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Lewisburg, Tennessee

D

defiantNX

Hey, I am Michael. I am new to growing carnivorous plants correctly. I have been interested in carnivorous plants for a long time. I also have an interest in hydroponics, aeroponics, and aquaponics. I want to eventually experiment with hydroponics and carnivorous plants. I have seen several posts on growing carnivores by means of hydroponics and they are all very interesting.

I am currently growing:
Drosera binata
Drosera capillaris
Drosera intermedia
Drosera adelae
Venus flytrap (I haven't memorized or learned to pronounce the scientific name yet)
Purple pitcher plant (" ")
Utricularia subulata
Utricularia intermedia
Utricularia bisquamata
Utricularia sandersonii
Utricularia praelonga x livida
Pinguicula primuliflora
Darlingtonia (not sure of exact species)
Nepenthes ampullaria

I have only been growing these species for maybe 2 months (just got in the Nepenthes, Darlingtonia, Pinguicula, Drosera adelae, U. bisquamata, U. sandersonii, and U. praelonga x livida about a week ago)

Oh, and I am excited because 2 of my Drosera binata have flower stalks.
Also, I haven't put any of my plants through dormancy yet. My plans are to fit a mini fridge with grow lights and an insulated glass door so they can continue to photosynthesis during dormancy and I can still see them.

Almost all my plants are growing in a peat:sand mix except for the Nepenthes ampullaria because I had it shipped potted.

If anyone would like to offer advice on my soil, plants, dormancy idea, or anything else, then feel free. I look forward to learning as much as I can about these plants and maybe even being able to contribute to the carnivorous plant community. Also, I have The Savage Garden to help me out too. It is a great book and I have been recommending it to anyone that asks me about carnivorous plants.
 
Welcome to the forum!
 
You have the single greatest Nepenthes ever. Amp is my fav species. I wish I could grow it outdoors though. :(

Welcome! ^_^
 
Welcome.

Vft is a Dionaea muscipula, purple pitcher plant is Sarracenia purpurea, and the Darlingtonia is Darlingtonia californica. Like the vft, Darlingtonia is a monotypical genus. Good news for you regarding dormancy, you should be able to leave them outside all year. They will go through dormancy naturally in your climate.
 
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Welcome to TF!
 
Welcome to TF!
 
Thank you for all the "welcome"'s :)
I thought about leaving my plants outside for dormancy but it gets very cold here during the winter and I am not sure how I would insulate the pots to keep the roots from freezing solid. I read that Darlingtonia can be frozen solid if the plant is completely dormant but I'm not sure if I am willing to test that.

I did start off growing my Sarracenia purpurea and vft outside but it was suppose to get in the low 40's one night and I wasn't sure if they could survive that.

And yeah, Pineapple, Nepenthes amp is one of my favorites too. I never knew what species it was but I always remembered seeing pictures of it so I finally decided to look it up and get one. Unfortunately it has no pitchers right now and I have read that Nepenthes are slow growers so it may be a while before I get any pitchers.
 
They can actually survive light frosts. Originally I just looked at your USDA hardiness zone. http://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/PHZMWeb/ You are in zone 7a, vfts grow in 8a. Usually i would say temperates would be fine, but after checking your average lows though you might be a little cold December - February, but just a bit. You are correct about not wanting to let the pots freeze. If you get constant lows below 30 F then you would want to protect them. You could keep it as simple as putting them in a garage or something overnight.
 
I have no garage or basement. I have thought about insulating the pots with great stuff or wrapping heat wire around the pots to keep them warmer, but I like the fridge idea better because I can control the temperature although it may be harder if I put a different door on the fridge. I already have a spare mini fridge that I can modify and my dad has agreed to help me.
 
  • #10
Welcome to TF!

I'm planning my 1st foray into aeroponics soon with some Nep cuttings - feel free to offer advice.

I see in your growlist that you have U. subulata & bisquamata. I recommend burning both asap (unless the bisquamata is 'Betty's Bay'). Both are super invasive & will populate every pot you own. Some people may even refuse to trade with you when everything is infected with them.
 
  • #11
Hi and welcome to the forum.
I'm also into aquaponics, but have yet to stick any carnivorous plants in my system. I love how easy it is to grow things in this type of system. So much easier than ground crops. What type of media do you use? I've been thinking about testing out a small system using sand. I think some of the smaller plants like the droseras would do better in this rather than the lava rocks I use now for vegetables.

Do you have pictures of your set up? I'd love to see if you do :)
 
  • #12
Welcome. You're just a few towns over. I live in Summertown. I keep my sarrs and vft outside yr round. I basically trim away all of the pitchers (except on the purps), treat w/ sulfur (anti-fungal), place the plants in a lined hole in the ground and cover with straw. I them dig them out a few months later. The only problem i have had was a few years ago I took them out too early and a week long cold spell into single digits killed some of my vft.
 
  • #13
love the see your Utricularia set up's
welcome to the forum
 
  • #14
Actually my subulata doesn't seem to be growing very well but I have already transplanted it once since I got it so maybe it is still in shock. My utricularia are growing in small glass vases with LFS. I just got U. tricolor and U. alpina today. I planted the tricolor the same as my other Utricularia but I planted the alpina with cypress mulch in the bottom of the pot and a mix of cypress, LFS, and sand in the top part. I don't like the way the substrate looks though so I may try to get something else later.

I don't currently have any aquaponic or aeroponic setups. I am a newbie and haven't actually tried any alternative growing setups yet but I am getting a few things together to set up a small aquaponic system with lettuce or mint. I'm hoping I can use my axolotl's tank as part of my aquaponic setup. Axolotl create a lot of waste which will be a great plant fertilizer but at the same time, axies like cold water and very little water movement so hopefully I can work around that.
Divaskid, to answer your question, I plan to use hydroton as a substrate or LECA. There is actually something else I may use but it is even lighter than hydroton or LECA. It is called Feather-Lite and it is sold by Black Jungle Terrarium. I'm honestly not sure what it is though.

Chezilla, how deep should the hole be? I think I can get away without letting my vft or sarracenia's go dormant this year but I might use your idea. Not having to worry about my vft or sarrs for a winter would be cool plus I would have more room to grow my other plants.

Uphwiz, I'll post a picture in a couple days. I hope it is ok if I post the picture here.

I am also excited because my leaf cuttings with my Drosera binata finally started producing baby plantlets and my Nepenthes ampullaria is producing it's first pitcher!
I also recently received 2 Drosera capensis, capensis seeds, spatulata seeds, and I just ordered a Pinguicula caerulea, P. planifolia, Sarracenia psittacina, S. leucophylla, Drosera filiformis filiformis, and D. filiformis tracyi.

I'm very excited to grow these plants to their full potential and I will upload some pictures soon.
 
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