Could someone take care of my CP's for a little while?

[schmiggle]

I'm going to be away for 10 days in late June, and I was wondering if someone could take care of my carnivorous plants while I'm gone. I have a Cephalotus and three Drosera filiformis var. filiformis, and I live in the Boston area. Please PM me if you'd be willing and would like details.

 

[AndrewBiddar]

Bring them inside 10 days might be safe with a watering before you fly out
if they are even outside and in pots ;O

 

[schmiggle]

They are outside and in pots. Inside, though, they won't really be getting enough light. It would probably be fine--I have a kind of mini-greenhouse, so they aren't likely to run out of water--but it's not ideal, especially because the Ceph got knocked over by a rabbit (I think, long-ish story) and is still recovering.

 

[brolloks]

Hi,

There are a few ways you could water your plants when going on holiday. I usually have old water or soda bottles with a little hole cut in the bottom which will release water once the water level drops below the hole and air forces water out.

The Cephalotus is a little trickier, if it's in a large enough pot it should be fine with a water level provided with the bottles, but small pots could cause rot, you will just have to watch.

 

[schmiggle]

Brolloks, that sounds very clever, but I'm having trouble picturing it. Could you take a picture?

As it happens, my ceph is in a small pot because it's still a very small plant. How susceptible to rot is it?

 

[brolloks]

@schmiggle They are very susceptible, there is actually a phrase "Sudden Cephalotus death syndrome" which is when they start rotting and die. But this can be easily avoided by not over watering them. I also like to use a higher concentration of either silica sand or perlite in my Cephalotus potting medium.
http://www.carnivorousplants.org/howto/GrowingGuides/Cephalotus.php

With regards to the bottle. You basically create a little hole near the base of the bottle from which water will flow once the water level in your tray drops below the hole. This causes air to rush into the bottle and forces water out of the bottle which in turn fills up your tray which the plants are sitting in. The higher up you create the hole the higher your water level in the tray will be.
This is not a perfect system and needs some tweaking but it has worked well for me in the past.

PS. remember to keep the cap on when you put your bottle into the tray or the water will just come gushing out.