Carnivorous Plants, Are They Right For You

Carnivorous Plants, are they right for you?

Who isn't fascinated by carnivorous plants? I've seen grown men on their hands and knees next to my bog garden trying to tease Venus fly traps to close. Or who hasn't wondered at Mother Nature's psychiatric profile for designing these little monsters of death? PMS expressed in the form of plants. It could have been worse, people, it could have been worse. They could be the size of trees and prefer their meals to be human.

Of course, you will have to endure the kidding of friends and family if you decide to acquire and grow carnivorous plants. "Got to feed Master", "Geeze, you've got a dark side to you", and the ever popular, "Where's the cat? Has anybody seen the cat?" are the ones I hear. Let them scoff, they're just jealous because when no one is looking, they are right there trying to tease a Venus flytrap to close.

Here’s a summary of what carnivorous plants, in general, need. Most come from a bog environment which means very acidic soil, often peat, and constantly wet. It can be duplicated in the house by mixing half pure peat moss and half sand or perlite. The water is as critical as providing the acidic soil mix. Water needs to be pure with no minerals in it. This can be provided by using rain water collected for this purpose, water from a dehumidifier, or store bought distilled water. Carnivores can be grown in un-drained containers like yogurt cups that are kept wet or in pots with drainage holes set in another container that can hold a couple of inches of water. Nearly all of the carnivores need full sun so then need to be grown under lights or in very sunny window. All can go outdoors for the summer to make pigs out of themselves catching and eating insects. If they come from an environment that causes them to become dormant, that must be observed. Those that need a cold winter to go dormant can be kept in the fridge over winter in a little damp peat in a plastic bag if they can’t be overwintered outdoors. Some sundews go dormant during hot, dry summers and do their growing in the cool rainy season. Carnivorous plants can be fed live insects that are caught for it or let it catch them on the window sill or outdoors in the summer. It's not a good idea to feed carnivorous plants ground beef or other meat. It's just too fatty and pure protein and they have a hard time digesting it and it often goes bad and rots the plant. Never, ever feed carnivores plant fertilizer. They make their own food from the sun and the insects they catch add nutrients they can’t get from the bog soil. Fertilizer can burn them and cause all sorts of problems such as root death and rampant algae and slime mold growth. Slime mold is definitely unsightly and looks like its name.

How do they catch insects? All have some way of luring insects to their doom. The sundew’s dew drops look sticky and they might be sweet, the butterworts are often light or pale green which attracts fungus gnats and aphids, as well as they may emit a fungus like odor. Venus fly traps waits until an insect crawls into the trap and triggers the hairs that make it snap shut. They all secrete enzymes and acids to digest their prey. Some, like the sundews, wrap more of their leaf around the victim, sometimes, as with the long leaved kinds, tying themselves in a knot. They move, but not quickly.

The basics are out of the way, I would like to describe a few. If it is allowed through this article site, I will provide links to pictures. I submit many articles to many sites and some allow links in the body, some don’t, some limit the number of links per article, etc. I will discuss the species I have because I know them the best. I will start with the sundews because I’m partial to them.

>Sundews.

Sundews come in a variety of shapes and sizes, gigantic multi-tentacles down to pygmies which are no bigger than a dime. They come from every continent except Antarctica, from all types of environments…ones that are hot, warm, experience hot dry seasons, cold winters, cool year round, etc. Some may be able to spend the entire year outdoors depending on the climate and the species. I kept several Drosera intermidia, round leaf sundews, and a few varieties of thread leaf sundews outdoors in a bog garden (read that: in a turtle sandbox that I converted to a bog garden) in upstate NY where they had to endure possible winter temperatures of -25 F. Now, I put all the carnivorous plants in the fridge for their winter dormancy. Put a little peat moss dampened with distilled or rainwater in a zip lock bag, close it, label and date it, and put it in the fridge until March. I start checking for signs of growth then and if I see any, I take them out and pot them up. If I don’t see growth, I take them out in April regardless. They usually spend from November-April in dormancy. The one thing they all have in common is the sticky, sparkly, bits of dew which is used to capture prey.

Drosera capensis ‘alba’ and red variety. This plant will self pollinate and produce a lot of seed, which if you don't want them seeding every pot in your collection, it's best to collect it....a form of birth control. Then you can choose where and when they multiply. These are interesting members of the Drosera genus. Their leaves move rather slowly, but eventually will wrap around their victim like a knot. I highly recommend this plant as a beginner's carnivore. It is easy to grow from seed because it requires no special treatment. The seed germinates quickly and the seedlings grow quickly as well. When it gets to about 3-4 inches tall, it will send up tall flower stalks which will bear white flowers if ‘alba’ or pink if it is one of the red varieties. As the flowers mature up the stalk from the bottom, tap the stalk over something to collect the seed. Store in the fridge or sow immediately. Put an inch or so of soil mix for carnivores in an un-drained container. Make sure it is very moist with distilled or rain water and sprinkle the seeds on the surface. Keep it warm and make sure it is very wet all the time, Germination is usually in a few weeks depending on the temperature. The following is a link to a cool picture of a D.capensis with quite a large "mouthful" >D.capensis.

Droseras intermidia and rotundifolia. These are 2 sundews that are from northern climates and can overwinter outdoors. The round leaf one (rotundifolia) grows in a rosette close to the ground and actually likes to be in live sphagnum moss. It will grow in regular carnivore mix and will do so to about 3-4 inches across. D. intermedia grows as a rosette with its leaves more upright. The leaves on both these plants will wrap around their victim, but do it slowly.


Drosera burmanni ‘Beerwha’ which is light green with white flowers and regular D. brumanni which is light green with red tentacles, are annuals. This means that they live only one growing season. These grow very quickly from seed, flower, set seed, and die. Seed must be saved and sown in order to continue having this type. These grow as close to the ground rosettes and the biggest they get is an inch and a half. >Drosera burmanni.

Pygmy sundews. There are quite a few of these and I won’t list species. This type of sundew is tiny. Most times not any bigger than a dime or nickel rosette and they often grow in colonies. Pygmies generally come from environments where they go dormant through a dry summer and actively grow only during the cool, rainy season. Pygmies can be kept from going dormant if they are kept moist throughout the year. One thing they do that is very interesting is produce something called gemmae. These are asexual reproductive bodies. They form in the center of the crown when the days get shorter like little green seeds though they are not seeds. These come easily from the plant and they can be sprinkled on damp media and they will begin to grow in a few weeks and become more plants. These also flower but I have never been able to collect viable seed from them.

Drosera binata, forked leaf sundews. This type of sundew grows leaves that are shaped like a “y”. The sticky bits are the forks of the “y”. These can get gigantic. Some forms that split into several forks can become a mass of impenetrable sticky death. They prefer to have a dormant period.

Butterworts

These carnivorous plants are also low to the ground rosettes. Their leaves are generally wide with curled edges. These are called butterworts because their surfaces are slippery like butter. When an insect lands on the leaf, it gets stuck to the slipperiness and the edges of the leaves curl slightly to contain the enzymes, acids, and nutrient soup that comes from the digestion of the insect. These come from all types of climates. Ones from tropical areas do not need a cold period, northern ones do.

Venus fly traps

Last, but by no means least, the world’s most popular carnivore, the Venus fly trap. This is the one that fascinates. Inside the trap, there are 3 trigger hairs. When an insect enters the trap and it triggers 2 hairs or one hair twice, the trap dramatically closes. This occurs quickly and is a surprise because plants just aren’t supposed to move like that. The trap doesn’t close all the way at first. The claw-like projections interlace to form prison bars. If it is an insect small enough to get through the bars, it escapes and the trap reopens. If it is too large to escape and keeps moving around, the trap closes and seals and begins digesting the insect. I rarely see flies in these plants. I find earwig carcasses and daddy long leg spiders. The latter is very pitiful. The juicy big bit that is the body and the head is completely shut in the trap and the long legs are sticking out of the trap, and here’s the pitiful part, they are twitching. I think they are going after the insect carcasses in the mistaken notion that they are alive and will become a meal. In fact, it is them that become the meal. Venus fly traps can only take temperatures down to about 20 F. Mine spend the winter in the fridge as described previously.

There you have it, a short introduction to a few carnivorous plants. I find it a very rewarding hobby and the ones I mentioned are usually easy to find. Just do a google search for sundews or carnivorous plants and some are sure to be located to become part of your collection. If you can provide the correct growing conditions and are fascinated by them, carnivorous plants definitely are for you.