# Carnivorous plants



## Tim Harrison

Thought I'd share a pic or two of my Drosera or Sundew. @Iain Sutherland kindly gave me a few plants that have since grown and started to flower.


----------



## zozo

Gorgious plants!! Most intriguing plant sp. ever..   Not yet fully there, do you know it's color? White or Lila?..

I've got an Utricularia flowering at the time. 





And it;s bigger sister is about to, should become a white flower.


----------



## Tim Harrison

zozo said:


> Not yet fully there, do you know it's color? White or Lila?..


Not yet, I will post a pic when it flowers, I've just noticed a couple of other flower spikes starting to shoot as well.
The flowers on your Utricularia are beautiful.


----------



## dean

Isn’t month s bought a fly trap and it died 
Only gave it RO water so I’m going to get something else but it will be whatever the garden centres have 
Love to get other types as I think they are so interesting 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Tim Harrison

dean said:


> bought a fly trap and it died


Check out IKEA its where I got mine from, and it's flowered and still going strong. I use rainwater and maybe once a month or less tank water as a very light feed.


----------



## zozo

Tim Harrison said:


> Not yet, I will post a pic when it flowers, I've just noticed a couple of other flower spikes starting to shoot as well.


Awsome can't wait to see.. 



Tim Harrison said:


> The flowers on your Utricularia are beautiful.


It does surpisingly good on the window sil.. I didn't expect that, but it rewards me with a lot of flowers. Funny is the actual plant itself is so tiny it is barely indistinguishable from the mosses surounding it. It resambles UG,but maybe 5 times smaller. 

The tiny grass like leaves few mm long, the moss sporecaps look like giants in comparance.


----------



## Tim Harrison

zozo said:


> Funny is the actual plant itself is so tiny it is barely indistinguishable from the mosses surounding it


It's a lovely little plant.


zozo said:


> It does surpisingly good on the window sil..


Snap, my sundew normally lives on a window sill too and has gone from strength to strength.


----------



## sciencefiction

Wow, these are stunning.


----------



## dean

Tim 
Is that an Ikea lamp your using 

Ikea is only a couple of miles away I’ll nip in one night and have a look 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Tim Harrison

Yes it's an IKEA JANSJÖ LED work lamp... Some folk reckon its colour temp is a little on the warm side but I think it's fine and perfect for Wabi-Kusa as well.


----------



## dean

Tim Harrison said:


> Yes it's an IKEA JANSJÖ LED work lamp... Some folk reckon its colour temp is a little on the warm side but I think it's fine and perfect for Wabi-Kusa as well.



I have a few spare ones floating about the house that I could use 
We live in an Ikea house  as it’s just a few miles away 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Tim Harrison

Haha...us too; I really like Scandi design though so it's no hardship


----------



## three-fingers

Tim Harrison said:


> Thought I'd share a pic or two of my Drosera or Sundew. @Iain Sutherland kindly gave me a few plants that have since grown and started to flower.


Very healthy looking! I  love _Drosera _and have plants to grow many more from seed. I don't actually have any regular _D.capensis_, but my _D.capensis_ "Giant" has just started o flower at the same time as yours (I've attached some pictures below).  Mine is 5 years old started from seed and is in a North-facing windowsill "bog" (just a Tupperware tub filled with sphagnum peat moss, sand and topped with live sphagnum). You cant see in the pictures, but it is actually a 4-inch long, kinda woody stem, lying on its side - unlike the _D.regia_ which dominates the tub they share, which has harder, woody, upright stems.  It's also shares the tub with some self-seeded _D.capensis _"Alba", some tiny self-seeded _D.tokaiensis _and some (again, self-seeded) _Utricularia bisquamata. 
_
If you ever fancy growing more from seed-its super easy (just a bit slow) and you should as thousands of seeds from that plant this year .



zozo said:


> Awsome can't wait to see..
> It does surpisingly good on the window sil.. I didn't expect that, but it rewards me with a lot of flowers. Funny is the actual plant itself is so tiny it is barely indistinguishable from the mosses surounding it. It resambles UG,but maybe 5 times smaller.
> The tiny grass like leaves few mm long, the moss sporecaps look like giants in comparance.[/ATTACH]


Your _Utricularia _are beautiful!  The flowering one looks like _U.bisquamata_? Mine hasnt flowered in a couple of years, I think because it has been overgrown by various mosses. I think I'll have to pull some out and plant it in a separate pot soon, I want flowers again! Otherwise it's pretty much an invisible plant .

Windowsill pics taken with Helios 44M(I really shouldn't have still been awake for sunrise yesterday lol...):


----------



## Tim Harrison

Very nice @three-fingers


----------



## zozo

Looking good!.. 



three-fingers said:


> Your _Utricularia _are beautiful! The flowering one looks like _U.bisquamata_?



No it's a mouth full... 'Utricularia blanchettii 'Chapada Diamantina'.


----------



## Aqua360




----------



## Steve Buce

Stunning plants


----------



## Tim Harrison

zozo said:


> do you know it's color?


Just started to flower...



 

It's throwing out more spikes as well...


----------



## zozo

Nice!!  Almost pink!.. So much nicer color than white...  A real treat..


----------



## DutchMuch

now i want carni's


----------



## dw1305

Hi all, 





Tim Harrison said:


> Just started to flower...


It is close to <"_Drosera capensis">, _long leaf and purple flower. 

cheers Darrel


----------



## Iain Sutherland

dw1305 said:


> Hi all, It is close to <"_Drosera capensis">, _long leaf and purple flower.
> 
> cheers Darrel


Good shout Darrell 




Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk


----------



## dean

My Venus fly trap died 
Didn’t last long at all 
Think it got given tap water which is liquid cement 
So been out and bought this 
No instructions but I presume only RO or deionised water ?
Does the soil need to be 
Moist 
Damp 
Wet 




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## dw1305

Hi all, 





dean said:


> No instructions but I presume only RO or deionised water ?
> Does the soil need to be
> Moist
> Damp
> Wet


Yes soft water, rain-water would do and <"keep it wet in the summer">. 

The main problem with Pitcher plants (_Sarracenia spp.) _is that they need a cold winter. _Sarracenia purpurea (and S. flava) are_ actually <"invasive aliens"> on some peat bogs in NW Europe.

cheers Darrel


----------



## Ady34

Tim Harrison said:


> Yes it's an IKEA JANSJÖ LED work lamp... Some folk reckon its colour temp is a little on the warm side but I think it's fine and perfect for Wabi-Kusa as well.


Hi Tim, what is the light spread like on these little lamps please? I recently made up a 30cm diameter succulent pot and I think it needs additional light, I’d prefer to use something tried and tested so if it’ll be up to the task I’ll pick one up. Do you have it on for a set photoperiod or just use it as a booster for short periods?

Thanks,


----------



## Tim Harrison

Hi Ady, when the light is positioned at its highest the actual spot light spread is around 34cm in diameter shining on to my cabinet surface. I guess whether it's suitable for your pot depends on how tall it is. But obviously there is spill outside of that. Mine isn't on a timer, I just switch it on first thing and turn it off last thing at night, so it's on all day.


----------



## Ady34

Tim Harrison said:


> Hi Ady, when the light is positioned at its highest the actual spot light spread is around 34cm in diameter shining on to my cabinet surface. I guess whether it's suitable for your pot depends on how tall it is. But obviously there is spill outside of that. Mine isn't on a timer, I just switch it on first thing and turn it off last thing at night, so it's on all day.


Thanks Tim, not tall, it’s a shallow pot with relitively small succulents....





I’ll try and get one ordered as they are seeking light and stretching out......I know it’s not a co2 issue


----------



## Tim Harrison

That looks amazing.


----------



## Iain Sutherland

I love a good succulent bowl and that looks lovely mate.
I keep a lot of succulents in really dark corners of the house and just put them in the sun for a day once a week. 
I think yours should maintain form in this way but the aeonium? types (the ones that look like flower heads) can get more leggy and tall. 

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk


----------



## Edvet

Iain Sutherland said:


> just put them in the sun for a day once a week.


In the UK.??.........


----------



## Iain Sutherland

Edvet said:


> In the UK.??.........


Ok, I put them near a window... 

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk


----------



## Ady34

Tim Harrison said:


> That looks amazing.


Thanks Tim, that was just after planting and some of them have stretched out a bit now, I may trim them.


Iain Sutherland said:


> I love a good succulent bowl and that looks lovely mate.
> I keep a lot of succulents in really dark corners of the house and just put them in the sun for a day once a week.
> I think yours should maintain form in this way but the aeonium? types (the ones that look like flower heads) can get more leggy and tall.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk


Yeah they are nice to have and I thought they would be an easy addition but again once you stay looking into it I’ve made a few mistakes mainly regards drainage. Some of them have stretched out already and without turning the bowl you can see them leaning towards the light. Some of the redder ones have also lost intensity. I’m going to try a lamp as it doesn’t fit on a window sill however I guess I could put it outside on occasion to get the sun. 



 

One of the kids favourites that they call ‘Shreks ears’ .....



 


Cheerio,


----------



## dean

If anyone has spare plants etc I’d be happy to rehome them 
Can’t see why it has to be aquatic plants only in the sales section ?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## zozo

The Nephentes hybrid  Unfortunately in our climate the cups are not very long living, but always a couple of months before they start to dry at the tip.
But is actualy a quite fast grwoing and happy plant.


 

This is it's latest new cup, i regularly feed it some flies, i cacth it or if i find a dead one its dropped in. The cups and actualy the intire plant also develops drops of a sweet resin on the cups and the stem, to attract insects.




You often read that the hood is for preventing rain water from falling in and flooding the cup. But that i do not realy believe it makes no sense.
If you look at baby cups, they start out closed and stay closed till its about 5cm in size and about 10mm in diameter. Than it also has developed some fluid inside. My theory is, it stays closed till its big enough and gathered enough digestive sap before it opens. Not preventing it to flood, but preventing the degistive fluid to evaporate prematurely. Once the cup is big enough, to sustain and reproduce enough sap before all evaporates it opens up and ready to feed..


----------



## Iain Sutherland

Nice monkey cups  one on my wish list for the kitchen.
Couple of mine in the afternoon sun.. loads of seeds again so may try propagating this year if I find the time.



Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk


----------



## Iain Sutherland

My little window box succulents have finally flowered today..




Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk


----------



## three-fingers

zozo said:


> The Nephentes hybrid  Unfortunately in our climate the cups are not very long living, but always a couple of months before they start to dry at the tip.


Mine do the same, I have a couple of hybrid _Nepenthes _that used to grow lots of pitchers in my old house, but have only made one or two random pitchers since I moved house in 2014 :/.  It's good that the air in my house isn't very humid...but I do low-key hope the next place I live has higher humidity levels for my plants .


> You often read that the hood is for preventing rain water from falling in and flooding the cup. But that i do not realy believe it makes no sense.
> If you look at baby cups, they start out closed and stay closed till its about 5cm in size and about 10mm in diameter. Than it also has developed some fluid inside. My theory is, it stays closed till its big enough and gathered enough digestive sap before it opens. Not preventing it to flood, but preventing the degistive fluid to evaporate prematurely. Once the cup is big enough, to sustain and reproduce enough sap before all evaporates it opens up and ready to feed..


Interesting observation, I've read that in all my CP books and see it on forums frequently too, but I totally agree with your thoughts.


			
				Iain Sutherland said:
			
		

> Couple of mine in the afternoon sun.. loads of seeds again so may try propagating this year if I find the time


Wow Iain, those are both fantastic displays! Do you move the _Sarracenia _outside for a dormancy during the winter? That's what I plan to do, as it works very well with my VFTs, but I can never get _Sarracenia _seeds to germinate after stratifying in my fridge . I have some hybrid seeds sitting in some peat moss at the back of my fridge now actually, but if you ever have any spare fresh seeds, I'd gladly buy them from you!


> My little window box succulents have finally flowered today..


What species of succulent is that flowering btw?

My _Drosera anglica_ "Hawaii" and _D.tokaiensis_ have just started putting out flower spikes this year, I'll try share some pictures of their tiny flowers here if when get the chance (I need to get another proper macro lens lol...).


----------



## Iain Sutherland

It's that wonderful time of year in my house when the circle of life, in it's full horror, displays itself on my conservatory floor.

My Sarracenia pitchers are beautiful in spring and early summer but as summer progresses the pitchers over fill with flies. The over full pitcher stems begin rot, as they do so they buckle over spilling out what I can only describe as Satan's vomit. 

Unwitting insects climb in to the pitchers with no escape and given the pitchers are pretty full the bugs they dont get digested for a number of days... the first consequence of this is all the pitchers buzz away to the sound of impending death day and night... its particularly interesting if a bumble bees gets enticed.  The second consequence however, is that the flies lay eggs...no doubt a desperate endeavor in the knowledge their end is nigh.

So back to Satans vomit... a lovely mix of various insects at different states of digestion, all mixed in some form of bug soup, topped off with the remaining dechevaled looking live insects and innumerable maggots...
Add to that, it genuinely smells like rotting corpses. 
Enjoy your dinner 





Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk


----------



## Tim Harrison

Iain Sutherland said:


> So back to Satans vomit... a lovely mix of various insects at different states of digestion, all mixed in some form of bug soup, topped off with the remaining dechevaled looking live insects and innumerable maggots...
> Add to that, it genuinely smells like rotting corpses.
> Enjoy your dinner


 
Thanks for sharing Iain...


----------



## Edvet

Well that's not something they describe in the advertisements.......................


----------



## zozo

Edvet said:


> Well that's not something they describe in the advertisements.......................



Actualy "Satans Vomit" could be a succesfull marketing name. Sounds very intriguing for a carnivorous plant. Atracting loads of Death Metal fans buying it..


----------



## Iain Sutherland

Tim Harrison said:


> Thanks for sharing Iain...


Your welcome 

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk


----------



## zozo

Nephentes going mental..  Was a good choice to hang in the dome from the skylight.. It seems to love that place, good climate.. It made over 7 new cups during this summer and it developing a flower.  It's a first timer for me, make it survive and thrive for 2 years now.. Finaly found the perfect living room spot for it.. 


Care regime is dimineralized water, what it occasinaly catches itself or what i can swat i drop in the cups..


----------



## zozo

It seems when it svery happy, it attracks flies. 90% of the flies in the house hang around this plant. And  this year it seems i have more flies in the hous than normal. It's developing some resin drops all over.. It doesn't smell but flies come and go for it. Also yet not seen this before.. Matter of change i guess, but also yet not seen a fly go or fall into one of the cups.

The seemingly tastefull resin droplets on the cup.


 



 

3 flies munching a droplet on the cup stem. Bizar strategy actualy, the fly luring opportunistic plant.




Amazing.. 

Here is a already pretty semi mature cup, still with a closed hood. That's how i came upon the theory, the hood aint an umbrella preventing rain to fall in.
It prevents the sap in the still immature cup to evaporate.. Once enough sap to operate as trap it opens up..  Each cup contains about 3 to 5ml digestive juice before it opens up depending on its size. Some cups open at a smaller size..


----------



## alto

Just saw this on Tropica FB feed from Newengland Aquarist 


Wabikusa bowl filled with plant Soil and planted with Montecarlo as carpeting plant and Ludwigia palustris for midground contrast and Venus fly trap as carnivorous highlight.


----------



## Iain Sutherland

alto said:


> Just saw this on Tropica FB feed from Newengland Aquarist
> 
> 
> Wabikusa bowl filled with plant Soil and planted with Montecarlo as carpeting plant and Ludwigia palustris for midground contrast and Venus fly trap as carnivorous highlight.


I'd guess this was grown without the venus flytrap and added at the end for the photo... the nutrients required for the aquatic plants to grow would kill the carnivorous one surely..?!

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk


----------



## alto

Apparently the Venus fly trap has been in for over 3 months (despite shop person stating it’d be lucky to survive 2 weeks) - re NEA Instagram comments


----------



## Iain Sutherland

alto said:


> Apparently the Venus fly trap has been in for over 3 months (despite shop person stating it’d be lucky to survive 2 weeks) - re NEA Instagram comments


Fair play to him... giving me ideas!


----------



## alto

I scrolled though and looks like the MC carpet was established before adding the Venus FT

I have the shop person’s predicted experience with these plants 
I guess I just need to do a Wabi bowl first 

ETA notice you got the LIKES! for naysaying


----------



## zozo

If this is an experiment, then it's a nasty one... Bought i thought to share it...


----------



## PARAGUAY

Oh no Is there ever a time to intervene with nature?


----------



## zozo

Utricularia pubescens, easy to grow in a closed setup and loves to flower, it started out a year ago with just 5 leaves. Regarding leaf shape, I kinda find this tiny Bladderworth the most decorative of all. It kinda resembles Hydrocotyl sp. All tho it's very tiny and easily overgrown if combined with other prolific growing carpets.












And this extremely small Utricularia blanchettii, so far the least decorative if it doesn't flower and it resembles grass growing among much bigger sized mosses, is picky and more sparse with flowering but grows without problems in terrariums.




I keep these both at the window in a small Wardian case. (greenhouse)


----------



## Hendre

Lovely thread, having got into CP's this year. Currently have:
Drosera...

Cistiflora
Aliciae
Zeyheri
Trinervia
Spatulata
Tokaiensis (plantlets, seedlings, some seeds in vitro)
Natalensis seedlings
Nidiformis seedlings
Capensis cuttings (Hermanus, Stanford)
I'm busy cataloguing all the carnivorous plants of the Cape. I have seen:
Drosera...

Aliciae
Admirabilis
trinervia
cistiflora
zeyheri
capensis
hilaris
ramentacea
xerophila
esterhuyseniae
glabripes
slackii
aliciae x glabripes
xerophila x glabripes
cuneifolia
ericgreenii
Also Roridula gorgonias and Utricularia bisquamata


----------



## Hendre




----------



## Aqua360

Hendre said:


> View attachment 173788


Been a while since I've seen your name pop-up! Still on the MK forums? 

Nice collection of CP's!


----------



## Hendre

Aqua360 said:


> Been a while since I've seen your name pop-up! Still on the MK forums?
> 
> Nice collection of CP's!


I'm still around! But fish have taken the back burner.

And thanks! I'm introducing some new forms to cultivation this year. Stay tuned!

Here's my one cistiflora so long:


----------



## Hendre

Photo dump, some gorgeous plants I have seen around lately! Most files are too big so I'll keep what's here, rest are at Watermarks Prints


----------

