Terrarium newbie

[Ambellina]

I'm really interested in making a pretty little terrarium of CP for my desk.. unfortunately I don't know anything about plants, CPs, or terrariums.

I live in Michigan, so the winters are way too rough for me to winter my plants outside and the whole dormancy thing sounds like it might be a bit too much for me (though I'm determined to make it work - I HAVE to have some VFTs!), can someone list some of the CPs that don't have a dormancy period?

Plants I'm specifically interested in are:
Sundews
Sun Pitcher Plant (is this going to be too big for a small tank?)
Bladderwort
Butterwort

Any help or advice is appreciated. Please let me know if any of those plants simply cannot live in the same tank together, too. I'm kind of dumb.

 

[rattler]

without knowing all the specifics here is some species:

Sundews: capensis is bomb proof and attempting to take over the world, spatulata is simple, madigascarensis is unusual looking AND as easy as capensis.

Sun Pitcher Plant (is this going to be too big for a small tank?): try H. minor, stays short however they like ALOT of light. also dont like having their roots water logged, an open mix is prolly required. my Heli mix has very lil peat and lots of chunks

Bladderwort: sandersonii, livida, most any terrestrial will work but those two bloom the most. stay away from subulata unles you actually really want it. once you have it you will NEVER get rid of it. ive done my darndest to keep it out of my house

Butterwort: check out the Mexi-Ping hybrids, i personally recommend 'Aphrodite'

a quick note, ive lost more plants to poor air circulation combined with high humidity than any other cause, you prolly DO NOT want a cover for the tank. my winters have my house recieving close to 15% humidity and have zero problems with keeping all my plants in open trays or open topped tanks. my drosera are full of dew at 15% humidity LIGHT is much more important than humidity!!

 

[Ambellina]

Thanks so much, lots of great info and exactly what I'm looking for. So I guess a fogger is out of the question then? I knew it wasn't necessary or anything, but they look so dang cool. I think I'd rather have cool looking plants and no fog than have dead plants and cool looking fog though, haha.

Recommendations for sources for these plants?

 

[rattler]

BTW welcome to the forum. tis a good bunch of ppl if you ignore Ozzy

CP's are highly adictive, just ask my wife, they are taking over the laundry room

i started 3 years ago with one Nepenthes i purchased on a whim, after finding this site i had well over 150 pots of plants in about a year. currently im a bit lower than than but im still afraid to count plus i have new ones arriving most weeks. mainly i focus on Utrics but i have or have had a bit of everything. also starting to work with some of the more exotic sundews. good luck in your search for knowlege and plants

 

[rattler]

sources include:

the trade forum here but read the rules

check out petflytrap.com(our awesome host) havent looked lately but Phil is likely to have some of the easy dews

ebay(would be careful if your not famliar with the hobby in general you might pay an arm and a leg for something that you could have gotten for free here)

various other sources via the internet but the trade forum here is about THE BEST place to track down plants. everything from common to rare can be found if yah have good trade bait. when i was getting started i traded everything from orchids to rocks for plants.......be creative, offer up a plate of home baked cookies

 

[rattler]

i might could have an odd plant or two.......ive got Drosera coming up in pots that i think are D. spatulata from Hong Kong but cant be sure. generally have the odd Utric or four. the less you care about ID's the better i can help yah. ive got a couple "mini bogs" here at the office that i usually toss my no ID plants into

 

[Ambellina]

Can someone explain to me how Utrics work? The terrestrial ones, anyways. What I'm reading makes it sound like they catch things underground.. Is that right?

 

[vraev]

Quote[/b] (rattler_mt @ Nov. 03 2006,3:49)]Sundews: capensis is bomb proof and attempting to take over the world, spatulata is simple, madigascarensis is unusual looking AND as easy as capensis.

lol! I always laugh my a** off when I see that sentance. Capensis is bomb proof.

lol! but it is true though.

hint : my capensis was free. a thin leaf green one. I got it as a free gift for my plant order from keehns carnivores.

 

[Clint]

Terrestrial utrics work the same as aquatics.

Basically there traps look like very small balloons. They have an opening with hairs and stay concave. when something touched the hairs, the trap expands and sucks it in.

 

[jimscott]

The whole hobby of CP's is overwhelming at first. At least it was for me. The vernacular was new and my barely functional computer knowledge was also a handicap. It takes time. There's a learning curve and I'd venture to say that all of have felt as though we were doing more killing than cultivating.

My very first plants received outside of buying from Lowes & Home Depot was gemmae of D. scorpioides. I never heard of gemmae and hadn't a clue as to what D. scorpioides was, nor did I know what to do with them. I bombarded the sender (Big CarnivourKid, A/k/A BCK) with questions about them for the following weeks.

Then a member called Copper sent me 3 species of beginner Utrics (sandersonii, the blue form, and livida). Again, I hadn't a clue as to what to do with them - but eventually learned. I've killed a few cobra lilys and have done many experiments - mostly failures, but learned a lot in the process.
Terrestrial utrics trap their prey with bladderlike appendages - underneath the soil surface.

Sources: (What Rattler says) My first several plants came from Home Depot, Lowes, and a couple of local exotic plants places. Then I discovered (stumbled upon) the discussion forums by accident and 2 months later I discovered its CP Trading Post. Many generous hobbyists on this forum have sent me a variety sundews, butterworts, bladderworts, and pitcher plants, either in the form of seeds, seedlings, gemmae, mature plants, or gemmae. Many people buy from online places, such as the forum's sponsor. I never have. The trading post has been very good to me.

As to indoor plants that don't require dormancy, there's a whole mess of plants that fit that bill and most of them are real easy, with a few basic guidelines. If you have SE-SW facing window sills, you can cultivate a plethora of CP's. I pictures speak a thosand words. Below is a link to what I have grown, mostly on window sills. If you have artificial lighting available, that would be even better, either instead of or in addition to the window sills.

jimscott's plants

Summer 2006

I have some plants that I keep outsdie, but most are kept on window sills. Basicially, you place a pot with holes on a plastic container of water (distilled, rain, RO, deionized), exposed to the air. Just place at a window and keep up with the watering. They catch their own bugs that are attracted to the light.

Most of us have something to share. What goes around, comes around. And for the most part, people just ask for money to cover postage ($4.05) for a box of plants or a SASE (Self Addressed Stamped Envelope), with maybe a buck or two for the seeds.