Basin's carnivorous plants

basin79

ArachnoGod
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I've got quite a few of these. Here's a few pics I've just taken of some of them.

B52 VFT.










You can clearly see the trigger hairs in this trap.




A little rosette sundew.








Monkey cup.






Australian pitcher.

 
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schmiggle

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Which nepenthes have you got?

Also, you could definitely start a thread in the live plants section about these.

They are all looking quite nice :)
 

Paiige

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These are super cool! Would you say they're harder to keep than normal plants? And this may be a stupid question but how does feeding usually work - I'm going to assume you don't just have flies living in your house.
 

basin79

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These are super cool! Would you say they're harder to keep than normal plants? And this may be a stupid question but how does feeding usually work - I'm going to assume you don't just have flies living in your house.
VFT's and sundews are easy. They just need a sunny windowsill. The important part with carnivorous plants is rainwater. They NEED rainwater. Tap water doesn't work.

I put my plants out all day on sunny days (not many in the UK) and they catch their own food. Sundews will also catch the tiny flies that sneak in to the house.

That typed the video was in my animal room. I'd hatched a load of blue bottles and a lot got out.
 

Paiige

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VFT's and sundews are easy. They just need a sunny windowsill. The important part with carnivorous plants is rainwater. They NEED rainwater. Tap water doesn't work.

I put my plants out all day on sunny days (not many in the UK) and they catch their own food. Sundews will also catch the tiny flies that sneak in to the house.

That typed the video was in my animal room. I'd hatched a load of blue bottles and a lot got out.
How would one handle the rainwater situation in the winter? Snow? Hubby has expressed his interest in VFTs but winter is a serious concern here.
 

schmiggle

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You honestly probably have enough flies in your house for a sundew. Mine seems to subsist almost entirely on nearly microscopic gnat things that I only ever see on it.

I use a grow lamp because my windowsill isn't bright enough for sundews.

In addition to water you have to be careful about the soil--if it has too many nutrients most carnivorous plants will die (though there is one guy I know of who grew cephalotus in miracle gro peat moss, which is fertilized--cephalotus is a real oddball in many ways).

However, if you've got the right soil, light, and water, none of which are that hard to get, you're good to go on a lot of cp's (I hope I'm not just repeating basin here). The ones to watch out for are Darlingtonia, many nepenthes (esp. Ultra highland), heliamphora, and, to a lesser extent, cephalotus and tuberous sundews (the former have easy requirements but are often unforgiving, and the latter have odd seasonal requirements). If I haven't forgotten anything, everything else would be fine to start with.

The only other thing to consider is space--nepenthes can get massive, and some sarracenia get 3 or more feet tall. But you ought to be fine for the most part, and if you're growing them outside for much of the year, it's less of an issue, obviously.
 

basin79

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How would one handle the rainwater situation in the winter? Snow? Hubby has expressed his interest in VFTs but winter is a serious concern here.
Just get yourself a big water but or barrel that a downpipe goes into. It'll just fill up and will easily last you over winter.
 

schmiggle

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How would one handle the rainwater situation in the winter? Snow? Hubby has expressed his interest in VFTs but winter is a serious concern here.
I just buy bottled distilled water, and have never had a problem after years of growing. You can also RO it yourself. In addition, some plants care more than others. My grandmother's friend has grown sarracenia for a long time in Georgia, and she waters them with a hose. I've also read that nepenthes are less picky.
 

spotropaicsav

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I need to get myself a butterwort. Had a huge one many years ago but sadly lost it.
Oh no what happened? I'm not great with carnivorous plants, but my kids love them. So far the butterworts have been least problematic.Do you keep any in your T enclosures?
 

basin79

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Oh no what happened? I'm not great with carnivorous plants, but my kids love them. So far the butterworts have been least problematic.Do you keep any in your T enclosures?
It got neglected during a house move.

No I don't keep them in with my T's. I can't see it ever working for the plant. The T would set VFT's off and would constantly take the sticky off sundews and butterworts.

Pitchers could possibly work with a Theraphosa sp though. They don't generally web alot or bulldoze substrate about.

I'd sooner not do it though.
 

BCscorp

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I have a carnivorous plant kit I am going to start up soon.
 

spotropaicsav

Arachnobaron
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How would one handle the rainwater situation in the winter? Snow? Hubby has expressed his interest in VFTs but winter is a serious concern here.
We used distilled water for ours successfully. Tap will kill them, also we are in an ag area in California where there are many tap water problems
 
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