joossa's Carnivorous Plants

[joossa]

Thought I'd share some pics of my carnivorous plants from this year's growing season. It's been a good year for the plants. Good weather has kept them happy in my small yard.

I have had some of these plants for over 10 years now, some for 15 years. I mainly grow North American species. Some of the plants in the pics are hybrids I created myself (manually cross pollinated and grew from seed).

 

[joossa]

More pics:

 

[coolnweird]

Beautiful plants! You've got some lovely blooms on the one in the back right corner, is that a drosera?

 

[viper69]

Gorgeous!!!!!
Is it true a fly trap is only good for one close of its leaves?

 

[joossa]

Beautiful plants! You've got some lovely blooms on the one in the back right corner, is that a drosera?

Yes. Good eye. That is a Drosera filiformis var. tracyi. A temperate sundew plant from Florida that makes long sticky tentacles that catch and digest tons of bugs.
You can see how the blooms are active far higher than the carnivorous tentacles so the plant does not kill and eat it's own pollinators. Haha. This pic would have been taken in May or early June when this plant normally blooms. Right now, its seed pods are maturing. The seed spread to the neighboring pots and the babies grow like weeds! I have had this mother plant since 2007 and it's almost indestructible!

Gorgeous!!!!!
Is it true a fly trap is only good for one close of its leaves?

Nope. Most can close and digest prey a couple of times. You'll see in some of the pics, some of the traps have two dried up, digested bugs. That indicates the trap has caught and digested (closed and sealed) a prey item more than once.

 

[coolnweird]

Yes. Good eye. That is a Drosera filiformis var. tracyi. A temperate sundew plant from Florida that makes long sticky tentacles that catch and digest tons of bugs.
You can see how the blooms are active far higher than the carnivorous tentacles so the plant does not kill and eat it's own pollinators. Haha. This pic would have been taken in May or early June when this plant normally blooms. Right now, its seed pods are maturing. The seed spread to the neighboring pots and the babies grow like weeds!

It's gorgeous! I love how prolific drosera are, my D. capensis "big pink" flowered in early July and I'm looking forward to seedlings any week now. The same plant is sending up another flower stalk, I think I'm going to snip it and attempt propagation.

 

[joossa]

It's gorgeous! I love how prolific drosera are, my D. capensis "big pink" flowered in early July and I'm looking forward to seedlings any week now. The same plant is sending up another flower stalk, I think I'm going to snip it and attempt propagation.

Awesome. D. capensis is known to easily grow from seed. They easily take over if you let them. Haha. Good luck with yours!

 

[coolnweird]

Gorgeous!!!!!
Is it true a fly trap is only good for one close of its leaves?

OP explained perfectly, I just want to mention that if part of the prey remains outside the trap, and the trap fails to get a "good seal", it cannot properly digest the prey and typically dies off! The way they eat is fairly complex, I find it very interesting

 

[viper69]

Yes. Good eye. That is a Drosera filiformis var. tracyi. A temperate sundew plant from Florida that makes long sticky tentacles that catch and digest tons of bugs.
You can see how the blooms are active far higher than the carnivorous tentacles so the plant does not kill and eat it's own pollinators. Haha. This pic would have been taken in May or early June when this plant normally blooms. Right now, its seed pods are maturing. The seed spread to the neighboring pots and the babies grow like weeds! I have had this mother plant since 2007 and it's almost indestructible!



Nope. Most can close and digest prey a couple of times. You'll see in some of the pics, some of the traps have two dried up, digested bugs. That indicates the trap has caught and digested (closed and sealed) a prey item more than once.

OP explained perfectly, I just want to mention that if part of the prey remains outside the trap, and the trap fails to get a "good seal", it cannot properly digest the prey and typically dies off! The way they eat is fairly complex, I find it very interesting

thanks guys! the reason I asked - I read/watched an educational program that claimed 1 close and poof that's it. Which didn't sound right to me at all.

 

[viper69]

@joossa

Sometime I've seen people own Pitchers (my favorite) and their pitchers lack the enzymatic liquids at times. I always thought the liquid was present all the time, but maybe it isn't?

 

[joossa]

@joossa

Sometime I've seen people own Pitchers (my favorite) and their pitchers lack the enzymatic liquids at times. I always thought the liquid was present all the time, but maybe it isn't?

It depends on the species of Sarracenia and if it's being grown correctly. The tall trumpet pitcher plants like S. flava and S. leucophylla will almost always have some fluid, even if it's just at tad bit of fluid at the very bottom of the pitcher. Their pitchers have evolved a hood or lid to avoid rain from getting into the pitcher and diluting the fluid and digestive enzymes.

More primitive Sarracenia, like S. purpurea, actually don't produce any enzymes of their own or very little or ineffective enzymes (if I remember correctly). They actually have an open pitcher (no hood) that allows rain to fill up the pitcher with water. Once water is in, they actually rely on bacteria and other microorganisms to establish themselves and breakdown any prey that may slip in and drown. At that point, the pitcher can absorb the nutrients. These aquatic "micro habitats" inside the pitcher fluid are called phytotelmata communities: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3025736/

Some pitcher plants are also more "active" in terms of their carnivory in only certain parts of the growing season. So, S. oreophila for example, is active in early spring. Come mid summer, their pitchers may have no fluid left over or may have started to brown and dry up altogether as the plant shifts from carnivore mode to "I just want to photosynthesize" mode.

All of the above applies to the North American pitcher plants (Sarracenia) when the plants are grown in ideal conditions and are healthy. Otherwise, they may have dry pitchers with no fluid at all (and other issues).

There are also tropical pitcher plants (Nepenthes), which I have very little experience with, that are all sort of crazy and produce tons and tons of fluid in their pitchers.

 

[schmiggle]

There are also tropical pitcher plants (Nepenthes), which I have very little experience with, that are all sort of crazy and produce tons and tons of fluid in their pitchers.

My Nepenthes tend to be at least half full at all times. Nepenthes tenuis has this crazy mucusy digestive fluid that seems almost sticky.

 

[joossa]

Awesome. D. capensis is known to easily grow from seed. They easily take over if you let them. Haha. Good luck with yours!

Went out this morning to take more shots of the Drosera. You'll see a lot of the D. capensis are weeds hijacking the pots of my Sarracenia.

 

[joossa]

Spring 2022 Pics:

 

[Richard McJimsey]

You're making me want to get back into carnis, stop!

 

[joossa]

You're making me want to get back into carnis, stop!

Come back to the dark side.

It had been many years since I added another CP to the collection (at least 7 or so) and this spring, I ended up buying like 10 new Sarrs!

 

[coolnweird]

Beautiful! My carnivores are all still young plants, I'm really looking forward to seeing them grow and get as big as your specimens are. What zone are you in? I struggled to find a good dormancy solution this past winter, as my roommates wouldn't tolerate me taking over the fridge if you ever feel up to it I'd love to hear how you winter yours!

 

[joossa]

Beautiful! My carnivores are all still young plants, I'm really looking forward to seeing them grow and get as big as your specimens are. What zone are you in? I struggled to find a good dormancy solution this past winter, as my roommates wouldn't tolerate me taking over the fridge if you ever feel up to it I'd love to hear how you winter yours!

Thank you. It's so rewarding growing them. They are like Brachypelma or other NW terrestrials... You gotta be in it for the long haul!
I'm right at zone 9b/10a. I'm in LA County, California. I leave them outside for the winter and let them sleep outside all winter long. They go dormant from Thanksgiving to Valentine's Day more or less.

What zone are you in? Did you want to use the fridge method because it gets too cold or because it doesn't get cold enough? What plants are you growing?

 

[coolnweird]

Thank you. It's so rewarding growing them. They are like Brachypelma or other NW terrestrials... You gotta be in it for the long haul!
I'm right at zone 9b/10a. I'm in LA County, California. I leave them outside for the winter and let them sleep outside all winter long. They go dormant from Thanksgiving to Valentine's Day more or less.

What zone are you in? Did you want to use the fridge method because it gets too cold or because it doesn't get cold enough? What plants are you growing?

I'm 6a/6b, so from my understanding it gets too cold for them to winter outside. They did get a bit of a snow dusting one day, and then spent Nov-March on a very chilly drafty windowsill (single pane glass, nonexistent caulking) which was about 50° F during the day and 40° F at night.

I currently have a Drosera capensis, Dionaea muscipula, and Sarracenia x Judith Hindle! I admittedly ended summer with more than that, but those are what came out of dormancy It was my first winter and not a very good one, so I'd love any advice! I'd done some research on different methods but gotten some mixed advice from other hobbyists. Thanks so much!

 

[joossa]

I'm 6a/6b, so from my understanding it gets too cold for them to winter outside. They did get a bit of a snow dusting one day, and then spent Nov-March on a very chilly drafty windowsill (single pane glass, nonexistent caulking) which was about 50° F during the day and 40° F at night.

I currently have a Drosera capensis, Dionaea muscipula, and Sarracenia x Judith Hindle! I admittedly ended summer with more than that, but those are what came out of dormancy It was my first winter and not a very good one, so I'd love any advice! I'd done some research on different methods but gotten some mixed advice from other hobbyists. Thanks so much!

Ah! I see. Very good starting selection!
Do you have an unheated garage or storage shed? You could try that. I have little experience with alternative methods for dormancy. I've read people multch them in a bigger container when it's too cold out. Pine needles.
From what I know, giving them some decent airflow and not letting them get too dry or moist is key. I keep mine on the drier side during dormancy to avoid fungal issues. That's why people pretreat for fungus if using the fridge method.

S. purpurea ssp. purpurea is very cold hardy since it grows in more northern latitudes.

Sorry!! Probably doesn't help... I know it can be tricky.