Carnivorous plants have started to attract more and more flower lovers due to their survival instinct: they can live in places poor in nutrients, feeding only on live insects. Although their name sounds like a title worthy of a horror film, carnivorous plants are becoming increasingly popular among plant lovers. They are unusual flowers, but they certainly bring new spectacular elements into your house.
WHAT IS A CARNIVOROUS PLANT?
Most carnivorous plants are autotrophic(photosynthetic) but grow in bog and fen soils in which they encounter persistent unfavorable conditions. The soils are usually wet or waterlogged, at least during the growing period. The only exception may be Drosophyllum lusitanicum, growing in dry sandy or rocky soils, or hemicarnivorous epiphytes such as Catopsis berteroniana. Carnivorous plant do not require a high supply rate of mineral nutrients from soils, as they are able to store nutrients in their organs and reutilize them efficiently. A weakly developed root system is a common characteristic of most carnivorous plants.
All carnivorous plants except for Roridula can gain nutrients from prey carcasses more-or-less directly and such a type of carnivory can be termed as direct. Two Roridula species, however, capture prolific prey but they usually do not digest it. The captured prey are grazed by kleptoparasitic hemipteran bugs Pameridea which are found only on the Roridula plants and which defecate on its surface; the plants absorb nutrients through specialized cuticular gap.
Carnivorous plants employ a variety of different techniques to capture their prey, which largely consists of insects, arthropods and other small animals. Sundews and butterworts have what’s known as flypaper/adhesive traps, while pitcher plants use pitfalls, and bladderworts, as their name suggests, use water-filled bladder traps. There are two other techniques also used by carnivorous plants: snap traps and lobster-pot traps. The most famous snap-trap plant is the Venus flytrap.
Prey capture is much more important for seedlings and small plants than for adult ones. Due to their small size, prey capture by seedlings is considerably limited but it leads, in successful individuals, to much faster growth and attaining maturity, and, therefore, to prolific flowering and seed set. Faster trap growth then allows more efficient capture of larger prey. Probably, capture of prey in adult plants supports flowering and seed set to the same extent as vegetative growth but it markedly speeds up reaching the minimum plant size necessary for flowering.
CARNIVOROUS PLANT GROW AND CARE TIPS:
Upon arrival carnivorous plants are ready to be transplanted into a covered terrarium. Carnivorous plants thrive in bright light and at temperatures from 18–24 °C. Direct sunlight can elevate the temperature in a terrarium to levels high enough to burn or kill plants.
Prepare the terrarium by placing 3-5 cm of gravel in the bottom. Cover the gravel with acid bog soil (two parts peat to one part potting soil). Spread a layer of sphagnum moss over the soil. The terrarium may be watered with distilled or deionized water or rainwater. Fresh tap water may contain chemicals that will harm or kill the plants. Add enough water to cover the gravel but not the soil. Soil should be moist but not soggy.
Pitcher plants should be placed soil deep enough so that the roots can grow around the wet gravel. Venus flytraps should be inserted so that their roots grow in the soil just above the water level. Sundew plants should be planted toward the top of the soil since they do not require as much water.
Handle plants gently as excessive touching will injure carnivorous plants. Water plants once a month or when condensation stops appearing on the sides of the terrarium. These plants require a humidity level of about 50–90% and should be aerated once a week.
These plants are adapted to nitrogen-poor soils and have evolved elaborate insect trapping mechanisms as a supplementary source of nitrogen. They may also be fed a variety of different insects. Carnivorous plant should not be fertilized as this may cause chemical burns and possibly death.
Feeding:
Carnivorous plants may be fed the following insects—once or twice a month is enough.
Sundew eat fruit flies (Vestigial or apterous fruit flies are recommended as they will not fly away).
Venus flytraps eat small pieces of mealworm, vestigial fruit flies, ants, or small beetles. Do not feed them hamburger or other raw meat. Venus flytraps do not fully close unless the insect moves.
Venus flytraps, some sundews, and pitcher plants go dormant for three months in winter. Most of the plant will dieback. Keep the dormant plant cool, 4-12 °C, in the dark, and damp (not wet).
Pitcher plants can survive long periods of time without carnivorous supplements using the nutrients derived from the planting medium.
Capturing and stunning insects by placing them in a freezer for a few moments is another feeding alternative.
Tips:
If the leaves begin to darken and appear that they are dying this is not necessarily the case. After shipment plants need time to adjust to their new environment. It is not dead and new growth should appear in two to three weeks.
Carnivorous plants are not tropical plants and they should be allowed to die back in winter for the long-term health of the plant. They should re-emerge in three months or so.
Do not trip the Venus flytrap unnecessarily. This can cause enough energy depletion to kill the plant.
BUY CARNIVOROUS PLANTS:
SOME SPECIES OF CARNIVOROUS PLANTS WITH CARE TIPS:
ALDROVANDA:DARLINGTONIA:
DIONAEA:
SARRACENIA:
- Sarracenia alata - Yellow trumpets - Pale pitcher plant - Pale trumpet
- Sarracenia flava - Yellow pitcher plant
- Sarracenia leucophylla - Crimson pitcher plant - Purple trumpet-leaf - White pitcher plant
- Sarracenia minor - Hooded pitcher plant
- Sarracenia oreophila - Green pitcher plant
- Sarracenia psittacina - Parrot pitcher plant
- Sarracenia purpurea - Purple pitcher plant - Northern pitcher plant - Turtle socks
- Sarracenia rubra - Sweet pitcher plant - Red pitcher plant
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