FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

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By Fee
Posts:  6
Joined:  Sat Oct 15, 2022 5:24 pm
#422098
I'm a house plant obsessed mother. Kids leaving home and I'm replacing them with plants... much easier. Just branching into the meat eating variety to make it seem more like my kids are still home :D as they need more care and attention. I like to rescue dying plants from the shops too, with varied success in survival rates... :lol: will welcome any advice and hope for some great recommendations x
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By Intheswamp
Location: 
Posts:  3307
Joined:  Wed May 04, 2022 2:28 pm
#422099
Welcome to the forum and the hobby. It'll be fun. There's lots of knowledgeable people here that will be a big help. There's a few folks like me that don't know much but will give you all kinds of advice. :mrgreen: It's definitely different from your average houseplant hobby!!! Flytraps are really cool, as are pitchers plants, but for some reason sundews appeal to me the most.

Lots of sundew seeds available to new users in the forum seed bank's "Level One", check it out! You get to request one item plus a "bonus". Personally I'd go with "D. filiformis filiformis "Temperate"" as my request and add "Mixed Capes" as my bonus. filiformis are the threadleaf sundews, my favorite. The mixed capes that I got as a "bonus" had *great* germination! ;)

*Don't use any MiracleGro products, espeically their peat moss due to added fertilizer. The perlite has some, too, but a much smaller amount. I steer clear of anything from MiracleGro.
*Rinse your growing medium...a good mix is 50:50 peat moss to perlite. I rinse each separately. I recommend a paint strainer bag for rinsing the ingredients in. These are bags that you can get at hardware stores (or Amazon) to fit inside 5-gallon buckets. They make rinsing *much* easier, in my opinion.
*Do not use tapwater unless you know the TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) are below 50ppm). Instead use rainwater, distilled water, reverse osmosis (RO) water...you can even use water from a dehumidifier if you use one though some people seem to worry about copper from the coils (I've never heard of anybody have an actual problem with it, though). I prefer rainwater as it's the cheapest and I'm blessed to live in a rural area of south Alabama and I have a metal roof...my rainwater usually tests from 1ppm or 2ppm. A TDS meter is a simple gadget that can take the guesswork out of deciding if your tapwater or rainwater is "good". They run around $15 on Amazon. Here's the one I use... TDS Meter

*Most recommendations are for 4 hours of direct sun...or more. Some sundews do fine with a lower amount of windowsill light as do some nepenthes in an east facing window. Flytraps and pitcher plants tend to require the highest intensity of light and do best outdoors. Indoors they need a substantial light source...and many people invest in grow light setups to accommodate them.
*Use only plastic pots or well-glazed ceramic pots. Don't use terracotta pots...they leach minerals into the growing mix. Don't use metal as they may impart metals and also will rust due to the acidity of the peat moss.
*Beware of tree rats (squirrels) if growing outside. They are terrorists with a murderous agenda towards carnivorous plants. Folks have built all kinds of cages and whatnot to keep the rodents at bay. I've made some simple cages out of hardware cloth. Just a warning... They're evil.... :evil:

Just some talking points. If I goofed somebody will be along to clean my mess up. As I said, there's lots of good folks on the forum...you'll meet'em! The big thing is to HAVE FUN!!!!!

Ed
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By Shadowtski
Location: 
Posts:  4720
Joined:  Tue Mar 22, 2016 8:19 am
#422101
Welcome to the forum.
If you're interested in growing Venus FlyTraps, here is a good grow guide: www.flytrapcare.com
If you're interested in growing Drosera, AKA Sundews, look here: www.growsundews.com
A recommended book is The Savage Garden by Peter D'amato.
Carnivorous plants are not hard to grow but they have definite requirements which cannot be ignored. (If you want them to survive and thrive)
1) Lotsa, Lotsa, Lotsa, light (These are happiest with full sunlight, outdoors)
2) Very pure water with TDS below 50PPM. (rainwater, distilled water, R.O.-filtered water)
3) Nutrient poor/free acidic growth medium like peatmoss or long-fiber Sphagnum Moss, mixed with perlite, or silica sand.
4) Respect dormancy requirements of temperate species

There is a Community Seed Bank here where you can get free carnivorous plant seeds by sending in an S.A.S.E. (Self Addressed Stamped Envelope)

Easy to grow species for the beginner Drosera capensis, Drosera spatulata, and Drosera tokaiensis.
Once you master these, move on to more challenging species.

As always, just my 02¢ worth.
Good growing,
Mike
Sundews69, Intheswamp liked this
By Fee
Posts:  6
Joined:  Sat Oct 15, 2022 5:24 pm
#422102
Thank you. Wow, so much to learn..... I have a plant I need help with so will find where to share and ask. Thanks for the lovely welcome
By Sundews69
Location: 
Posts:  2388
Joined:  Fri Dec 03, 2021 5:57 pm
#422104
Welcome to the forum and to the hobby! What carnivorous plant (CP) are you growing now?
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By Shadowtski
Location: 
Posts:  4720
Joined:  Tue Mar 22, 2016 8:19 am
#422112
Fee wrote: Sat Oct 15, 2022 6:18 pm Thank you. Wow, so much to learn..... I have a plant I need help with so will find where to share and ask. Thanks for the lovely welcome
You can take a picture of your plant & add it to your post when asking a care question or an ID question.
When you write a post or a reply, there is a Tab labeled ADD ATTACHMENT.
After clicking on that, you'll see a button labeled ADD FILES.
Select a picture, add it, and put it inline.
Very often a picture is really worth 1024 words. :)
By Fee
Posts:  6
Joined:  Sat Oct 15, 2022 5:24 pm
#422115
Thanks. Hopefully I posted in the right place. Pictures included.
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By Panman
Location: 
Posts:  6324
Joined:  Wed Mar 04, 2020 8:41 pm
#422123
Welcome to the forum!
Intheswamp wrote:*Rinse your growing medium
I consider this optional for all but the most finicky seeds.
Intheswamp liked this
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By Intheswamp
Location: 
Posts:  3307
Joined:  Wed May 04, 2022 2:28 pm
#422128
Panman wrote: Sat Oct 15, 2022 9:53 pm Welcome to the forum!
Intheswamp wrote:*Rinse your growing medium
I consider this optional for all but the most finicky seeds.
I should've put a disclaimer in my post that not everybody rinses their medium. I'm just a tad OCD about things. Yeah, it's true, but I don't think anybody has noticed. :mrgreen:
stickgirl liked this
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