Hello bonsaibuddha,

Well, I only have a baby Nepenthes sanguinea.

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Here is my setup for growing it in southeast Texas indoors. I have it 5-6 inches from 4 40 watt flourescent cool white shop light tubes on a 16 hour timer, potted in a 5 inch plastic pot in peat moss/coconut husk/bark in equal parts, watered with distilled water once every 3-4 days with no extra water in the tray, receives 65-78 degree Fahrenheit temperatures, and I let it eat insects that it catches around the house. I only mist it once a day, and yes, many Nepenthes species can adapt to regular home conditions, even in Oregon, which is the region from where my plant was shipped as a matter of fact.

Some people fertilize their Nepenthes by rubbing their leaves with 1/4 strength or weaker orchid blood meal fertilizer once every two weeks or monthly with a damp cloth or cotton swab. I never have and my Nepenthes is getting bigger just obtaining it's fertilizer the natural way, from the flies it catches.

Thanks this is very helpful
I would like to know how to make a good Cp Terrarium also if anyone knows though and maybe they could include pics?

Most Nepenthes species get quite large, some growing 20 feet up trees or across the ground.. They are vining plants. You could keep a few baby Nepenthes in a terrarium for a couple of years maybe, but they will outgrow it.

Good carnivorous plants for a terrarium would be tropical sundews and butterworts and small Nepenthes that require high humidity and controlled temperatures. Most carnivorous plants can grow in pots or planters in a sunny window or under flourescent lights if they are tropical.

The North American species, like Sarracenia pitcher plants and Venus Fly Traps require high light, like full sun, to really do well. Many North American sundews like full sun too. Those species will all require winter dormancy for 3-4 months at temperatures of about 40 degrees Fahrenheit with lower light photoperiods that winter provides. If your looking for indoor and terrarium plants, then you will like the tropical sundews, butterworts, and Nepenthes.

I have no terrarium right now, probably will not unless I get species that really have to have high humidity. Most carnivorous plants can adapt to low humidity and do just fine in pots indoors or outdoors according to their light and wintering requirements.

If you get a Nepenthes, go for one like Nepenthes sanguinea, N. ventrata, N. alata, N. ventricosa and such to start with as they are easy growers and adaptable to most homes. Mine was provided by a nursery that pre-adapted the plant for low humidity, so when I got it, it did not even stop growing. Often when you get a Nepenthes, it was grown in higher humidity and is shocked when you place it in lower humidity suddenly, loosing its pitchers for weeks or months. Adapt them slowly to lower humidity by placing them in a terrarium or bag or dome, then slowly opening it a little, like a fraction of an inch, every 3 days at a time over two weeks time. After two weeks, the cover should be raised or almost open fully and the plant will be adapted to your home.

High humidity is mostly a myth about many carnivorous plants.

Something like a 10 gallon terrarium would be nice for small sundews, just provide good air flow, like a small fan in the cover, to lessen the incidence of fungus growth and provide good light of at least 100 watt equivalent flourescent compact bulbs or 40 watt flourescent shop light type. Don't use incandescent as they are too hot and the wrong light spectrum altogether. Flourescents are cost efficient anyway. Use sphagnum peat moss of the Canadian premium type sold in bales and make sure it smells like moss (sour and musky), not like potting soil.. fertilizer in the soil kills carnivorous plants. mix 50/50 peat perlite or horticultural sand and you will need drainage in a terrarium, so use an inch or so of washed gravel. Make sure the gravel does not contain any minerals that would add nutrients or alter the Ph of your soil, like lime would. Anything with copper in it will poison carnivorous plants too. Use only distilled or rain water or any processed water that has all minerals removed, like a good R/O unit that does not add salt to the water.

In short, anything that adds minerals or nutrients to the soil will kill carnivorous plants over several weeks or months as their roots are not adapted to absorb nutrients in the soil and are prone to fungal and bacterial attack. Peat is acidic and keeps bacteria from forming (this is why peat bogs make great mummies out of people and animals that die there) until it sours over time, so you have to replace the peat every year or so.

That about covers the basics, but it would not hurt to read a few books like Savage Garden by D'Amato and Insect Eating Plants and How to Grow Them by Adrian Slack.

I would go the windowsill route, there are some very nice species that grow well on windowsills. Nepenthes Sanguinea is a good one, or N. Maxima if you can find one. Also good are N. ventricosa, rafflesiana, and most hybrids of ventricosa.

Any reason why you wish to grow CP's in a terrarium? Aesthetics? AS indicated earlier, high humidity isn't a requirement. Do you have the wherewithal to grow plants on a window sill? I have a rack at one window and several drawer organizer trays (Walmart) that I use for the plants, as well as a plastic storage container in a closet, under a fluorescent light.

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