My other hobby: Carnivorous Plants! DUW

I generally try to avoid bragging, but I do love to show off my plants. I've been growing carnivorous plants for the past year and a half, and I think I'm getting the hang of it. If anyone has any questions about any of the plants you see, please ask, as I love to talk about them. I have at least twenty more plants that I don't have pictures of. I'll post pics as soon as I have them.
http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/1003/dadelae.jpg
By foxoftherose at 2011-07-04
Drosera adelae- the Lance Leafed Sundew
http://img833.imageshack.us/img833/3...rlettbelle.jpg
By foxoftherose at 2011-09-07
Sarracenia "Scarlett Belle"
http://img847.imageshack.us/img847/6...rimuflora2.jpg
By foxoftherose at 2011-09-07
Pinguicula primuliflora- the Primrose Butterwort
http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/4627/spurpurea2.jpg
By foxoftherose at 2011-09-07
Sarracenia purpurea venosa- Purple Pitcher Plant
http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/3...gardentech.jpg
By foxoftherose at 2011-07-02
Nepenthes "Singapore Garden Tech"
http://img853.imageshack.us/img853/7554/ppirouette2.jpg
By foxoftherose at 2012-03-11
Pinguicula "Pirouette"

Those look awesome. My gf really likes carnivorous plants but sucks at keeping them alive. What species have you found easiest to work with, and what are some tips to keeping them alive.

I've been fascinated by carnivorous plants for a while but I've only ever seen/ heard of Venus Fly Traps and the ones with the bell-like flowers with liquid in them. I think the first one is the most interesting.. Thanks for posting those super cool looking plants :gj:

There all so pretty :)

Sent from my LS670 using Tapatalk 2

I used to raise carnies a long time ago. Lost the passion for it though. There are basically 3 types: The Venus Fly-Traps, Pitchers Plants, and Sundews.

VFT's will always be my favorite.

Really cool! Beautiful plants!

Those all look fantastic! I love carnivorous plants - learning about them was one of my favorite parts of my ecology classes. I was so excited when I was able to go to a bog and see some pitcher plants and sundew growing in the wild. I can't even imagine the specific conditions needed to grow those plants at home, so well done on some beautiful looking specimens :)

That's pretty cool. I don't have any plants in my house, I'm afraid as far as they go I have a black thumb. So I gave up.

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Super cool. Do you culture flies to feed them or what?

Love that Scarlett Belle!

I am growing a purple pitcher in some sphagnum moss under my frog lights and it even bloomed this past month. I would love to get more pitchers!

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Originally Posted by gruneaugen86

Those all look fantastic! I love carnivorous plants - learning about them was one of my favorite parts of my ecology classes.

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I majored in Ecology, what about yourself?

Beautiful plants!! I love plants myself, though none of mine are carnivorous. I've got cacti from seed, aloe from cuttings, a plumeria that I grew from seed that is now almost 3 years old and lots and lots of amaryllis to name a few. I also love to garden. Did you grow them from seed?

I dont have room for them now but would love to get a few someday. Theyre very cool!

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Originally Posted by gsarchie

I majored in Ecology, what about yourself?

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I majored in Aquatic Ecology. I loved it, but my job prospects are so terrible. I'm currently working at a job that has nothing to do with ecology :irkd: Silly me, that's what I get for picking out a major and starting college just as the economy starts tanking...

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Originally Posted by gruneaugen86

I majored in Aquatic Ecology. I loved it, but my job prospects are so terrible. I'm currently working at a job that has nothing to do with ecology :irkd: Silly me, that's what I get for picking out a major and starting college just as the economy starts tanking...

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I had a senior seminar in aquatic ecology my last year at Kansas and because I was in KS my classes mostly focused on grassland/prairie ecology. Didn't have to worry about a job after doing ROTC but while I love the Army I definitely envy my friends that now work in the field, so I can empathize with you as far as that goes.

Those are are very cool. :gj:

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Originally Posted by ChrisS

Those look awesome. My gf really likes carnivorous plants but sucks at keeping them alive. What species have you found easiest to work with, and what are some tips to keeping them alive.

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These plants are actually very easy to grow.
I think that the ideal plant to start with, for an inside grower, would have to be either the Lance Leafed Sundew (Drosera adelae) or the Cape Sundew (Drosera capensis). Most carnivorous plants need extremely high levels of light, but these two species tend to thrive on sunny windowsills, in my experience. The ideal temperatures for these two plants are between 75 and 85, and they appreciate humidity around 50% or higher. Trust me, once you get either of these species established, you will have more sundews than you know what to do with

Depending on your hardiness zone, there are many plants that you can grow outside. The American pitcher plants are all hardy between zones 5-9, since they require a winter dormancy. I feel comfortable recommending the Purple Pitcher Plant (Sarracenia purpurea) in even colder climates, providing that you mulch it. These plants, along with the Venus Flytrap (Dionaea muscipula), require full sunlight for at least 6 to 8 hours per day. They need to be drenched at least once a week, more in particularly arid climates.

There are three big rules to growing carnivorous plants.
Rule 1 is to use a nutrient free soil. This means no gardening soil, no potting soil, and no soil that you dig up from your yard. Instead, use ingredients such as peat moss, pool filter sand, and perlite. Pure long fiber sphagnum moss is also a good soil ingredient. For American pitcher plants, Venus Flytrap, and the sundews I recommended, you should use a ratio of 1:1 peat moss to perlite, or peat moss to sand. For Asian pitcher plants (Nepenthes), a mixture incorporating long fiber sphagnum moss is recommended.
Rule 2 is to provide lots of light. For outdoor plant, this means full sun for most of the day. For indoor plants, this means either a sunny windowsill, or artificial fluorescent lights.
Rule 3 is to use the purest water that you can get your hands on. Aim for less than 100-150 PPM. Use either rainwater, reverse osmosis water, or distilled water. If you live in an area where the tap water is very pure and without many added chemicals, you may use tap water. Avoid bottled drinking water, and water that has been put through a filter, because these sources contain excess minerals.
Finally, and this is just one of my personal issues, please try to reuse any peat that you have. Peat isn't being mined at a sustainable rate, and this collection destroys a lot of valuable wetland habitat.
MrLang, they don't actually require insects in order to thrive, they just appreciate them.
None of these were grown from seed, but many of my plants have been propagated by cuttings and root pullings.

I was recently looking into making a carnivorous plant terrarium recently! Very cool plants. Thank you for sharing pics and info

**Sigh**

I used to grow these back at my folks house but, since moving to flats in Edinburgh, I have had zero luck in getting the conditions right. :(

I used to get seed from the venus flytraps and grow them from that - now I have a tiny, tiny pitcher plant which has been slowly dying by inches for the last 2 years since I got it to sprout.


dr del

Here are a few more pictures that I dug up:
http://img211.imageshack.us/img211/8075/nventrata.jpg
By foxoftherose at 2012-08-26
Nepenthes x ventrata
http://img713.imageshack.us/img713/8...arletbelle.jpg
By foxoftherose at 2012-08-26
Sarracenia "Scarlett Belle"
http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/7097/nburkei2.jpg
By foxoftherose at 2012-08-26
Nepenthes burkei

Wow, those plants are stunning! I've had to do a few reports on some species, and they were really quite interesting! Are you able to 'breed' them so to speak?

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Originally Posted by theReptileGuy

Wow, those plants are stunning! I've had to do a few reports on some species, and they were really quite interesting! Are you able to 'breed' them so to speak?

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Absolutely! Propagation is quite easy with all of the species that I grow, aside from the Nepenthes. I frequently do giveaways on a carnivorous plant forum that I frequent, and would be happy to offer a few plants for free on here, provided that they would be taken care of.
If this violates any advertising rules, please inform me, and I'll be sure not to do this again in the future.

Wow they are gorgeous! I was going to ask if they needed flies too :) Very cool!