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Greetings from Sunny Santa Barbara!

  • Thread starter Waterwheel
  • Start date
In terms of location for plant growing, I lucked out. Santa Barbara, California, is the only place in the United States with pristine growing weather to match Hawaii's climate. I consider myself a hobbyist with a flare for the impractical and exotic. Other than my current Nepenthes I own a salt water fish tank which I am the sole caretaker of. I'm sure that's fairly common, but since I'm in high school it provides the challenge of keeping up my bank account steady and the coral alive.

I've owned exactly 4 Venus Flytraps in my lifetime. I bought all of them from the nearest Home Depot when I was far younger. At the time their cheapness delighted me, but after realizing the fate of most when they arrive home I'm no longer as enthused. Due to what seem like purposefully hidden guidelines I watered all of them with non-distilled water and they all, unfortunately, passed. Since then I successfully cared for Judith Hindle which I kept on the porch outside. Shielded from some sunlight but exposed to the temperatures and bugs. It never gets to hot or too cold. It did just fine until I had to evacuate for the California wildfires where some creature knocked it off the table and I also wasn't there to water it.

That was a while ago. I got the urge to start looking for another one recently. As I was doing my research one plant stuck out in particular. I liked the neat shapes of the Jamban and Lowii, the pretty peristomes of the Hamata, but what really got me was the Nepenthes Attenboroughii. It only grows in one mountain in the world, Mount Victoria. It's illegal to ship out of it's natural environment, most websites turn up Chinese scammers claiming to sell seeds, and almost every store I went to was sold out. I entered an ebay auction, but someone upped my bid of $95 to $195 less than a second before it ended. I saved up and kept looking and 3 weeks ago I finally found one and it shipped from only the state over. I have it now sitting next to my kitchen window and it's currently my only carnivorous plant. It's setup is a large vase with plastic wrap over the top to keep humidity high. The pot is suspended over water so that it is not soaking, but evaporation causes the water to rain back down into it steadily. It's cheap. I know. But it's worked pretty well so far. I'll post more about that with pictures on a different threat right after releasing this.

Thank you for having me on the site. I hope to broaden my knowledge and my makeshift greenhouse.
 
If you want to shoot me your address, I have some pings and sundews that should just be able to get thrown outside and thrive for you. Welcome to the forums.
 
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