CarniBog Bowl Build

[hcarlton]

Thanks for the input!

The nepenthes will certainly outgrow the bowl, that’s why I decided to not put any in the main bowl, the rockscape one. Depending on how happy the other one is, once it outgrows the other terrarium I will probably just take the whole thing down and pot everything separately. That one was only used because I didn’t have the materials on hand I thought I did, I thought the plants (minus the cephalotus) were coming potted and I didn’t have any lying around my apartment.

Can you explain by what you mean mineral? I didn’t read anything about that but obviously that doesn’t mean anything. I read many people use perlite, peat, and sand, which isn’t mineral- dense either.

Concerning the heat, I don’t believe that will be a problem. These are being kept in my apartment windowsill that gets sun until about 11:30ish and then the LED grow light I have kicks on. The light doesn’t put any heat out at all really. What you said about the algae may be a problem I hadn’t considered, would algae be a bad thing or just unsightly?

Mexican butterworts grow on extremely rocky or mineral-rich soils, and should be grown in mixes composed primarily of such things as perlite, Turface, vermiculite, sand, or other mineral-based elements. Planting them in mixes high in organic materials such as peat or sphagnum will lead to an extremely high risk of rotting, particularly if they're kept wet (unlike other carnivores, they want to be just damp, and only during their summer growth phases). Algae, depending on what carnivore you're trying to grow and what algae ends up growing, may just be unsightly but it can also turn the soil anaerobic (which leads to rot) and some do release toxic compounds, particularly as they decompose and especially if they're lower down in the soil as opposed to exposed to air on the surface.

[JoeR]

Mexican butterworts grow on extremely rocky or mineral-rich soils, and should be grown in mixes composed primarily of such things as perlite, Turface, vermiculite, sand, or other mineral-based elements. Planting them in mixes high in organic materials such as peat or sphagnum will lead to an extremely high risk of rotting, particularly if they're kept wet (unlike other carnivores, they want to be just damp, and only during their summer growth phases). Algae, depending on what carnivore you're trying to grow and what algae ends up growing, may just be unsightly but it can also turn the soil anaerobic (which leads to rot) and some do release toxic compounds, particularly as they decompose and especially if they're lower down in the soil as opposed to exposed to air on the surface.

The mix the butterworts are in is a mixture of sand and sphagnum, with a little bit of peat but not too much. The sand should provide the minerals should it not? Is the sand a problem for the other carnivores?

Since the butterworts don’t like to be too wet I’ll avoid misting them for the most part

[hcarlton]

The mix the butterworts are in is a mixture of sand and sphagnum, with a little bit of peat but not too much. The sand should provide the minerals should it not? Is the sand a problem for the other carnivores?

Since the butterworts don’t like to be too wet I’ll avoid misting them for the most part

If you're using sand, then the soil for the butterworts should be almost, if not entirely sand. A little peat is fine to help maintain moisture and add what little organic material they do want, but it should not be a primary component. And sand is a main component of most other CP mixes as well; the standard is 50:50 peat/sand or perlite.
You should not really mist any of your plants; most do not like water sitting on their leaves (butterworts will rot, Nepenthes may attract fungus, it washes the dew off sundews etc.) and it does little other than temperature shock them and barely raises local humidity for more than an hour or so, so they experience fluctuations they will not like. Let them acclimate to your conditions, and they'll be fine with just getting moisture from the soil.

[JoeR]

If you're using sand, then the soil for the butterworts should be almost, if not entirely sand. A little peat is fine to help maintain moisture and add what little organic material they do want, but it should not be a primary component. And sand is a main component of most other CP mixes as well; the standard is 50:50 peat/sand or perlite.
You should not really mist any of your plants; most do not like water sitting on their leaves (butterworts will rot, Nepenthes may attract fungus, it washes the dew off sundews etc.) and it does little other than temperature shock them and barely raises local humidity for more than an hour or so, so they experience fluctuations they will not like. Let them acclimate to your conditions, and they'll be fine with just getting moisture from the soil.

Hmm maybe I should add more sand to the area where the butterworts are, I’m worried about disturbing the roots too much though. And okay I’ll lay off the misting, I figured in an apartment as dry as mine they would need it. I’ve been misting my Nepenthes specimen several times daily and it’s really doing well, so I figured the others would benefit too. Note taken

[hcarlton]

Hmm maybe I should add more sand to the area where the butterworts are, I’m worried about disturbing the roots too much though. And okay I’ll lay off the misting, I figured in an apartment as dry as mine they would need it. I’ve been misting my Nepenthes specimen several times daily and it’s really doing well, so I figured the others would benefit too. Note taken

It would be better they be planted in a separate container, not just adding more sand to their "spot" in a terrarium. The moisture levels the other carnivores will want will leave them still rather wet even in a highly drained sand mix. And in acclimation, if they came from a high humidity location you will want them started out in a closed system (covered with plastic, in a bag, etc.) that is slowly opened up a little over the course of a few weeks until new leaves developing are developing within your household conditions. Old leaves will wilt and dry up, but this is expected.

[JoeR]

It would be better they be planted in a separate container, not just adding more sand to their "spot" in a terrarium. The moisture levels the other carnivores will want will leave them still rather wet even in a highly drained sand mix. And in acclimation, if they came from a high humidity location you will want them started out in a closed system (covered with plastic, in a bag, etc.) that is slowly opened up a little over the course of a few weeks until new leaves developing are developing within your household conditions. Old leaves will wilt and dry up, but this is expected.

Would it be a good idea to repot them now, even after the stress of shipping and everything? If so, what’s your preferred mix?

[hcarlton]

Would it be a good idea to repot them now, even after the stress of shipping and everything? If so, what’s your preferred mix?

Mexican butterworts do not have sensitive roots, and use them more to hold them in place than anything else. Putting them in a proper mix now won't hurt them. I use a mix of 3:3:1 Turface/perlite/peat.

[JoeR]

Just a little update-

As you can see in the pictures, the bowls have matured quite bit in a short amount of time. Small flowering plants are popping up, and so far Ive left them as I think they add a nice touch to the bowl. They also help to keep the soil aerated. I ended up swapping out the substrate in the lower half of the bowl to a mix that I think the species down there would prefer, and I did notice when repotting the butterworts that the larger one already had two baby shoots, so I separated them and they are now in a different container. Note, also, that the larger one managed to catch a decent sized insect- super cool!

Additionally I've added a species of Liverwort that I don't have a definite ID on, hopefully the pure water I use wont affect it. This bowl is very much a trial and error run.

The cephalotus is the only one not showing much progress. It came with a lot, maybe 15 small traps, and all but about three have turned brown. However, the actual plants leaves look great still and are a nice green. So I'm not too concerned yet, I know they don't tolerate their roots being messed with so hopefully its just recovering. It was the most expensive plant I bought and I was more excited about it than any of the others, so hopefully it pulls through.