TerraForums Venus Flytrap, Nepenthes, Drosera and more talk
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After a few years of struggle, this plant is now in its 3rd growing season under my care. It has divided, sent out a stolon, and sent up a flower last year, with one emerging right now.
It's possible to grow them indoors, but you may want to wait until you get the hang of indoor cultivation as they aren't your typical houseplant. They'll probably do better outside until you've got some more experience under your belt. Heat can present a problem, but you can overcome that by shading the pot behind a reflective or heat-absorbent material. If you have any other outdoor plants, like a Sarracenia, put them into pots that are a little bigger than your Darlingtonia pot, and then surround the Darlingtonia with Sarracenia pots so that the plant gets sunlight but the sides of the pot don't. As long as you keep all the pots in question watered properly, evaporation and nighttime cooling should keep the roots cool enough. Large, deep pots with well-drained media also help in this respect.
~Joe
I'm not sure. I'm on a coastal climate where there's nighttime cooling pretty much year-round. How long is your hot season? I think it will work, but you may want to consider something like circulating water. Build a little water feature that flows over the pot. Plant it using a porous mix with something like lava rock, and add live Sphagnum moss on top. The Sphagnum helps keep the sunlight from heating the soil surface and I think it may also provide some evaporative cooling as it wicks up water and photosynthesizes. Darlingtonia grow in the wild on seeps and stuff and can take conditions that are pretty harsh. Oregon isn't known for heat, especially the valley and coastal regions where Darlingtonia is native, but it can easily get into the 100's for several weeks at a time at the height of the Summer. The key is making sure the roots are happy.
~Joe
I think that it is very hot from june to late august. I don't have any live spaghnum, so I guess I need to get some to start to grow. Any tips? Also, how do you think I should build this water feature?(I think I know what you mean but I am not sure) Thanks.
I think what he means by 'water feature' is a small water pump that would continuously pump cool water gently around the roots, so the roots are kept cool and oxygenated.
Oh, I think I might have one of those. My dad got one to pump water off the pool cover. I'll see if I can get it pump slow enough. So your saying pump water on to the top of the soil and have the water return to the water container that the pump is in. is this right?
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