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dustin_nevadanorth

newbe questions

18 years ago

Carnivorous plants are new to me but I would like to try some. I would like to place some among my African violets on the water trays. I wick my violets. Natural help with controlling gnats sounds great if I can pull it off. The humidity is about 60 Â 70 % and they have lights over the shelves. Is there any Carnivorous plant that could grow on my plant shelves with African violets or is it too arid? Do they need higher humidity? I like the look of Venus fly traps but am open to any of them. Can you recommend any good books or web sites with beginner information? Thanks

Dustin

Comments (6)

  • 18 years ago

    That humidity sounds just about perfect for a good range of CP's. Here is a great resource for CP information:

    http://www.sarracenia.com/faq.html

    For controlling the gnat problem, Sundews or Pinguiculas are probably your best bet. VFT's generally consume larger prey as with many of the other CP types.

    If you want a good book with a wide overview of CP information, Peter D'Amato's "The Savage Garden" is a great start, but that link should provide you with a lot of information all the same.

  • 18 years ago

    Sounds like sundews would be a good 'companion plant' and they should do fairly well with those violets.
    You can't grow them in the same pots- carnivores need a 'special' mix of peat moss & pearlite / sand. Ratios vary between growers- I use about 50 / 50 peat / pearlite for all of mine.
    Also if you put fertilizer in the water the carnivores will die as they cannot deal with it. They need relatively pure water- I was using well water for mine for a while... But they started dying so I built a rain catcher (effectively a barrel & a funnel- It rains enough here the big joke being the state flower is mold...) thus expect to water them with rain or bought special distilled (Not bottled drinking, it often contains salts) water.
    Some folks even go as far as installing a reverse osmosis watering filter- But for a few plants that's surely overkill.

    I would go with a few cheap "rosette" sundews at first- spatulata and / or aliciae, simply because I like them & I've found they are rather prolific. Once they flower & the seeds fall you'll find them popping up *Everywhere*. Adelae & capensis may also be good choices- With their longish leaves they catch *Lots* of gnats & fruit flies. In the summer I sometimes take mine outside on a field trip to the compost pile- By the end of the day they're black with fruit flies.

    Start small- learn from experience & soon you may be trolling ebay in the winter for pygmy drosera gemmae.. Perhaps you'll have a Cephalotus or two.. Maybe even a few Heliamphora. Carnivores are one of those "once you start... You can't stop" things.

  • 18 years ago

    Thanks for the encouragement and info. For starter plants will the ones that I find at my local garden center do or is there a better source for starters. Like no extra pest and diseases. I am interested in plants that will stay small since most of my space is taken up by violets now. What are some of your favorite places to buy or to do trades trade at?

  • 18 years ago

    Try some d, adelae and Capensis Sundews. No dormancy needed! Also some small Neps. VFTS and Sarrs. require dormancy and full sun.

  • 18 years ago

    For compact plants that would grow well under artificial light with your African violets try D. spatulata, D. capensis, and D. adelae. All of those are fairly small plants with D. capensis getting about 6-8 inches across at most as the largest of the three. For pest free, healthy plants and comprehensive instructions, try online vendors like cobraplant.com, californiacarnivores.com and such. If you find a site selling dinky plant lights and terrariums, that is not a good carnivorous plant site. Carnivorous plants typically do not require high humidity. They like it just fine, but can grow in relatively low humidity for the most part. Only a few of the true tropicals that are harder to grow require temperature control and high humidity to do well. All the previous info from Sehtnepen, Krstofer, and Tommyr, like no fertilizer, mineral free water, acidic sphagnum moss and perlite or silica sand mix, good lighting, and good watering are all great bits of info to help you along. Carnivorous plants are mostly bog plants that do well with a tray of water under the pots and constantly moist moss along with good lighting. Even the lowest light carnivore needs a lot more light than a typical ivy.

  • 18 years ago

    I would also toss in Mexican butterworts as easy plants to care for.

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