Carnivorous Plants
 

Does anyone here have an interest in Carnivorous Plants?

I find a lot of people who grow Carnivorous Plants like Orchids yet not many people who grow Orchids have the interest in Carnivorous Plants.

Their are a lot of Carnivorous Plants that are just as beautiful and delicate as Orchids.

Two that come to mind are Nepenthes lowii and the Albany Pitcher Plant.

If you google you should find a lot of forums about them and interesting articles.

I'm interested in them, but never had much luck growing them. Plus, I don't really have a lot of flies and such inside my apartment.

I love carnivorous plants so much, and in fact, unlike most plants, I actually feel like I'm really good with these.

I got my very first Venus flytrap a little over a year ago.

http://i.imgur.com/q4c5nSZ.png

Sadly, it died a few months later in a stupid experiment involving potting media, but I was able to salvage a piece of the rhizome, which after about two months of care, started growing this

http://i.imgur.com/LU0jltL.png

and right now looks like this

http://i.imgur.com/HW870Qz.jpg

I also have acquired three bigger flytraps, a Sarracenia rubra (which came in a kit with another flytrap, but that one died because well, they are not forgiving of dryness during summer), and a Sarracenia purpurea.

Also, back in October when they started going dormant, my biggest flytrap had a flower stalk starting to grow. I cut it off early last month, once it got to about 2 inches, planted it in a tiny pot of sphagnum, and well, here's what it looks like not even two months later

http://i.imgur.com/2TN7xSs.jpg

Be warned, I am armed with lots more photos!

Hmm.... what's your water quality like? Which ones did you try to grow and what was your lighting like?

You can feed them dried fish food. Lasts forever.

They also don't really need to eat much.
But don't tell my sarracenia. They are gluttons lol.

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Wow great photos! Thanks for the replies.

Yeah I have heard about growing new Venus Flytraps from the flower stem also! Their is a whole detailed article on it somewhere. It may have been on CPUK forum but I am unsure.

I used to own Venus Flytraps but found it difficult to keep them watered properly while exposed to the summer sun as I didn't have a green house and just used to grow them exposed to the elements. I hope yours recovers and grows well for you! I kind of just gave up on mine lol. I am now leaning towards something that grows all year round and doesn't need high light levels so I don't have to put it in full sun and worry about it drying out.

I had a second shot at growing them in a plant stand with about 50% shade cloth and got good results with that, they were able to get a long photoperiod but the shadecloth meant they never dried out and it worked really well and I found they coloured up better under the diffused light of shadecloth than in full sun. Some clones only colour up under diffused light while others require full sun. They are certainly interesting plants but I moved and had to give them away. Your photos make me want to have another try at growing them.

I just saw a video of someones trip to Malaysia to see lowii in the wild and thought they might be something orchid people would also be interested in and that was mainly why I posted this but see from searching on here a lot of people here already know about them.

The only problem is lowii is quite specific in it's conditions and takes a long time before it produces upper pitchers. But I may give it a try one day.

I can completely understand someone being hesitant about CPs as I stopped growing them because they were too high maintenance.

But your Venus Flytrap makes me think getting another Venus Flytrap might be more rewarding and easier than trying to struggle along with a delicate lowii or Ceph. Although I have heard Cephs can be quite hardy and very rewarding to grow so might also have a go at growing one of those also.

I keep temperate carnivores such a VFTs, Sundews and Sarracenias outdoors year round in half barrels. In the past week the temps have not gotten above freezing, and have spent a considerable amount of time in the single digits. No worries! I do have a small VFT that I got late last season in the garage to protect it from the worst of the cold until it can establish itself. As far as water, I only use rainwater, but there's something about these plants which makes them very easy to keep watered. They don't need drainage! Keep them in a tray with an inch or two of water in full sun outside and they are as low maintenance as a plant can be. My barrels have no drainage, and several times a year after storms I have to siphon excess water out. In a proper media, (I use a 50/50 mix of sand and peat)I don't think you can overwater them. And they NEED a dormant period!!! The rule of thumb for indoor specimens is to give them a cool dark dormancy between Halloween and Valentines Day. A cold room or a fridge work nicely.

I grew them a long time ago in a state far, far away. NY water is supposed to be about the best. Maybe I'll try them again, but I've got a lot experimental stuff (catnip, antitussives, some fruits & vegetables, etc.) going on alongside my orchids now, and don't think I can take on another plant project right now.

Thanks for all that information. Maybe I will have another try at growing one. Where I live we only get mild winters so my problem has been getting temperatures that are too high for dormancy but have just read that Venus Flytraps will grow well even in warmer climates as long as night temperatures drop below 12 degrees celsius, which is pretty much something that happens in winter everywhere in Australia.

A species you might want to check out is Sarracenia psittacca. It's the only Sarr which doesn't require a dormancy.

I grow butterworts and find them really easy to grow and grow well. Loads of flowers in Summer. Rewarding.
I have propagated them from leaf cuttings, divisions and even have one growing from the tip of a live leaf that was damaged. The leaf doesn't touch the moss so the new growth is in mid-air ! I have tried hand pollination of blooms too but have never been able to get seed pods to develop.
I have them outdoors in Spring/Summer and have found that in the basement under lights is the best place for them the rest of the year. Temps in the basement don't go above 65f. It seems that they propagate much quicker in cooler temps too, based on my experience.