Looking real good!!!

OMG, the red sundews, i dont know names, but would they do ok in a terrarium? i plan on having a waterfall, waterscape, landscape, fogger, and airflow? would it do sufficient in that if i fed it with recently killed flys or something?

Huh. That does make me wonder. Could one use a Carnivorous Plant as a Bonsai or Saikei?

Would be interesting to make a miniature bog, with dwarf Sphagnum, maybe a Dwarf tree of some kind (I've heard some forms of Pine grow in the same general area as CPs), and a dwarfed Venus Flytrap.

Could do it by keeping the available area for rooting very small, maybe? Would have to maybe set up a watering system to keep things orderly, like a small tube running through the pot with holes for piping water to the roots directly.

Pity there aren't any "mini" Venus Flytrap Cultivars -- I mean, cultivars bred for smaller size. Would make something like that a lot easier to do.

Terrariums tend to be high maintenance and potential for mold. They need to be exposed to the air and do very well sitting in plastic containers of water, at a window sill or under artificial lighting.

Examples:

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That last one's brilliant. It's similar to what I have in my room.

http://kita.ath.cx/plants/06.01.08/Bedroom%20Plants.JPG

Where did you find the trays for it, btw?

Hi Mutant,

So envious over your baby Pings. VFT looks awesome, nice color. All are looking really nice. Think I remember someone fairly recently getting a new N. sanguinea here on the list, was that you? Is that the plant?

I'm still trying to work up the guts to repot my remaining ping and do a leaf pulling. Seeing your babies and talking with Petiolaris helps. Will get to it soon.

Take Care,
Nycti

These?

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I work in a lab. These are disposable pipette dispenser containers. They get thrown out, so I decided to save them. They work well for seed germination as well as "open tray"

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Gold3nku5h:

No a terrarium would be wholly inadequate for carnivorous plants due to the reasons Petiolaris mentioned. They do best as open pot plants. The red sundews are the typical D. adelae from Australia. They do best catching fruit flies and gnats for themselves though they also capture mosquitos like crazy.

McCantrell:

Actually, crowding the roots of Venus Flytraps leads to greater incidence of root rot yet does cause them to make shorter petioles and larger traps... until they start coming out deformed.

Nycti:

I know seveal people got some N. sanguineas recently. Mine is about 16 months old from Sarracenia Northwest. It came as a baby just 3 inches across with 2 inch pitchers. It has grown to about 2 feet tall and has 9 inch pitchers now. I need to get it inot a better light situation though. It simply is not getting enough in a south window for some reason... it failed to pitcher this last couple leaves and lost a lot of color. I am setting up a new window with a set of shop lights for an additional 12000 lumens of light 16 hours a day over it so it will come back as before. I just need space now as it is getting so tall.

Talk to Petiolaris about a trade.. he will send you more than you know what to do with.

The Pings did very well on shipping and took to their new home with no losses. The Ultrics are just cloning machines like D. adelaes plain and simple so they are no fuss to get going after shipping.

Yeah, roots being "crowded" is my current running theory about my VFT's deformed traps, which I've trimmed off mostly so far:

http://kita.ath.cx/plants/06.01.08/VFT.JPG

Essentially, I used a 3 or 4 to 1 sand/peat mix due to insufficient mixing, which had the consistency of cement. When I dug the plant up, the roots looked gnarled and twisted, so, back to 1-1 peat-perlite. The new traps look much better, even though they are growing quite slowly.

Pity though, a Bonsai Sundew or whatnot would be very cool. Guess I'll have to settle for a mini-bog. :)

Hi Mutant,

Thank you for the response. Wow, I'm impressed with the growth of your N. sanguinea. Petiolaris, kind fellow that he is, did offer a ping but I so want to learn how to do a successful leaf pulling and propagate this particular one. It's on my list of things to do and I have Petiolaris's directions.

Reading your response to McCantrell I have a similar question. My N. venticosa or N. ventrata (not sure of ID) has been pitchering like crazy since late last summer and still is, but now the pitchers are malformed. Some do not have lids or the lids tend to curl. Also, not much liquid forming in them now. I read that low humidity could cause deformed pitchers. Plant History: Plant is inside. Pot sits in a 10 gal. aquarium, no top, 12,600 lumens light, top watered (not sitting in water) with good low ppm RO water. Has not been moved for at least 9 mos. I checked my hydrometer with the calibration test and it reads correctly. Humidity in the aquarium is 70%. The plant is starting to reach the top of the aquarium, my plans were to put up new shelves (still in the box), repot and hang the plant. But I have left it as is when it started this behavior, not wanting to shock it. The pot is 6 inches across, 4 1/2 inches deep. Media is the Nep mix from Sarracenia Northwest, was potted 8-12-07. Could it be that the roots are crowded as you mentioned to McCantrell about his VFT. Is that likely with a Nep? Heres a pic.
Usually the cps I see suffer from lack of humidity are the D. adelae, yet both my species of sundews are dewy.

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One more question. Does a hanging moss basket help with humidity or does it tend to dry out quickly.

Thank you for all your help,
Nycti

Hello Nycti:

Your N. ventricosa, looks like it with those pitchers, but a ventrata is a hybrid of it so might be difficult to tell, seems to be growing well and have good color. Your humidity is more than adequate... I have mine in 50 percent humidity and open pot with no terrarium cover. Check for parasites and pests and watch that you do not introduce copper into the plant's water or any sprays you might use on it. Some pesticides and fungicides might use copper in their mixes and water might contain some copper... copper is an allergen to most carnivorous plants and causes them to develop deformed leaves or fail to pitcher. Also watch out for fertilizers in the soil.

If in doubt, always go back to the basics. Check each thing and see if you have the right amount of each. Light... check, pot size... check (Nepenthes usually do not develop large roots unless they grow to be humongous plants... mine still has only a few inches of root to its two foot height.) water... check... and so forth. If all else fails, it is not totally out of the question to see a few leaves and pitchers that are just not formed properly for some reason.

Is the plant getting any insects in that terrarium? If not, and if you do not supplement it with a monthly foliar feed (very dilute) or drop an occasional ant or fly in its pitchers, it will suffer from low nitrogen and be less capable of forming proper leaves and could stop pitchering.

In any event... the plant looks fine so far.

Thank you Mutant for your quick response, the confirmation on the ID of my Nepenthes and your compliment on the condition of the plant. Means a lot to me coming from you. I hold you and Petiolaris in high esteem.

I use RO water from the Watermill Express. I researched different companies first. I had the water checked at my LFS (local fish store) lol, and have used it for water changes in tropical fish tanks. I met one of the technicians as he was servicing the system and got the "tour" inside the mill. Just amazing. Today I called the office to check on the possibility of copper in the water. I was told absolutely not. Here is the web site for the company if you or anyone else is interested. http://www.watermillexpress.com/

I have looked the plant over with a magnifying glass and not found any pests on it, doesn't mean I didn't miss something, but it's not infested. In November 2007 it's leaves were starting to grow in a twisted fashion. I figured either mealybugs or aphids and used Ortho Systemic Insecticide. That took care of the problem. Haven't used anything on it since except daily water misting. No other plants with bug problems that I know of. Perhaps I should spray it now sort of as a rule out or prophylactic measure.

Haven't repotted it since last August, no foliar feeding since it started growing pitchers last year. Lighting is the same. I read somewhere that florescent tubes can lose some of the necessary spectrum and should be changed every year. Those could be changed, it has been almost a year.

It gets plenty of food, everyone wants to feed it, lol. Even a neighbor was catching bugs and bringing them over. In March one pitcher got indigestion from to much food to often. I have cut back on the food allowed and now have to check to make sure a pitcher has fluid in it before dropping something in.

Pretty much since last fall it has just sat where it is, grown a lot, digesting it's insects and getting watered. That's what is so puzzling about the lids on the pitchers. I haven't made any changes with it's care. I was hoping to figure this out before making any changes like repotting and hanging it.

Thank you again for your input and the compliment. Your opinion is always appreciated. I'm not quite so worried about it but still puzzled.
Nycti