them drying out and dying. Contradicts a bit with the advice you've already got! But I did loose a couple of my pitchers before I heard it: hoping it will help me keep the rest!

stefpix · #5 07-28-2012, 11:50 AM

I would cut the Drosera roots outside the pot with the plantlets and plant them in moss in another pot. I would keep the as much of the orig root as possible. maybe in the beginning cover it a bit terrarium style wiuntil gets established. I think many Nepenthes are vines after all

The Orchid Boy · #6 07-28-2012, 06:06 PM

I'm no carnivorous plant expert but I've been growing numerous CPs for a while and I know a bit. Your sundew looks very good. If you want more sundews, pot them up and put them in a bag or just cut them off and throw them away. It doesn't need to grow in moss, it just needs to grow in sterile soil with no nutrients or fertilizers. If you ever repot CPs, pot them in sphagnum moss (nepenthes) or sphagnum peat moss (most other CPs) mixed with charcoal or perlite.

The pitcher plant looks very nice also. It looks to be either Nepenthes truncata or Nepenthes ventricosa but I'm not 100% sure. If it is one of those it looks to be pretty much full sized. You can touch the pitchers. The nursery probably said that so people don't come up and start squishing or damaging the pitchers.

Judi · #7 07-28-2012, 11:58 PM

Thanks guys, the replies have been really helpful. Unfortunately neither plant came with ID, but after the responses I was able to look on the internet and find out that the sundew is a Drosera, quite possibly Drosers adelae.

And Rowangrees thanks for the advise about checking the pitchers for water--a few did not have any water in them. I'm glad to know I can touch the pitchers--hard to check the for water without touching the pitchers somewhat!

31drew31 · #8 07-29-2012, 02:26 AM

Hi Judi your Sundew is definitely Drosera adelae, and the Nepenthes appears to be N. 'Ventrata' which is one of the most common hybrids sold in stores. You are doing a great job with them!

With the Drosera you can unpot it and dunk the roots in a bowl of water to help the media come off. Then if you want you can split the plants up into individual sections if you like. D. adelae does ok though in clumps. With the plantlets you can cut the long roots that have the planlets growing off them and pot them like normal. I like to use 50:50 LFS to perlite, but the standard CP mix of 50:50 peat moss and silica sand is fine too. They are quite hardy plants, just make sure you leave a decent amount of untouched roots. I usually take 1/3 to 1/2 the roots for propagating when repotting.

The Nepenthes in full grown, and will only grow taller and bushy but the pitchers wont get much larger. If the plant gets too tall you can cut the vine and root it. 2-3 node cuttings are the norm when cutting Nepenthes. Here's a good video if you're interested:

nepethe cuttings made easy - YouTube

Touching the pitchers is no problem at all, treat them like you would a leaf of any other plant. If there is no liquid in the pitcher you can add an inch of water into the pitcher but it isnt necessary. Within a few months it will have produced more pitchers that will have liquid in them already. 'Ventrata' is very tolerant of its conditions, so anything from 45F-90F is fine, but prefers 60F-80F with a 10F-20F degree temperature drop at night.

Judi · #9 07-29-2012, 09:22 PM

Thanks drew, you seem to have quite an extensive knowledge about CPs! How long can Droseras go without food? I just looked at mine and it looks like it shrank down in size a little and I don't see any bugs on the leaves--I think it may be doing too good of a job.

I loved the YouTube video, one day my Nepenthes will be big enough to divide, it would be great to have more of them! Does each one of the pitchers need to catch something? It came potted in what looks like coir or something similar and is in a hanging basket with a drainage hole at the bottom. It is still quite wet. Should I keep it wet but drained?

31drew31 · #10 07-30-2012, 12:11 PM

There isn't really a set time they can go without food. I dont feed mine but just let them catch what they catch, which isn't much. If its nice and dewwy then go ahead and feed it if you like. Don't feed the plant unless it has dew on the leaves.

Again, Nepenthes don't need to be fed really either. I usually put a pinch of freeze dried bloodworms (the ones for fish) in the pitcher a few days after it opens. I find they grow faster and larger when fed but again they don't need it. Growing yours outside it will catch bugs all on its own, just give it time.

Ive never used coir, but many people do. They like to be kept quite moist to damp. I water when the top of the soil looks dry. Never let the entire media become dry though. I use what is basically an orchid mix for media. 50% LFS, and the other 50% is a mix of fine fir bark, perlite, charcol and APS, depending on what I have on hand. I always top dress the pots with a 1" layer or so of LFS to help retain moisture. I have to water once every 3-6 days in the summer.