SECRET #1: Know thy plant.
This may seem like a no-brainer, but one that first-time growers
overlook. There are many types of carnivorous plants occurring
on every continent in the world, except Antarctica.
If you were to go on a world-wide expedition looking for as many
types of carnivorous plants you can possibly find, you will
discover carnivorous plants growing in Japan, China, Australia,
India, South Africa, Spain, France, Ireland, Brazil, Mexico,
Canada and the United States.
If you were to explore the United States alone, you will find
carnivorous plants in nearly all of the 50 states, including
Hawaii and Alaska.
So, the first secret in keeping your carnivorous plants alive,
healthy and beautiful is to know what type of carnivorous plant
you have. With thousands of species of carnivorous plants in the
world, each type requires their own care.
Hopefully, your plant came with a tag that identifies its
species. If not, visit Sar
racenia Northwest for a list of carnivorous plants that
are commonly grown in cultivation.
http://www.cobraplant.com/grow-carnivorous-plants.html
SECRET #2: Brighten their days with full sun.
Once you know what type of carnivorous plants you have, just
duplicate their natural surroundings. This means giving your
plants the type of sun exposure and water they might experience
in the wild.
Lets start with sun. It often surprises many people to find out
that the vast majority of carnivorous plants enjoy full sun. You
see, carnivorous plants grow in bogs, which are open fields of
wetlands.
Most people confuse bogs with marshes. Marshes typically are
closer to the ocean and contain slightly salted water. Marshes
are also overgrown with trees, making them shady.
Bogs, on the other hand, contain fresh water, usually bubbling
up from an underground spring, and can be found on mountaintops
and other places far away from the ocean. If you see a bog in
nature, you will notice that there are no trees in it. So, all
plants growing in a bog are exposed to full sun.
This is true for Venus Flytraps, North American Pitcher Plants
and nearly all Sundews. As a result, these plants do best
growing in 6-8 hours of direct sunlight during their growing
season. Four hours of direct sunlight are definitely the
absolute minimum. Anything less than that will cause your plants
to struggle for survival.
The only types of carnivorous plants that are not exposed to
full sun in the wild are Asian Pitcher Plants, Butterworts and
some species of Sundews. These plants prefer bright indirect
light.
Now you know what types of carnivorous plants you have, give it
the proper sunlight. With US native plants, grow them outside
during the growing season (spring through fall). With Asian
Pitcher Plants and Butterworts, grow them in a window that
receives bright indirect light.
If you do not have enough natural light, use 20-40W fluorescent
light tubes or fluorescent compact bulbs that are equivalent to
100W. Keep the light source about 8 inches above the plant, and
keep it on for 12-14 hours per day.
Avoid using incandescent bulbs because it produces too much heat
and the wrong type of light.
Secret #3: Soak their feet.
After giving your carnivorous plants the right amount of light
(full sun, partial sun or indirect light), now you need to make
sure it gets the right amount of water.
Nearly all carnivorous plants grow in bogs, which are constantly
wet. So, if you want to duplicate what they experience out in
nature, you need to provide constantly wet soil.
Some people prefer to simply water their plants every day.
Personally, I find this to be a real drag, especially when I
have so many other things to do, like watch a good DVD or
scratch my dog’s belly.
The easiest way to make sure the soil is constantly wet is to
keep your plant in a bit of standing water. Use a tray, bowl,
saucer or any container that holds water. Fill the container
with water and place your plant right in. Allow the water to go
half way up the pot. Just make sure you do not drown the crown
or base of the plant. Remember, they are bog plants, not water
plants (big difference!).
But, before your plants start soaking their little feet, make
the water is relatively pure. It does not need to be blessed by
a Tibetan monk, but it should at least have low levels of
minerals (less than 100 parts per million). Check with your
local aquarium supply store for water hardness kits.
You can use distilled water or rainwater, but this is feasible
only if you have only a few carnivorous plants. If you are like
me, you might have several thousand.
In that case, local tap water will do just fine. If the water
has a lot of naturally occurring minerals or additives to make
the water soft, consider hooking your hose up to a
reverse-osmosis unit. Check your local hardware store for this
type of filter.
Avoid using simple charcoal-filtration units. Although they are
great in removing chlorine and other not-so-tasty chemicals,
they are inadequate in removing minerals.
One more thing: some carnivorous plants prefer not to have their
feet dunked in water. This is true with Asian Pitcher Plants.
They prefer to have moist soil rather than wet soil. With these
plants, water them once or twice weekly.
Secret #4: Season your plants.
One day while I was at the Farmers’ Market selling my
carnivorous plants, a customer stopped by and said that she had
the good fortune to see a type of carnivorous plant growing in
the wild while visiting friends in Canada.
I immediately knew which plant she had seen, so I held up a
Purple Pitcher Plant and she exclaimed, “Yes, that is the plant
I saw!”
I then told her how easy it was to grow that plant outdoors all
year round, to which she replied, “But during the winter, you
have to bring them indoors, right?”
“Why would you need to do that?”
“Because it will get too cold for them,” she stated with
authority.
At that point, I was very puzzled. So, I said to her, “If you
saw them growing in the wild in Canada, surely they can live
outdoors in Oregon. It gets much colder in Canada than it does
in Oregon.”
It amazes me how often some people assume that just because a
plant is carnivorous it is: 1) tropical, 2) delicate, and 3)
difficult to grow. This is precisely why people kill their
carnivorous plants. They treat them as a tropical, delicate
carnivorous plant that is difficult to grow without knowing if
they actually have a tropical, delicate carnivorous plant that
is difficult to grow. This is definitely a recipe for disaster.
All carnivorous plants native to the United States and Canada
are considered temperate plants, meaning they go dormant during
the winter months, and come right back to life in spring and
summer. Other non-carnivorous plants that do this are roses,
daisies, daffodils and thousands upon thousands of other types
of plants grown all around the world.
This is why Secret #1 is a very important secret. You need to
know what type of plant you have to determine whether it
requires winter dormancy or if it needs to be indoors during
those cold winter months.
Temperate plants need to rest up for spring. Without their
winter rest, they get very cranky and may fail to grow in
spring. Think of how you feel when you do not get enough sleep.
So, if you want healthy vibrant plants in spring, give them a
winter rest. They might even reward you with flowers!
Secret #5: Hold the fertilizer, please.
If you want gorgeous looking carnivorous plants during the
growing season, repot your plants right before they come out of
dormancy. In most cases, this would be in March. Repotting your
plants serves two purposes.
Firstly, carnivorous plants need room to grow. Depending on the
species, some rhizomes can get quite large. Other species have
long deep taproots. So, it is important that you give these guys
enough root space.
Secondly, changing the soil yearly aerates the roots. With fresh
oxygen, roots will grow more robustly, producing healthier
plants.
Springtime is also a time when you should cut off dead leaves
or any leaves that have turned brown. This will prevent fungal
infections and increase sunlight to the base of the plant.
When repotting your plants, a standard soil mix to use is 1 part
peat moss and 1 part perlite. Peat moss adds acidity and retains
moisture, while perlite provides drainage.
This soil recipe is sufficient for 80% of all carnivorous
plants. You can adjust the recipe by adding more perlite or
other inert matter to increase the drainage. Just make sure the
soil is void of nutrients and fertilizer.
Fertilizer is toxic to carnivorous plants and will burn their
roots. (Very painful.) Carnivorous plants will get all of their
nutrients from insects caught in their leaves.
There you have it! You have just read the TOP 5 SECRETS TO
KEEPING YOUR CARNIVOROUS PLANTS ALIVE, HEALTHY AND BEAUTIFUL.
You learned:
Secret #1: Correctly identify the type of carnivorous
plant you have. Remember, not all carnivorous plants are created
equal. Some grow in temperate bogs, while others grow in hot
humid jungles.
Secret #2: Brighten their days with full sun.
Secret #3: Soak their feet.
Secret #4: Season your plants.
Secret #5: Repot yearly and hold the fertilizer.
Each secret is an important part of the foundation on which you
can grow beautiful carnivorous plants all year round.
Believe it or not, you now know more about growing carnivorous
plants than you local nursery. Really, when was the last time
you saw Venus Flytraps being sold in the outdoor plant section?
In nearly all cases, you will find them in the indoor plant
section, amongst the tropical plants.
When you follow these simple steps, your carnivorous plants will
have no choice but grow into healthy and beautiful plants that
you can be proud of!
BONUS SECRET! Always start with healthy and beautiful
carnivorous plants. Make sure the seller is growing them
correctly; otherwise you will have an uphill battle trying to
keep your plants alive.
For healthy and beautiful carnivorous plants direct from
experienced growers, visit Sarracenia Northwest at
http://www.cobraplant.com.
|
