Carnivorous Plants?

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jerrytheplater

Newbie
Original poster
Sep 15, 2017
17
10
Anybody here like CP? I have our native pitcher plant, Sarracenia purpurea along with S. leucophylla and what is most likely a S. purpurea X S. leucophylla hybrid out of the greenhouse where I've purchased my plants. The owner supplies most of the Venus Fly Traps to garden centers in North Jersey, at least those that are sold in 2" square plastic pots. Not the ones sold in Lowe's or Home Depot. They are not his. I also have one of our native Sundews, Drosera intermedia. And the obligatory Venus Fly Traps. 

All of my CP are kept in trays of very pure water/rainwater (less than 50 ppm Total Dissolved Solids-TDS) outdoors in full sun from early spring to late fall. I store my pitcher plants in an unheated detached garage over winter. The VFT are depotted and roots and leaves/traps are cut off. The bulb is stored in moist sphagnum peat moss in a plastic bag in the refrigerator. No prolonged freezing, just 32-35F. Plants get repotted in early-mid spring and are brought outdoors. I do bring them in if a deep frost is forecast. I let them see the first frosts of the fall to kill off their traps.

I think I will bring the Sundews indoors to work this winter. I have a western facing window at work I use for my non winter hardy cacti and some aquarium swamp plants, Cryptocoryne species, growing in covered jars in mud. They have bloomed for me once or twice. 

The photo here is of my VFT from last summer in September. Mine for this year look the same, just have not taken a recent photo.


This is what the VFT bulbs look like just before being put in sphagnum moss for winter storage. 

 
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As many as you have there, they are easy to germinate or you have a gift....  I'm thinking you are gifted....
 
Ok, about the only thing I understood there was Venus Fly Trap. Never had one, but always thought they were cool. Not a green thumb here. I kill cacti.
 
Ha Ha MoSparky. I don't want to sound like a know it all, its just that latin names are fairly easy for me to remember, and it really does eliminate confusion when discussing plants with others. And they are really easy to grow as long as you only water them with rain water or distilled water and pot them in sphagnum peat moss. Never fertilize. Keep outdoors in full sun after the last frost date in a 1" deep tray of water. Keep filled with water by checking every day in the heat of the summer. Bring in after the first light frosts and remove from the pots and store in the refrigerator in a plastic bag of moist peat moss. Got kids or grandkids? They love to see them and feed them insects. Don't feed them meat or worms. 

Dave- my fly traps have the annoying growth form of clustering rather than growing larger in diameter. If I don't break off new plants when storing in the winter, I'll get multiple growth points from the plant the next year-which I don't like. That is why I have gotten so many plants. I do get seedlings popping up all over, but it takes almost 7 years from seed to get a flowering sized plant. All of mine are flowering sized now. 
 
do you need to feed them live flys ? My local garden center usually have them in the spring when they are selling veggie plants. I might have to give them a go. Grandkids will enjoy it. Wondering how it will go over with the one grandson, who is mildly autistic. 
 
 
do you need to feed them live flys ? My local garden center usually have them in the spring when they are selling veggie plants. I might have to give them a go. Grandkids will enjoy it. Wondering how it will go over with the one grandson, who is mildly autistic. 
If you keep them outdoors in full sun during the spring to fall seasons, they will trap plenty of insects. As the traps get larger, they can trap larger insects. I've seen flies, yellow jackets, daddy long legs, click beetles, moths etc.. If your grandkids want to feed them, they might have good success injuring the fly somewhat and grasping it with tweezers and brushing it over the trap. This will trigger two of the three hairs on each trap half. This causes the trap to close. Then it needs further stimulation by the struggling insect inside to cause the trap to start digestion. Otherwise, if there is no motion inside, the trap will reopen within a day. It will sense it was a false alarm.
 
@jerrytheplater
Normally, I grow succulents and cacti recreationally. But not too long ago, I adopted three carnivorous plants. Two Venus' Flytraps (VTFs) and one that was labeled as a Nepenthes Ventricosa.

As I mentioned before, I usually grow succulents and cacti. So my question is, can carnivorous plants get sunburned?

While succulents and cacti are my go-to, I have grown plants that need to be hardened off (members of the nightshade family come to mind (tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants)). Are carnevoirious plants the same in that respect? Do I have to shelter them somehow from the sun or the elements?
 
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