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Venus Fly Traps & African Sundews

OranguTrump

Crotchety Old Crotch
I finally "pitched my tent" and started growing - carnivorous plants right now, but waiting for herb laws to finalize.

(I might have ordered a kit of magic mushrooms to grow in there too - should be here anytime. Shhhhhh.)

I have some pics - I started 1,500 fly traps (1,000 red & 500 green). I also started about 1,000 of the sundews. I have 2 different medium (self prepared from best reviewed "recipes"), and I have sown the seeds in each. 1 is only well rinsed peat with some sphagnum moss added, the other is combo vermiculite, perlite, well rinsed peat & sphagnum.

The containers are sitting in a larger, shallow container with an inch of distilled water - there is a seedling heat mat under this container to keep temps high 70's. The verm/perl/peat/spag soil has an inch or 2 of hydroton on bottoms - all those containers are vented top & bottom. The other 2 containers are not vented & do not have hydroton.
 
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cough_cough_eer

Anita Bonghitt
Veteran
I would be interested in pics...

I would be interested in pics...

Ive always wanted to grow carnivorous plants.This year, I started 12 seeds and none sprouted. I think my peat moss was old. I went to the flytrap store and message boards. reminds me I need to get some more seeds or a small plant. might even try and grow them hydroponically.
Do you have any tips for me...
 

OranguTrump

Crotchety Old Crotch
Lighting for now are 2 x 14w spotlight type leds warm white. I have a temp/humidity display & a submerged thermometer in the far end of water tray.

The fly traps required a light dusting of peat moss over them after sowing, but the sundews do not. Both should be a few weeks germinating.
 

OranguTrump

Crotchety Old Crotch
Ive always wanted to grow carnivorous plants.This year, I started 12 seeds and none sprouted. I think my peat moss was old. I went to the flytrap store and message boards. reminds me I need to get some more seeds or a small plant. might even try and grow them hydroponically.
Do you have any tips for me...
I'm in infancy stage here, but hey, we can learn together!

I read for over a year & bought my stuff slowly, carefully. Distilled water is THE critical thing. Completely nutrient poor medium. Moist, but not soaking wet. Bright, indirect light. Humid at first, but not necessarily later. Slooooooow.

The mushrooms outta make things a little more lively, though :woohoo:

Thanks for posting, I hope we both learn a fair bit.
 
O

Orrie

Cool stuff OranguTrump, never grew sundews or fly traps myself. I'm curious why the high seed/plant count. Will you use these yourself or will you be selling them is what I'm asking.

Congrats on finally being able to p[itch the tent. Will be hoping for 100% germ in all your endeavors.
 

OranguTrump

Crotchety Old Crotch
Cool stuff OranguTrump, never grew sundews or fly traps myself. I'm curious why the high seed/plant count. Will you use these yourself or will you be selling them is what I'm asking.

Congrats on finally being able to p[itch the tent. Will be hoping for 100% germ in all your endeavors.
Hi, Orrie! :tiphat:

High seed count is for eventual sales, or that's the plan. A table at flea market with couple hundred bug eating plants might make a couple bucks.

I appreciate the kind words.
 
O

Orrie

Hell yes, positive vibes! you need to start saving for a rental truck to move them all!

another thing you might check into is local nurseries as they might be interested in what you have going.

I'll be looking in to see your progress. Good luck!
 

thedudefresco

Active member
Vfts grow best in full sunlight! They need it to get red colored traps. Soil needs to be kept moist and while most people say they need distilled water I've found they grow fine with tap. They don't need humidity and thrive in a peat perlite mix with some charcoals on the bottom for drainage. Sundews a little more tricky cause they thrive in more humidity, but also do good outside. Easiest and most spectacular to grow, imo, are sarracenia. Grow em with the flytrap soil, use some superthrife super diluted when planting, and watch em take off:woohoo:
 

OranguTrump

Crotchety Old Crotch
Vfts grow best in full sunlight! They need it to get red colored traps. Soil needs to be kept moist and while most people say they need distilled water I've found they grow fine with tap. They don't need humidity and thrive in a peat perlite mix with some charcoals on the bottom for drainage. Sundews a little more tricky cause they thrive in more humidity, but also do good outside. Easiest and most spectacular to grow, imo, are sarracenia. Grow em with the flytrap soil, use some superthrife super diluted when planting, and watch em take off:woohoo:
Welcome & thanks for posting - I appreciate it!
 

thedudefresco

Active member
A good book is called "the savage garden" by Pete d'mato. He owns California carnivores, a nursery where he grows any carnivorous plant you can imagine. Another resource, a nursery in Oregon, is called "sarracenia northwest." Check em out online. Both propose natural sunlight as the best way to grow them. Seed takes like 3 years to mature but you can get faster results from propagating by splitting the rhizome. If you buy from either of them the plants should be sunlight acclimated but a store bought plant, with the humidity dome, needs to be taken out of the dome immediately and slowly acclimated to outdoor sun.

In winter the plants need dormancy. If you have a cold winter you can leave them outside after trimming them down and reduce watering a little bit. Some people suggest putting the plants in the fridge to artificially induce dormancy and leave them there for the winter. I've had fine results just leaving them outside even though I live in a mild wintered place with no snow. They purportedly grow better with a cold dormancy though. Also, always use untreated SPAGHNUM peat moss. The regular peat moss sometimes has too much nutrients for the plants. Try growing pitcher plants though they are fast, easy, and imo have more appeal to the general pop than the vft and sundew. They are spectacular when flowering
 

troutman

Seed Whore
I always like looking at Sundews.

The last bunch I saw were while trout fishing last year. They were growing on a old log
about 40 feet in length that was in the lake by a beaver dam and it was in a shaded spot
with a little moss, slime and grass on it.

The other places I've seen lots is along slow moving creeks on gravel bars that have short
grasses and mosses on them. I don't think they are rare over here. Just that they are so
tiny and most people never looked for them or even know they exist.

Unless you get basically on your knees you won't see them.

I suspect they like very humid environments from where I've seen them.

I bet an aquarium with a gravel/sand bar and some wood with a live mosses would be perfect for them.

The ones on the log look like this internet pic. But the log I saw was more wet.

240px-Drosera_rotundifolia_ne3.jpg


Hope this helps.
tiphat.gif



ic
 
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Hooter

Member
I have a pitcher plant I have been growing for 25 years. Had a green house grew carnivores and orchids. I have been to California Carnivores many times. They are now located in Santa Rosa. It's totally an amazing place. You can purchase any of carnivorous plant there you. Can also order by mail. Used to get. Special mixes of growing medium there. Fascinating hobby.
 

OranguTrump

Crotchety Old Crotch
I have a pitcher plant I have been growing for 25 years. Had a green house grew carnivores and orchids. I have been to California Carnivores many times. They are now located in Santa Rosa. It's totally an amazing place. You can purchase any of carnivorous plant there you. Can also order by mail. Used to get. Special mixes of growing medium there. Fascinating hobby.
Saracenia are def on my list to try - small tent grow, couldn't give them the space they need. VERY cool plants & so deadly to even small mammals.

Thanks!
 

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