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Thinking about buying carnivorous plants, again...

Hey everyone! Well, 6 months ago I had a nice Venus growing, but it died after some time with no reason. I used tap water treated with some fish product, and I still need to know a way to get distilled water other from the ocasional rain here in Brazil, because buying it from stores is expensive (1 gallon= 2 dollars). I am thinking about buying some Drosera because I read that they dont need hibernating, is that true? Which droseras can be kept at tropical places (Brazil) year round with no hibernation and with lots of sun? I do love VFTs but the 3 months of hibernating really :censor: badly.

Which carnivorous plants do you think I can grow here? I wanted to choose a hardy plant which needs no hibernation, lives at hot places and loves the sun.



Thank you so much!
 
Your VFT died because of nutrients buildup most likely. You can try growing Mexican Pinguicula species in all inorganic soil. They can be watered with tap water but you should also flush the pots with DI water to remove salt build up once in a while.

P.S. most drosera are usually very sensitive to nutrients buildup due to watering with tap water. Please local gurus correct me if I'm wrong.
 
Try Nepenthes....
Low-Land types.
Lots of them!

Possibly Cephs also, if you aren't too hot.
 
N. bicalcarata :-D, now run, be free!

I bet some Mexican Pinguicula could do well for you. I do think Drosera are particularly sensitive to the tap water issue.

You could just get one nice Drosera that you really like and feed it with siphoned out dosages of distilled water that you purchased?

Or perhaps revamp your rain catching system to be as optimal as it could possibly be?

It sounds like Dionaea is a bad choice for you though. You could even maybe look up what native carnivorous plants might live in your region of the world already!

Good luck.
 
I live in an apartment, so rain is not collectable lol.

By the way, its not hot, its REALLLLY HOT. Its 104F here today!
 
Petiolaris drosera. Hands down.
 
...I just want to know which drosera is hardy.
 
Ok, you'll certainly need N. bicalarata in those conditions...although it might need a weekly repotting :lol:

Their are some tropical sundews around like D. capensis and more...but they will be fried in the full sun, so shade is better. Also, if you want a unlimited amuont of nice clean pure water, then get an RO system. They usually pump out min. 1 gallon an hour.
 
This is just the conservationalist inside me talking, but, I would say don't get a sundew. Or if you do, make sure it isn't one that selfs (is pollenated by itself) easily. It'd be a shame if it was some how able to naturalize itself down there...

My suggestion, with the others, is: Lowland Nepenthes, or perhaps a mexican butterwort.
 
  • #10
This is just the conservationalist inside me talking, but, I would say don't get a sundew. Or if you do, make sure it isn't one that selfs (is pollenated by itself) easily. It'd be a shame if it was some how able to naturalize itself down there...

I'd say chances of this are rather minuscule :)
Plant that adapted to nutrients free soil over the millions of years to adapt back to nutrients rich soil/water over a couple of generations..... you are kidding :)

Unless I misunderstood something..
 
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  • #11
OK, I'm just gonna throw this out there. I sometimes buy RO/DI water from my local pet shop that has saltwater tanks. I am not familiar with your area so I don't know if you have many pet shops for saltwater, but here they charge around $0.10 a gallon. that is much better than $0.87 a gallon I pay in a bottle.
 
  • #12
I buy 1gal jugs from FoodBasics fro 0.78... I buy 12 gals a week :( Oh I need RODI system...
 
  • #13
Theres only 1 store which sells RO/DI water here and the price is SO ABUSIVE. Its like 0.50 the Liter or 1.90 a gallon! I never buy there.
 
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