An Intro to Carnivorous Plants

Caring for carnivorous plants requires providing sunshine and a moist environment. Many species of these interesting bug eaters such as sundews and butterworts occur naturally in tropical or subtropical regions. Others, including the familiar Venus Fly Trap, live in more temperate regions. The hardy Pitcher plant thrives in northern areas, enduring cold winters of snow and ice through periods of dormancy.

In areas where the winters are mild, carnivorous plants can be grown successfully outdoors in specially prepared bogs. But for many enthusiasts, using containers makes it easier to grow plants in a sunny garden spot or on a deck during the warm summer months. Then as the cool fall approaches, simply move warm loving plants indoors to a sunny windowsill.

Some species of carnivorous plants such as Venus Fly Traps and pitcher plants require periods of dormancy during the winter months; move these plants to cool location where the temperature remains between 45 to 55 degrees Fahrenheit and allow the plant to rest. After a few months and as spring approaches, move the plant back to its sunny location.

For beginning hobbyists, try setting up a terrarium. A variety of cultivated tropical and subtropical carnivorous plants will grow and thrive in a properly prepared terrarium.

Things You Need:

Terrarium

Gravel

Sphagnum moss

Coarse sand

Cultivated Carnivorous PlantsCarnivorous plants extract nourishment from their captured victims rather then absorbing nutrients from the soil, and they will not survive in standard potting soil.

To make a terrarium for carnivorous plants, start by spreading a layer of gravel over the bottom of the container. The gravel layer allows the soil to drain while keeping the environment within the terrarium moist and humid.

Make the specialized soil mixture by combining two parts of sphagnum moss with one part of coarse sand. Thoroughly moisten the mixture before spreading the soil on top of the gravel, and then add the plants.

When watering the plants, use rainwater or distilled water (available from supermarkets and drug stores). Tap water and even bottled water is often too high in minerals and contains other additives that can be toxic to carnivorous plants.

Water around the base of the plants and avoid splashing water on the leaves. In the environment of a terrarium, water droplets do not dry quickly from the surface of the leaves and can encourage fungus and diseases. Keep the terrarium moist and the humidity high but leave the top of the terrarium open to encourage air movement and of course, to allow flies and other small insects to visit. Sealing the top of the terrarium can cause mildew.

If growing carnivorous plants in pots, the Tray Method works well. Simply place the pot into a shallow tray, and add water to the tray. The plants will absorb water through the drainage holes of the pot.

Carnivorous plants need a consistent source of light, either natural or artificial, but do not leave a terrarium in direct sunlight. The light intensifies quickly and creates heat within the closed environment of a glass terrarium, and the increased heat can burn and kill the plants.

Different species of carnivorous plants have different light requirements, and adjusting the lighting intensity may be necessary to encourage healthy growth. Most plants will thrive under bright but indirect sunlight, or under a fluorescent light source designed for growing plants indoors.

Perhaps the most recognizable carnivorous plant is the Venus Fly Trap. Lined with hair-like triggers, the pads of the Venus Fly Trap spring shut to trap ants, flies and other small insect prey. The pads cannot reach out to capture prey, but lie in wait for an unsuspecting bug to crawl across the pad in their own search for food. The insect brushes against the hairs, triggering the fly trap's pads to snap shut around its meal. After digesting its meal, the pads then dies back and should be removed.

At the end of the annual growing season, move the Venus Fly trap into a cool environment where the leaves and pads die back as the plant enters into its dormancy stage. Venus Fly Trap plants that are kept in a warm environment all year round will not go dormant, and will grow weak and spindly over time.

Though inexpensive and commonly available, the Venus Fly Trap can be a challenging plant for beginning hobbyists to grow due to its dormancy requirements, or should be grown as Annuals.

Photo by the Author

Resembling tiny pincushions, Sundew plants have spiky tentacles that extend out from the plant. A sticky drop of gel forms at the tip of each spike, and these little droplets gives the appearance to the plant of the morning dew glistening in the sunshine. The gel-like substance emits a sweet fragrance, attracting flies and other small insects to investigate. The unfortunate bugs that land among the sweet-smelling spikes in search of the food source quickly becomes stuck as if trapped by flypaper. As the Sundew's tentacles slowly embrace the captive critter, the hungry insect becomes the meal.

There are many varieties of Sundew plants available in a variety of shapes and colors. Most are from humid, tropical areas and will thrive in a properly prepared terrarium.

These interesting plants hold a watery reservoir at the bottom of their vase-shaped leaves that forms a pitfall trap. The insides of the leaves are lined with downward pointing hairs, making it difficult for a captured bug to climb back out of the plant after being lured into it by the fragrance of the sweet liquid at the bottom of the pitfall trap.

The unlucky bug tires and then falls down into the water to drown, and the Pitcher plant slowly consumes its meal.

Photos and Diagrams by the Author

Growing and Dividing Hosta Plants
Hosta plants are hardy, shade loving perennials that are easy to grow. A staple in northern gardens, there are hundreds of different hosta varieties to choos...

Lilacs: The Regal Flowering Shrub
Lilac flowers are big, beautiful and fragrant, making the lilac one of the most recognizable and well known of the flowering shrubs. Lilacs bearing purple fl...

Pruning Raspberry Bushes
Red raspberries are an easy fruit to grow and a great choice for the backyard gardener. The crowns and roots of the raspberry bushes are perennials, with new...

Growing Fig Trees In Containers
Growing figs is challenging for northern gardeners, especially those gardening in Zone 6 and colder. Strong willed gardeners devised several methods to comba...

Creating A Rain Garden
Rain Gardens are an organic and low-tech method for controlling the run-off from rainstorms and snowmelt. Water from rooftops, driveways, patios and other no...

Attracting Beneficial Insects into the Garden
A healthy garden is a mini ecosystem where beneficial insects,birds, toads and other animals provide natural biological controls against many common pests. F...

Attracting Butterflies into the Garden
Butterflies are beautiful creatures, and every gardener enjoys seeing these delightful insects floating and fluttering amidst the blooms in their gardens. M...

Re-Seeding a Patchy Lawn
Spring is the most common time to overseed a lawn. After the long winter, the longer days and warmth of Spring triggers a grass growth spurt and often highli...

Our Small Garden Pond
Building a small garden pond for keeping koi and goldfish is a fun and rewarding DIY project. Most guides for creating water gardens and backyard ponds recom...

Pondless Waterfalls - Adding Interest to Your Landscape Design
Pondless waterfalls are unique focal points for any size yard or garden setting. They require a lot less maintenance than traditional ponds and water gardens...

Hardy Water Lilies
Hardy water lilies are easy to grow, and their beautiful blooms add color and texture to water gardens. Just like any other garden plant, hardy water lilies ...

Designing a Winter Garden
Gardeners in the northern climates need to plan carefully to provide year round interest in their gardens. After the flowers of summer fade and autumn leaves...

Create a Backyard Wildlife Habitat
Attracting wildlife to your backyard is a fun and rewarding experience, and can enhance the enjoyment of any yard. Whether you live in the city, on a small s...

Jurassic Path - Garden Stepping Stones
Add a prehistoric accent to your landscape with an ambling pathway of concrete stepping stones cast with a set of cast "fossilized" dinosaur tracks...

Compost Tea: The Organic Energy Drink For Plants
Compost Tea is a concentrated solution of garden compost dissolved in water. The compost tea solution makes it easy for the organic gardener to apply the ben...