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Best beginner plant for me?

Hi - Please bear with me, I'm brand new to carniverous plants. I grow orchids and other tropicals with little problem. I am absolutely enamoured with Drosera, and am looking forward to obtaining my first. My first question is, can I grow it indoors successfully? I live in S. California so usually have ample sunlight in my west window. It is, however, very dry here. My second question is, what should I get? Obviously, it should be something easy, but I also want something small (not a large growing plant) because of space issues. Any suggestions would really be appreciated. Are the little guys for sale at Lowe's worth buying? Thanks so much! And one last question - does distilled water have to be used on all plants, or are there any that can be watered with tap water only?

Randi
 
First: It's spelled "carnivorous"

Second: Yes, there are many sundews that would grow very well on your windowsill. Some may even be able to grow outside where you are.

Third: I don't condone buying any plants from Lowe's until you are good enough with theplants to bring an ill one back to life. They don't take very good care of them. They leave em' too dry, the fertilize them, and all that.

Fourth: I recommend D. spatulata, D. adelae, and D. capensis as great beginners plants. I believe you'll find that D. capensis is harder to kill than to keep it alive. All of these are relatively small plants with D. spatulata being the smallest. None of these require dormancy.

Fifth: "The Savage Garden" by Peter D'Amato. MANDATORY READING BEFORE BUYING ANY CARNIVOROUS PLANT. There are some holes in knowledge here, but it is definitely the best source of info to growing, and keepig carnivorous plants aside from forums like this.

Sixth: Places to buy from. California Carnivores www.californiacarnivores.com, this is owned by Peter D'Amato, service: pricy, but great quality. Cook's Carnivorous Plants www.flytraps.com, service: cheap and pretty good. There are others out there, but i can safely say that these are some of the best. I have ordered from both of these, and was very happy with the plants. Others, like Tony's nursury Par O' Bek Orchids, carry carnivorous plants, but don't specialize in what you are looking for.
 
Hi Randi, and welcome to our forums! The easiest sundews are: D. spatulata and D. capensis - also very forgiving. D. adelae is a little harder and can be "squirrelly" as it declijes without apparent reason for several weeks. Another easy oneis called D. scorpioides.

Take a look at the Trading Post forum for D. scorpioides and other plants not normally onbtained through Lowes, Home Depot, and local nurseries.

Lowes: It's hit or miss with the garden centers. They don't know how to take care of the plants. If you get to them as soon as a shipment comes in, your chances are better. The will not have as much time to go down hill from neglect and unintentional abuse.

Tap water slowly kills the plants. Distilled water should be able tobe purchased at a grocery store for ~50 cents a gallon. For a couple few plants, this is sufficient. I work at a laboratory and have access to free Deionized water, but that's my good fortune. A lot of people also collect rainwater, but I understand that the rainwater in S. Cal may not be the best. some people also have RO (reverse osmosis) units. I would say, though, that grocery store bought distilled water is your best bet for now.
 
Hi Randi -

Welcome to the forums.

You might want to consider going to a Los Angeles or San Diego Carnivorous Plant Society meeting. I'm sure you would have an interesting time and you might be able to pick some really nice things there. Healthy well grown plants propagated by members.

Bill
 
Ah yes, tap water= poison. fertilizer=poison. Most of what has been said is covered in The Savage Garden. I would recommend reading it, and then consulting the forums about what isn't covered there.
 
As Bill was suggesting, there is a carnivorous plant society called: LACPS. Just do a quick Google and you can find out more info about when their next meeting is. Also, there are forum members that attend it, most notably - WickedThistle. You may want to contact her (Michelle)
 
If you go to a cp meeting and are new people will probibly give you "easy" plants (so easy once you are good at growing them they become weeds.
 
I personnaly wouldnt reccomend D. adelae, it can be picky and might just suddennly drop dead one day. It also has a VERY annoying habit of making a stem with small leaves if conditions arnt good enough(Mine did this)
 
I haven't had that problem. It is growing happily and producing sizeable leaves as it is growing larger. It doesn't even seem to be thinking about dying. It has been a little harder than D. capensis and D. spatulata for me, but not overly hard. It may be just the behavior of one plant. (some Nepenthes flower all the time until they die of exhaustion, some flower once in their lives, something like that.)
 
  • #10
Thanks everyone! I wrote down the ones to look for, and am going to check out the sites you recommended, plus I'll order The Savage Garden. You have been more helpful than you know! Thanks for being so nice to a newbie.

Randi
 
  • #11
[b said:
Quote[/b] (TunaSurprise @ Jan. 30 2005,12:12)]I haven't had that problem. It is growing happily and producing sizeable leaves as it is growing larger. It doesn't even seem to be thinking about dying. It has been a little harder than D. capensis and D. spatulata for me, but not overly hard. It may be just the behavior of one plant. (some Nepenthes flower all the time until they die of exhaustion, some flower once in their lives, something like that.)
no, LOTS of people said what Im saying.
 
  • #12
Welcome to the forums Seaecho.  I like your name.  
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I'm glad you are finding favor with drosera.  They are my favorites and you'll find yourself getting hooked.  Nothing like that sparkly diamond dew.  
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I think everyone has covered the relatively easy ones.  If you have any more questions, don't hesitate to ask.

Welcome aboard the train known as "CP addiction".  hehehe  
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  • #13
<span style='font-size:11pt;line-height:100%'>I have been growing Drosera adelae for a very long time. Some of my Drosera adelae have, from time to time, displayed the cyclical decline frequently mentioned in literature and on this forum. I must report that every time this has happened with my own Drosera adelae, close examination has revealed that the most likely cause has been spider mites. Since the plants in decline all showed heavy infestations of this obnoxious pest. This determination was made since the plants recovered quickly, after being treated to eliminate the mites.</span>
 
  • #14
very interesting. i didnt notice spidermites on mine when it kealed over but i didnt think to look either. there was high enough localized humidity that they didnt even dawn on me as a cause. i shoulda looked closer. either way as i have stated in other threads: very few Drosera can beat the look of a really well grown D. capensis. i also like spatulata although i am only growing one of the many types at the moment. mine is a lil jewel from Hong Kong which several other ppl on this forum also have and i predict seeds on the trade forums within the next few months as one of mine is about to flower so other ppls should be getting close to or are already at blooming size. it seems i predicted the opening date of the flower about a week or so short as it should open this weekend and i figured it would be last weekend.
 
  • #15
TIP: Lowe's usually sells Drosera adelae, and you won't have to struggle to save those plants if you get them at the right time, right after they are stocked, before evil Lowe's employees get the chance to bomb them with tap water, fertilizer and no sunlight.
 
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