All grown in the Pacific Northwest folks (or is that the Pacific southwest from the Canadian perspective?). Unless indicated otherwise, all these plants grow outdoors year round on the westcoast, in my bog garden. Most of them have been growing for over a decade (Drosera capensis, Darlingtonia californica, Darlingtonia flower, Sarracenia purpurea):
These two are grown indoors - about 3/4s it's time in a greenhouse, then brought indoors into my home for full appreciation for weeks at a time. The colour variation between species and even within, is amazing - from burgundies, reds, oranges, pinks, yellow and black -all contrasting the many different hues and shades of green. (Nepenthes truncata and Cephalotus follicularis):
Flytrap - beautiful plants, inspiring. After killing numerous VFT's, am now trying a sarracenia which I have growing outside in it's original 4" pot. I think it needs a new larger home - like the nice shallow round pots in your last picture. Do your pots have drainage holes, and what do you use for soil ?
Thank you for your kind words. I've been growing these sarracenias (flava and purpurea) in it's tubs for over a decade and a bit. There are holes at the bottoms (came with it) and the whole planter sits in water all the time...especially important when it gets hot in the summer. I water the whole planter everyday in the morning during the summer and leave them out, exposed, all throughout winter. The plants are grown in a 70:30 peat/sand mix. No fertilizers. Since 1995, when I first started growing these sarracenia like this, I had to change it's growing medium three times - as weeds (ferns, chickeweed, dandelion etc) took over. There also used to be venus flytraps in the planters, but after the third season, the squirrels ate them all up. Oh well, that's nature.
Hi Flaytrap, your plants are gorgeous! I have million questions but let's strart with 2: -Do you protect Darlinctonia roots form summer hit if yes- how? (got my in a fall-no summer experience yet) -About Sephalotus from seeds-got 5 seeds at the end of Dec-1 month cold after warm under the light -nothing. Is it any hope for germination? Thank you
Thanks for the advice - will try it. Is it not a good idea to grow them as mixed planters ? Of course I can do without the weeds - have plenty everywhere ! And as for the squirrels, we should one day start a thread with squirrel stories.
Wow amazing pictures! I have just started collecting carnivorous plants, I have a mostly dead Dio. muscipula, a Sar. willisix leucophylla (also almost dead), a nepenthes sanguina, Dro. anglica, Dro. capensis, P. moranesis and a Dio. denate. Do you know which sarracenia genera are the easiest to grow?
Hi CP girl- Those are fine looking CP plants! Thanks for sharing your photos. One thing for sure, I can never tire of seeing Venus Flytraps! As early summer is settling in here on the westcoast of Canada (temperatures over 30C !), my tropical CPs have been picking up momentum on their pitcher growth. Here are a few pics of some recent additions to my CP family: Nepenthes rajah Nepenthes rafflesiana Nepenthes spectabilis and burbidgea Nepenthes bicalcarata Here are a few photos of some Neps growing in the wild, all photos taken by my colleague J. Yeo of Singapore (photos were shot at Mt. Kinabalu): N villosa x rajah N. burbidgea N. villosa N. rafflesiana (giant form)
I feel that the easiest CPs to grow are the North American pitcher plants (Sarracenia). As long as you keep their feet wet all through spring, summer and fall...they will grow and grow. I have found them growing out of my compost pile (after chopping off some odds and ends of their rhizomes). Most temperate sundes (Drosera) are easy. I have a family of D. rotundifolia growing in nearby bogs ...and I have some capensis growing in large troughs outdoors year round. The frost kills most of the D. capensis, but I always get new growth from the left over roots in the medim.
flytrap, I've read that fungus gnats are sometimes found in nepenthes pitchers. In your experience, how well do these plants perform in terms of fungus gnat control?
I feel that Neps are totally useless in controlling anything smaller than a ladybug. The best control I use for small fungus gnats, fruit flies, mosquitos and the like, are Drosera binata. D. binata grows 'Y' shaped leaves, and the extreme forms of binata (mutifida) have many growth points...thus you end up with a whole basket net of sticky tentacles...trapping everything and anything that happens to visit it. I shoot a photo or something and post it here later. These binata v. multifida (known by it's common name as "staghorn" sundews) by the way, grow nicely and winters over nicely here on the coast.
Thanks for the feedback, flytrap. Sundews are my favorite CPs. I think they're most spectacular when light hits the little drops of dew. (See first photo in this thread.) In addition to their appearance, they serve a practical purpose in controlling fungus gnats in my plantroom. Can't ask for much more.
Sorry I missed your post earlier Barvinok- To answer your questions: I don't protect my Darlingtonia roots during the summer...the "secret" to growing these plants is to grow them in very large (ie. big rubbermaid containers). This allows the medium (sphagnum/peat/sand mix 50:30:20) to maintain a constant temperature. These plants hate warm temps...especially their roots. So it's also best to keep their feet in a shaded locale. As for Cephalotus seeds. I wouldn't give up on them yet. I have had seeds germinate almost a year after I sowed them. Good luck.
Wow F.T! your nepenthes' are huge! Have you ever grown Nepenthes ventricosa? those are my favorite. I have a friend who is a fellow cp collector, and she has a small nepenthes seedling growing inside the other one's pot, do you think she should transplant it? thanks again for the amazing photos! CP girl
Well...for all you folks growing CPs outdoors in the cool temperate zones, it's time to trim off all the pitchers full of dead bugs. Why? Your friendly neighbourhood squirrel, crow and other hungry critter will be stocking up over winter. And yes, these visitors are guaranteed to rip open your plants and shred the heck out of them. Besides, dead and dieing leaves invite plant diseases such as fungus, and also harbour other pests (moth eggs). It's mid October here on the Westcoast. Time to trim back the pitchers and clean out the weeds in your bog gardens. Mulching with peatmoss should occur during mid November...and remember, Venus Flytraps do survive winters here on the BC westcoast, it's only the sudden late Spring freeze that kills them (ie. plants awake from dormancy, starts absorbing water and the freezing with water in the plants destroy their cells). So my advice is to also dig up your VFTs in mid November, keep them in a cool and not too wet locale, until the usual second Spring cold snap...then plant them back into your bog.
