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Carnivorous Plants

*Never use fertilizers or soils with minerals, salts or anything added (NO Miracle-Gro)

Drosera Care: Sundews do best in partial shade to full sun. They are well suited for growing on window ledges or outdoors during warm months. They must be watered with non-chlorinated water preferably with a low TDS (between 0 and 25ppm). You can use rain water, RO or distilled. Allow to dry slightly but not completely in between waterings. When watering, place plants in a tray and pour water in tray about 1/2” (referred to as the tray method). Avoid watering the crown of the plant. Temperature should be maintained between 60°F and 85°F. They are not too particular about humidity requirements. If your Drosera has little to no dew, increase light. They generally do well in open terrariums. *Filiformis, binata and intermedia will die back during the winter to form a “winter bud”. In the spring it will ‘wake up’ and begin producing leaves again.

Pinguicula Care: Butterworts do best in partial shade with bright indirect light. They are well suited for growing on window ledges or outdoors during warm months. They must be watered with non-chlorinated water preferably with a low TDS (between 0 and 25ppm). You can use rain water, RO or distilled. They do not like to dry out but do occasionally tolerate being flooded. When watering, place plants in a tray and pour water in tray until it is at least ½ way up the pot (referred to as the tray method). Primuliflora have shallow root systems and need to have access to plenty of water. Try to avoid watering the crown of the plant. Temperature should be maintained between 50°F and 85°F. They can survive lower temperatures but will cease to grow until temperatures are warmer. They generally do well in open terrariums.

Mexican Pings: Tropical pings like sandy soil. They can take good strong light and warm temperatures. They need rain/RO or distilled water and like to dry slightly between watering. I like to top water them but do not let the water get into the crown of the plant. They will go into dormancy in the winter where they will produce small, succulent leaves instead of carnivorous ones. It is not important to drop the temperature during this time but make sure you keep them more dry (I water once a week but maintain 65% humidity). When they start producing larger leaves again, increase watering to normal.

Nepenthes: We primarily focus on Lowland/ Intermediate species/ varieties. These particular Nepenthes do well with bright, indirect sunlight. We grow ours under 50% shade cloth. You will know if they are receiving adequate light when the leaves take on an orange to red tint. If the leaves go deep red then the plant is getting too much sun. They must be kept moist at all times using de-chlorinated water preferably with a low TDS (rain water or distilled works well). A drop in temperatures is good for these species. They do best with daytime temperatures in the 70-80°F with a 10° drop at night. Do not allow the temperature to fall below 60°F though. They prefer a humidity of 60% or more. If you cannot achieve a high humidity, mist the plant as needed paying special attention to developing tendrils and pitchers.  *If the insides of the pitchers are dry when you receive it, place about a tablespoon of distilled/rainwater in each one. It will prevent it from drying out until it starts producing again.

Venus Flytrap: These plants enjoy part shade/full shade and must be grown outdoors for long term success. They are native to an area on the border between North and South Carolina meaning that they can tolerate a larger range of temperatures.  Never allow the pot to dry out; the soil must stay moist at all times.  The best way to do this is using the ‘tray method’.  Simply put, have the pot sit in a tray that is always about ½” deep with water. Do not use tap or well water, these sources are high in ‘total dissolved solids (tds).  Instead use rain, reverse-osmosis (RO), distilled, etc.   Dormancy is important. Do not allow pot to freeze but a cold spell of temperatures around 40°F for around 3 months is beneficial. If you are in Zone 8 or higher, you can leave the plant outside in a pot with no issues (bring inside if there is a hard freeze).  If in Zone 4-7, plant the flytrap in the soil and protect with a thick layer of pine needles. During dormancy the flytrap will produce smaller, more compact traps that hug the soil. These traps will be lethargic and will trigger slowly or not at all. When temperatures warm up during spring, the plants will replace their winter traps with full sized, robust traps. *Never touch the inside of or feed the traps “people food” such as ground meat. These plants are masters at catching insects such as spiders, and flies. It’s important to remember that traps are modified leaves so it is normal for old traps to die and new ones to grow. Individual traps will only trigger a finite number of times before they will no long function and die.

Sarracenia: American pitcher plants like to be outdoors. They do well in full sun, bog environments. Make sure their roots and rhizomes stay wet during the growing season. If you must water them, use rain, RO or distilled water. They can tolerate high temperatures as long as they do not dry out. Sarracenias are hardy to zones 4. During the winter they will go dormant and stop producing pitchers. You can protect them from hard freezes and biting winds by covering with leaves and burlap during the coldest winter months. Make sure they do not go dry during this time. In the spring they will ‘wake up’ and produce new pitchers and flower if old enough.