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cpnewby

They have arrived.... now what???

cpnewby
15 years ago

Hi - I posted a while ago about buying a few carnivorous plants for my boyfriend for christmas, and that we live in the sierras (near tahoe). Well I did get the mini windowsill collection from california carnivores. It arrived, to me, today, and in great condition. The mini pitcher plant and sundew are so cute! :) and the bladderwort is dormant.

So my question... as long as I keep the soil moist fo the dormant plant and wet for the other two, can I just leave them alone until I give them to him? Can I leave them covered in the plastic cups or do they need to "breathe"? Should I worry about when the last time was that they ate? Now that I have to take care of them until I give them to him i'm worried about keeping them healthy.

Thanx!

Comments (6)

  • woodnative
    15 years ago

    that depends a bit on the type of plants in the collection, but Christmas is not too far away. Cool gift by the way. First, don't worry about them not eating. They are not animals. "Eating" helps give them nutrients to grow, but they are first and foremost still plants. They grow better/faster with "prey", but they will be fine without it. It is also winter, when these plants are either dormant or at least growing very very slowly. They need to be kept moist and humid, so keeping them in the bag is fine. Just don't put the bag in direct sun or it will cook everything inside. You can slightly open the bag, or put a hole in it, for a little air exchange. Finally, I wouldn't keep them in an overly warm room, put them on a cool windowsill, or a cool room like an attached garage or basement untl X-mas.

  • petiolaris
    15 years ago

    Can you post a picture of what you have? There are two types of pitcher plants - Asian & American - and they require very different conditions and cultivation approaches. What scientific name are each of these plants. Christmas is 2 weeks away and these plants will need light, distilled water, and exposure to the air to live. You'll need to find a window sill and get them set up as soon as possible or they will be either weak or dead by Christmas. Here are pictures:

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  • cpnewby
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Hi all -

    The butterwort is P. moranensis. It is the only dormant one of the 3 plants. The care sheet that came with them said to just keep it barely moist but not soaked like the others.

    The pitcher plant is the tropical one, N. ventricosa red. The sundew is D. capensis wide.

    Where I am, if I put them in the garage they might freeze. We're suposed to be getting a snow storm soon so these guys are definitely staying in the house. I will put them in indirect sunlight and get distilled water for them today. I just wanted to make sure that it's ok to leave the plastic cups taped to the top of them for humidity? I will most likely just leave them in the bags for now (with the bags open).

  • petiolaris
    15 years ago

    They should all be inside, either at a window sill or under artificial lighting. If acclimated, they should be exposed to the air, with no plastic dome. The ventricosa should kept the warmest and have light for 12 hours. The capensis can tolerate just about anything. The moranensis should be cooler than room temp, with less water, for the winter.

  • cpnewby
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Thank you!

    The plants came individually wrapped in plastic with the cup secured on top. I cut the plastic away from the bottom so I can sit the sundew and pitcher plant in a tray of distilled water to be absorbed through the bottom. I cut away some of the plastic cup this morning so they can both begin acclimating to the lack of humidity before I fully remove the cups. I feel like putting them right next to a window would be too cold for them so they are just in a spot with a lot of light.
    I let the dormant butterwort absorb a little water then I removed it from the water and set it in a cool closet.

    Thanx again for the help

  • mcantrell
    15 years ago

    Glad to hear they arrived safely!

    Don't forget to use Pure (Distilled) water, it's very very likely your tap water won't be clean enough to keep them alive. Most stores will carry Distilled Water, look for it by name -- "Drinking" or "Purified" water won't work.

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