# Carnivorous plants



## mort (14 Jun 2017)

Does anyone keep the above? I've always been fascinated by them and wouldn't mind trying a few so wondering if anyone knew where to get nice ones?


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## Tim Harrison (14 Jun 2017)

Have you seen this journal? It's a pretty awesome scape and it even has the odd carnivorous plant, and I think there's a fair amount of info on how best to grow them

https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/green-pekoe-pond-40-litres.27575/


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## zozo (14 Jun 2017)

I have a Sarracenia in the swamp bucket in the garden, Sarracenia are somewhat winter hardy dies off from frost but it comes back every year and actualy they need a dormancy periode.

You wont recognize it as a Sarracenia, but it definitively is one it not yet developped any trumpets.




There are a few tropical sundews which don't need dormancy, the south african is the most common, others are extremely difficult to keep. Had a few tropical pygmaea sundews and both didn't survive repotting. Also tried them above an open top tank but no succes.. Most easy to keep carnivorous are seasonal available at most garden centres, i guess this is about the time they have them till the fall.

This dormancy is difficult to describe how a plant goes through it.. Some people are succesfull with getting them through the winter with just a resting periode where they do not grow and also not die. And in other cases they just wither completely away and might come back in the spring if the rootstock didn't rot mean time. It's a lot of trail and error.. Best way to get them through the winter periode is putting them in a cold +/- 10°C inveronment with sufficient light.

So keeping them all year long above a tropical indoor tank? Might work, might not, most likely not.. I guess that's why we do not often see them around.

Actualy few weeks ago i snatched a few very tiny few mm big baby shoots from the plant in the swamp bucket above and put it in some moss above the indoor low tech..
In here




Still to soon to say what it will do, only one large enough to get a picture of it is this one in the liver moss. Still green, grew a bit.. But it goes so slowly i have no idea what it will do before it goes winter again. It's a piece of spider wood, Already strugling from the start to get mosses to grow to this type of wood.. I guess it's to hard and way to fresh. Dunno yet if i have any succes with the sarracenia..






http://www.araflora.com/index.php?route=product/category&path=146

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


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## mort (14 Jun 2017)

Thanks Tim, I haven't read that journal yet but have eagerly bookmarked it for later.

Hi Zozo, I have a sarracenia that been fine for a few years. It sits on my windowsill but overwinters in an unheated greenhouse until it pops out again in spring. I'll have a look at your links later and appreciate your advise on the sundews as its really broadening my horizons past the sarracenia that i'm trying to achieve.
The choice of plants locally is poor. You either have the same sarracenia or just a common venus fly trap. We used to see much more diversity and around a decade a go I had a real jungle of them at my mums house. They grew massively but we lost them all overwinter as I think they dried out but its hard to remember specifics. My cousin keeps hers in a pretty warm conservatory, fully wet and they have done fine, so luck must play some part.

The only reason i'm unsire about adding one to my tank is the fact they don't like much fertiliser from what I have read and I think my tanks would be too nutrient rich for them longterm. I may do a mini pond with bog garden for some sarracenia that could easily be moved into the greenhouse when things cool off (even though I know some species can overwinter fine like yours has outside).


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## zozo (14 Jun 2017)

Look up the Heliamphora species, i beleive Mr.Teapots carnivour also is a Heliamphora..  These are Carracenia from tropical South America and most likely the easiest to get through the winter indoors in somewhat tropical conditions.. Most common ones found in the garden centres are North American and more sensitive with dormancy.  Yet not tried one myself but definitively on my wish list. I do not know of an UK supplier, but Araflora has a nice collection to order from..

Another very interesting one is Sarracenia psittacina, lives a part of it's life submersed. 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarracenia_psittacina


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## mort (15 Jun 2017)

Thanks Marcel, very interesting i'll read up on it when I get some time.


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## dw1305 (15 Jun 2017)

Hi all, 
_<"Utricularia gibba">, _ and _<"U. graminifolia">_ are all easy <"kept wet">.  

I had a larger _Utricularia_ in the tanks at one point, it grew really well, and then just suddenly disappeared. This was in 2008 (at the top in the middle).


 

The easiest to grow carnivorous plant I've found is  _<Pinguicula "moranensis">. _You are more than welcome to a couple of these. 

cheers Darrel


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## zozo (15 Jun 2017)

A while back i got me some Utricularia stellaris also a very nice potential.. @dw1305  It kinda looks like you had them as well 


 
But unfortunately, non of it survived long term.. Had it for a few months growing very well and all of a sudden all went away.. In my case this is typical for Utricularias.. All i had grew very good, till?? Beats me, but something just killed them.. Probably me.. But don't ask..


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## dw1305 (15 Jun 2017)

Hi all,





zozo said:


> Utricularia stellaris also a very nice potential


I don't know what mine was, but that looks a likely ID. 

I got it from a LFS (Parker's at Iron Acton), it was unlabelled in with the bunched stem plants and cost ~£2. 

I remember it because previously I'd swapped some juvenile _Apistogramma cacatuoides _for a credit note, and there hadn't been anything I wanted to buy.

Afterwards I needed 25kg of sand and it occurred to me that they would sell it and that it wasn't something that I could buy cheaply of the internet due to delivery costs. 

cheers Darrel


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## zozo (15 Jun 2017)

The only 2 i know resambling a Cabomba at some stages of teir life is the U. stellaris and the U. macrorhiza, the stellaris is more common in the trade.
You remembered me i had it and just a minute ago i wrote the guy i got it from, if still has for sale.  Also with the U. Volubilis i failed 2 x to grow it from seeds. If i ever find seeds again i'll try again.


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