Carnivorous Plant Enthusiasts

Arthroverts

Arachnoking
Joined
Jul 11, 2016
Messages
2,462
Hello all, I am looking for some fellow carnivorous plant enthusiasts to get help and advice from in the future, as well as to share some online resources that I have found invaluable in my carnivorous plant journey so that those just starting out have a collection of info to look through (because people use Arachnoboards for everything, not just arachnids ;)).
While my collection remains small (2 small Nepenthes hybrids, 1 small Sarracenia hybrid, 1 Dionaea muscipula "Red Dragon"; I lost both of my small Drosera and and my other Sarracenia after a terrarium failure), I hope to expand it further soon! My dream is to one day pollinate my own Nepenthes and get seeds to plant; I'm a long way off from that though. What are your carnivorous plant goals?

Some online resources I've found to be invaluable:
https://www.carnivorousplants.co.uk/
This site has awesome calculators to figure out optimal temperatures for Nepenthes hybrids, interviews with experienced hobbyists and growers, as well as offering interactive guides for Sarracenia, Nepenthes, Dionaea, the chest freezer method for ultra highland Nepenthes, and how to create a Raspberry Pi terrarium controller.

https://www.youtube.com/user/PredatoryPlants/videos
Predatory Plants official YouTube channel, which provides various helpful tutorials, mostly for Nepenthes, but also for other genera. Interesting info on hybrids as well. At their main website they have small care guides and sell a wide variety of plants as well.

https://www.californiacarnivores.com/apps/help-center
This site has care sheets and info on a lot of the more obscure carnivorous plant genera, such as Byblis and Darlingtonia. They also sell carnivorous plants.

https://www.carnivorousplants.org/
Huge amount of information on everything carnivorous plant related from hobbyists around the world. Propagation, conservation, care, soil, lighting, water, feeding, and anything and everything carnivorous plant related can be found here.

https://carnivorousplantnursery.com/
Many articles about plant husbandry and conservation. They also sell a wide variety of plants.

And that'll do it for now. If you have some sites or blogs that have helped you in your carnivorous plant journey, please share them!

Thanks,

Arthroverts
 

Arthroverts

Arachnoking
Joined
Jul 11, 2016
Messages
2,462
Cool @pannaking22! What species?
I really like sundews, but like I said above, I lost both of mine after my main terrarium crashed. I'm hoping to get more soon though.

Thanks,

Arthroverts
 

pannaking22

Arachnoemperor
Old Timer
Joined
Nov 25, 2011
Messages
4,226
@Arthroverts for the life of me I can't remember lol. Both are temperate North American pitchers though. I actually bought them from a guy that was keeping them in a bog behind his house in northern Illinois.
 

toan

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 27, 2002
Messages
82
i think my favorites are the Butterworts. easy to keep, pretty flowers. lots of interesting types.
 

schmiggle

Arachnoking
Joined
Nov 3, 2013
Messages
2,220
What are your carnivorous plant goals?
Realistic: get my refrigerated terrarium working and non-hazardous, keep the plants inside happy while I hike the AT.

Pipe dream/distant future: have a climate controlled highland greenhouse or live in Quito/Bogota/anywhere else around that altitude in the tropical Andes, grow bushels of carnivores and highland orchids to absurd sizes (probly some other plants too, but the truth is I'm by far the best with CPs), crawl inside and die happy.

I love the red orchidioides utricularia (U. quelchii and campbelliana), and I was doing really well with them for a while; however, I had to leave them at home this summer and they (along with several other plants) were killed through neglect and because the terrarium I had built failed pretty early on. I'm also into higland nepenthes, and am getting started trying to grow them now.
 

Arthroverts

Arachnoking
Joined
Jul 11, 2016
Messages
2,462
@pannaking22, interesting. On my last trip back there to the Illinois area I was looking for NA pitcher plants, but I didn't find any (other than a bunch of pitchers that had been cut off for a flower bouquet; what a waste). I probably just didn't know where to look.

@toan, I can't seem to find any for sale though. They are super cool looking, but they are never available from my experience.

@schmiggle, same here. I have to get my little CP jar to cool down enough at night. I just picked up a nice big Nepenthes sp. from a hardware store that was in pretty good shape (thanks for letting me know about it @aphono) that I have to identify as well, but I need to figure out how in the world I am going to get it it's nighttime temperature drop. I have no terrarium large enough for it.
I also have to get someone to watch my animals and plants when/if I hike the PCT, ha ha. I'd love to hike the AT one day.
Keep us updated on how your highland Nepenthes do! I would really like to get some as well, but I don't have room enough for a terrarium with all the necessary equipment to cool them. Guess I'll stick with my N. sanguinea x ventricosa and N. something x something x zakriana hybrids for now.

Thanks,

Arthroverts
 
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Arthroverts

Arachnoking
Joined
Jul 11, 2016
Messages
2,462
Here are some photos of my newest acquisition. I believe it is Nepenthes ventricosa x alata. Apparently a very hardy species. It appears to have 2-3 smaller plants inside the pot as well.
IMG_6262.JPG IMG_6263.JPG

Thanks,

Arthroverts
 

pannaking22

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Old Timer
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Nov 25, 2011
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@pannaking22, interesting. On my last trip back there to the Illinois area I was looking for NA pitcher plants, but I didn't find any (other than a bunch of pitchers that had been cut off for a flower bouquet; what a waste). I probably just didn't know where to look.
Honestly not sure if they were local or not, he may have transplanted them from somewhere further south and they just happened to do really well where he was at. He was selling them at Scott Smith's All Animal Expo (love and greatly miss that show). I used to be surprised by how far north they were growing, but after seeing sundews in coastal Maine a week ago I'm no longer surprised at how far north CPs can go.
 

toan

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 27, 2002
Messages
82
@toan, I can't seem to find any for sale though. They are super cool looking, but they are never available from my experience.
Interesting, I wonder why, they are easy to propagate. you can just pull off a leaf and set it in a small depression and it'll sprout a new plant.
 

Arthroverts

Arachnoking
Joined
Jul 11, 2016
Messages
2,462
@pannaking22, I was also surprised at how far they could grow to the north. I mean, Sarracenia purpurea thrives in Michigan and northern Minnesota!

@toan, scratch that. I just found that Predatory Plants is selling 4 different species; they usually don't have them available however. I would really like to score a few, as the prices are good and they are gorgeous looking, but the plant budget has lagged behind the invertebrate budget, ha ha.

Thanks,

Arthroverts
 

Arthroverts

Arachnoking
Joined
Jul 11, 2016
Messages
2,462
Yes, the sundews are awesome as well. How many plants/species do you have?

Thanks,

Arthroverts
 

basin79

ArachnoGod
Active Member
Joined
Sep 14, 2013
Messages
5,893
Yes, the sundews are awesome as well. How many plants/species do you have?

Thanks,

Arthroverts
I have a few VFT's although they haven't done too well this year so think they need repotting, a few Sundews a Monkey Cup pitcher that will hopefully be great next season and a couple of the little Aussie pitchers.
 

pannaking22

Arachnoemperor
Old Timer
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Nov 25, 2011
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I need to get my hands on some Cephalotus now that I've through Basin's photos again...I think that every time I look at your pics.
 

Arthroverts

Arachnoking
Joined
Jul 11, 2016
Messages
2,462
Hey all, I have a quick question. I want to set up a new CP terrarium to keep as many genera and species as possible, exempting Sarracenia, Dionaea, and others that require a drastic winter dormancy (and get tall like Sarracenia; I'm somewhat limited on space), but I'm unsure which way I should go; highland-ultra highland? Or more intermediate-lowland? I am leaning more towards intermediate as I want to be able to keep as many species as possible.
I really like N. bicalcarata and N. truncata, but at the same time I'd really like some N. hamata or N. lowii; I would also like to keep a variety of Drosera and Pings (Pings don't require such a drastic dormancy for the most part I believe).

I would appreciate any suggestions/ideas y'all might have for me!

Thanks,

Arthroverts
 
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