# Advice on Creating a carnivorous garden...



## Artaeshia (Jun 19, 2012)

I have recently been inspired to make one of these. I have always loved CP's and would love to have a mass of them planted together, rather than being scattered all over the place! 

So where do I start? All the Youtube vids and links I've researched say different things. I know Sphagnum moss is used for a top layer before planting the CP's, but the rest was pretty vague. 

Also, in one video a guy put a tube leading down into the bottom of the tank, I presume for watering and drainage? Here's the link for this; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmEb9ozbaMs is this a good idea? Or are there better ways?

I've also read that CP's require plain, mineral free substrate to be potted into. Would Eco earth (T substrate) be alright for this? If not what should I use? I don't want to look like I'm being lazy and getting you guys to do my homework for me, but I would rather have advice from someone who has had success and knows what they're doing.

Thanks in advance for any answers! :love:


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## jake9134 (Jun 19, 2012)

I thing black jungle has a tutorial on making one, basically its a hole lined with plastic and filled with peat. eco earth might get expensive depending on the size but would also probably work.

heres a link http://www.blackjungleterrariumsupply.com/How-to-grow-CPs-in-an-outdoor-Bog-Garden-_ep_79.html


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## Artaeshia (Jun 24, 2012)

Thanks for the link! There's definitely a lot of interesting info there


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## ecooper (Jun 24, 2012)

Are you wanting to make an outdoor or indoor CP garden?


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## Artaeshia (Jul 1, 2012)

Sorry for the long awaited reply! I've been wanting to create an indoor CP garden, but most of the sites I look at only have info for outdoor ones. However I have just stumbled across this website with their own care instructions and ready made compost, thought I would post it here.  http://www.littleshopofhorrors.co.uk/

My main concern is what to do about watering, drainage, to avoid mold problems etc. I want to set it up in maybe a medium to large sized fish tank, as I thought this would maintain humidity?


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## jake9134 (Jul 8, 2012)

I kept a 10gal CP garden for a few years before giving the plants to a friend because they outgrew the tank. the problem is many CPs either need a dormant period or will quickly outgrow a tank in a year or 2. For my set-up I had large rocks on the bottom of the tank for some drainage and for use as a reservoir then I just added a 4-5 inches of peat moss and a top layer of sphagnum moss. Some of the moss touched the water which acted as a wick since these plants are usually like it wet. Added a glass top and used compact fluorescent bulbs w/ reflector as the light source. think black jungle also has tutorials for CP terrariums.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Artaeshia (Jul 8, 2012)

jake9134 said:


> I kept a 10gal CP garden for a few years before giving the plants to a friend because they outgrew the tank. the problem is many CPs either need a dormant period or will quickly outgrow a tank in a year or 2. For my set-up I had large rocks on the bottom of the tank for some drainage and for use as a reservoir then I just added a 4-5 inches of peat moss and a top layer of sphagnum moss. Some of the moss touched the water which acted as a wick since these plants are usually like it wet. Added a glass top and used compact fluorescent bulbs w/ reflector as the light source. think black jungle also has tutorials for CP terrariums.


Thanks, this didn't make the drainage part sound so technical after all!


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## Bigboy (Jul 13, 2012)

Artaeshia said:


> Sorry for the long awaited reply! I've been wanting to create an indoor CP garden, but most of the sites I look at only have info for outdoor ones. However I have just stumbled across this website with their own care instructions and ready made compost, thought I would post it here.  http://www.littleshopofhorrors.co.uk/
> 
> My main concern is what to do about watering, drainage, to avoid mold problems etc. I want to set it up in maybe a medium to large sized fish tank, as I thought this would maintain humidity?


I'm assuming you mean an indoor bog garden.  Your biggest concern shouldn't be humidity, it should be lighting.  Your plants will be sitting in a non-draining pot in a completely saturated container. the humidity will be fine.  Lighting however needs to be intense as bog plants, the sarracenia, drosera and dionea need full sun or an aritficial equivalent.

Your mentioning of humidity suggests you're looking into nepenthes.  These are not bog plants (with the exception of bicalcarata and ampullaria which prefer semi-saturated substrates).  If you're looking into them not many, not really even ampullaria would be suitable to most aquariums. 

Keeping your plants in an aquarium not only leads to problems with supplying proper lighting but also air flow.  You will need to get some fans in there.  Computer fans work well for this.

Remember also that some sarracenia grow very tall.  They also need a winter dormancy period or much like nearly all the VFTs bought from garden centers, they will die within a year or two.  Dormancy isn't optional.

A soil mix for bog plants can be as simple as 100% peat or 100% sphagnum.  If you want to get fancy go 20/30/50 coarse sand/sphagnum/peat and topdress the whole thing with live sphagnum.

For nepenthes I prefer to use 50/50 cymbidium orchid mix/sphagnum as it drains very well, retains moisture and is "airy" which helps prevent the root rot to which nepenthes are very susceptible.

To further allay your fears of drainage issues, the bog gardens I have kept have thrived when I allowed them to flood at least once a week.  I literally just poured water in with a hose until there was standing water in the garden and allowed the plants and sun to drop it below the soil line.  I've visited several bogs in the US and often have found pitcher plants partially or completely submerged from heavy rains and spring floods.  They like it wet!

Was this helpful?


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## Thoth (Jul 13, 2012)

You can get a round the the dormancy issue with using CP's of a tropical origin they do not require a dormancy period but are hard to find and I think you are limited to nepenthes and certain species of drosera and ultricularia. The problem is they quickly out grow your container and like bigboy said the lighting.


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## J Morningstar (Jul 15, 2012)

For nepenthes Do you have a reccomended "beginer" plant. I have been quite successful with my orchids and other carnivores I just have never been able to do this. My room for plants is 72 to 95 degreese and humid all year round. I will add lights nearby if nessarry.


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## Hagrid (Jul 15, 2012)

I've been growing CPs for some 5 years now. If you want to try some carnivorous plants inside, I would highly recommend the following species:

SUNDEWS: The following species can do well indoors. For all of these, with the exception of the three sisters of Queensland, high light levels are key. All will do well in a peat/sand mix, with the pots submerged in about a half-inch of water at all times.
- Drosera capensis (comes in typical, red, narrow-leaf, and albino forms - all are great!) These are hard to kill and will look great given sufficient lighting.
- Drosera spatulata, dielsiana, or any of the tropical rosetted species. Same as above.
- Most pygmy sundew species (you'd be best off growing from gemmae this fall.) These like a lot of sand in the substrate.
- If you're going for a terrarium with artificial lighting, D. adelea, D. Prolifera, and D. schizandra are good choices. These three, from Queensland, prefer lower light levels than the rest on this list.

Utrics (bladderworts): Grow similarly to the dews, but wetter.

- Utricularia sandersonii. Grows like a weed and has beautiful flowers.
- Ditto for U. livida 

NEPENTHES: The following species are the most compatible for indoors on a sunny (perhaps artificially lit) windowsill. They don't require as much light as the dews. For substrate, you want an open, airy mix, quite the opposite of what you need for the dews I mentioned above. Good ingredients are long-fibered sphagnum, orchid bark, perlite, and tree fern fiber.

-ventricosa and most of its hybrids
-maxima and most of its hybrids
-sanguinea and hybrids

If you're trying neps in a terrarium, the above three will soon outgrow any tank. I'd recommend ampullaria as the premier terrarium nep. You could do a tank with minimal effort involving ampullaria, adelea, prolifera, and/or schizandra (in separate pots of course)

In general, I would not recommend trying to grow sarracenia or VFTs indoors. They are much better suited, in almost all climates, for outdoor growing. The links that other forum members have posted offer good advice for outdoor bogs.

---------- Post added 07-15-2012 at 09:36 PM ----------

I've been growing CPs for some 5 years now. If you want to try some carnivorous plants inside, I would highly recommend the following species:

SUNDEWS: The following species can do well indoors. For all of these, with the exception of the three sisters of Queensland, high light levels are key. All will do well in a peat/sand mix, with the pots submerged in about a half-inch of water at all times.
- Drosera capensis (comes in typical, red, narrow-leaf, and albino forms - all are great!) These are hard to kill and will look great given sufficient lighting.
- Drosera spatulata, dielsiana, or any of the tropical rosetted species. Same as above.
- Most pygmy sundew species (you'd be best off growing from gemmae this fall.) These like a lot of sand in the substrate.
- If you're going for a terrarium with artificial lighting, D. adelea, D. Prolifera, and D. schizandra are good choices. These three, from Queensland, prefer lower light levels than the rest on this list.

Utrics (bladderworts): Grow similarly to the dews, but wetter.

- Utricularia sandersonii. Grows like a weed and has beautiful flowers.
- Ditto for U. livida 

NEPENTHES: The following species are the most compatible for indoors on a sunny (perhaps artificially lit) windowsill. They don't require as much light as the dews. For substrate, you want an open, airy mix, quite the opposite of what you need for the dews I mentioned above. Good ingredients are long-fibered sphagnum, orchid bark, perlite, and tree fern fiber.

-ventricosa and most of its hybrids
-maxima and most of its hybrids
-sanguinea and hybrids

If you're trying neps in a terrarium, the above three will soon outgrow any tank. I'd recommend ampullaria as the premier terrarium nep. You could do a tank with minimal effort involving ampullaria, adelea, prolifera, and/or schizandra (in separate pots of course)

In general, I would not recommend trying to grow sarracenia or VFTs indoors. They are much better suited, in almost all climates, for outdoor growing. The links that other forum members have posted offer good advice for outdoor bogs.


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## Bigboy (Jul 16, 2012)

J Morningstar said:


> For nepenthes Do you have a reccomended "beginer" plant. I have been quite successful with my orchids and other carnivores I just have never been able to do this. My room for plants is 72 to 95 degreese and humid all year round. I will add lights nearby if nessarry.


I'd suggest the same as Hagrid, 
"-ventricosa and most of its hybrids
-maxima and most of its hybrids
-sanguinea and hybrids"

With the temperatures you have you may be better off growing lowland species and lowland crosses.  Most dealers will specify the elevation a species grows at.  Try yourself a N. ampullaria or even better a N ampullaria X ventricosa.  They can be very forgiving and will pitcher like crazy if you keep them warm humid and moist. Some species may stop growing all together during the winter if the light is insufficient and pitchering may stop for up to a year at a time if the plant is shocked or stressed but those are great ones to start with.


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## J Morningstar (Jul 16, 2012)

My top layer of sphagnum is rather whiteish brown at this point, still very moist not dry at all, is there a nutrient deficiency or too much light?


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## Bigboy (Jul 18, 2012)

J Morningstar said:


> My top layer of sphagnum is rather whiteish brown at this point, still very moist not dry at all, is there a nutrient deficiency or too much light?


Was it green to begin with?  If so this could indicate up to two things.  One is that the light is insufficient, two is that there are too many dissolved solids in your tap water.  If it was brown to begin with there is nothing to worry about.  It may green up but I've never had that experience.  I get to impatient and go collect wild sphag.


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## J Morningstar (Jul 18, 2012)

Actually  it wasn't green to begin with, then turned very green ...then about a year later got white/brownish. The lower layers are green but the top is pale with brown areas..... Could my carnivourous garden need a little plant food of a mild sort?
I only ever used distilled water for them, not a shot of tap water once in my care.
I am super afraid to use outside sources of moss, just because I don't want to bring in outside organisms but I guess I could get some local mosses, they are definately not Sphag. though...
Oh and got a nice small red issh hanging pitcher plant, we'll see how it goes this time! Thank you everyone.

---------- Post added 07-18-2012 at 09:01 AM ----------

Kinda like this   :
http://www.google.com/imgres?q=nepe...106&start=0&ndsp=30&ved=1t:429,r:25,s:0,i:153


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