FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

dantt99 wrote:Beautiful updates! They always look great!

I couldn't agree more with you dan!

That's really nice, I want to do something like that now Might have to wait until I finish university though, can't really trust my parents with my plants (left my Sarracenia Purpurea with them for a couple weeks and every leaf above the surface was dead, came back though with some care)

Moving it 200 miles to Swansea and back several times a year wouldn't be too easy But certainly an idea for when I finish in 3 years

One year has gone by since the start of this FTC Thread, entailing all of my growing ventures and experiences. How a year has evolved! I hope many of you have enjoyed and taken from it as I have read and learned from all of yours. Thank you for your constructive comments and compliments .

Well, Fall is nearly upon us and up here in the Metro Vancouver area we are going through a mini heatwave. As previously stated, growing my Dionaeas this past growing season was extremely challenging. Early this year, Winter never really left until late Spring and really there was no Spring and just a short month ago Summer arrived full bore with standard high temperatures. At times higher than normal. Just as my Dionaeas were just making a come back by mid Summer, the scorching sun (even in the morning) didn't help. There was really no time this year for my Dionaeas to acclimitize at their required steady pace as Spring was originally ment to do without the sudden heat being a negative factor. I currently have my Dionaeas indoors near a south facing window during this current heatwave. Soon I'll have them back outside so the element of the cool evenings will begin to trigger dormancy as in their natural habbitat. Climate change I believe, sure played a huge part to the unstable growth of these plants this year, I've noted. Not to mention the tolerance level of certain cultivars. I for one will simply stick it out with my current Dionaeas as I unfortunately lost a few in the beginning of the year due to root rott and some in the middle of Summer due to the extensive heat. But come next growing season, if I lose a few more in effort to save them, so be it. I do have a few cultivars that are my favorites and those will be the ones I will aim to possess. I've had many cultivars that are very similar in appearance and for me some stand out more than others. For example, I appreciate more the 'Bohemion Garnet' over the 'Red Piranha' or the classic 'Dente' over 'Sharks Teeth'. Everyone has their favorites as do I, so those are my plans. Besides, when I first started this hobbie with my Dionaeas, that's all I was planning to stick with. Now my attention to CP growing as a hobbie has grown beyond just Dionaeas. I'm trying to keep this hobbie fruitfull yet, simple. As gorgeous as each CP species are, I'll simply stick with my favorites and that's what will truely make me happy and my hobbie enjoyable.

As for all my other CPs, growing them under their standard requirements was not a problem. My grow-specific CPs such as my Cephalotus' and Heliamphoras are growing rather well with my Cephalotus' currently going through an insane growth spurt. My Sarracenias, baby Darlingtonias, Droseras and Byblis have proven to be the most hardiest of my CP collection.

On August 17th, I've planted my 2 X 2011 Flytrap seed harvest packs as well as my Fused Tooth X Fused Tooth seed pack from FTS and today I've noticed a few beginning to grow. Definitely exciting times ! If all goes well in a years time or so with these babies, my probable Phase II of a newly improved and efficient bog garden will certainly emerse from these .

I'm in Vancouver as well. While this was a bad year, growing the plants outside in the full sun was great for them over the last month. Why did you bring them indoors? You missed out on the best time to have them outside.

Adam wrote:I'm in Vancouver as well. While this was a bad year, growing the plants outside in the full sun was great for them over the last month. Why did you bring them indoors? You missed out on the best time to have them outside.

I'm glad to hear your growing year for Dionaeas wasn't so bad after all, Adam. Congrats and nice recovery !

Unfortunately, my Dionaeas died back so much in their previous state in the bog bowl that I repotted them into their own individual pots in groups of four in early Summer (scroll back a few a pages on this thread to follow along). Since then, what little new growth that was finally emerging got sunburned so bad and so quickly, I was back to where I started in reviving them. Up on my roof deck you can almost add 10-15+ degrees to any of these high temperatures that are currently being recorded. I don't have any other place to grow them in my townhome complex but there or indoors. Obviously, during these sorts of conditions my mini greenhouse in never used. That would be instant DEATH! Outdoors on my deck usually works well as seen in photos from years past. Unfortunately with the unstable year we've had along with the extensive heat build up on the deck (especially with additional heat coming off the vinyl deck flooring creating a much more muggy effect), this whole matter didn't help my Dionaeas at all. Water was instantly evaporating via the tray method and misting them several times daily was a must. As you very well know, the cost of replacing these cultivated plants can become quite extreme. So the slight case of babying them is what brought me to bring them indoors in fear of losing any more plants. Soon they'll be headed back outside under more sustainable sunny mornings and shaded afternoons. Having a yard with grass and shaded trees to stimulate these extra high temperatures would have been beneficial. The situation has been assessed and lessons have been learned to a more stable aproach in keeping the growing conditions simple under these stressful times. Right now, I just want my Dionaeas to have enough green on them before dormancy hits them head on with minimal sunburned leaves.

Very beautiful collection!

I always have my pots off the ground on tables so the pots don't heat up to the temperature of the deck. I've moved my plants indoors now to keep the temperature up as the weather is cooling off. Sorry to hear about your plants..

Fall is here and here's a few photos I snapped up of my front room window sill. These selected few CPs have been doing great there so far ! I've taken the following photos out on the rail of my front porch for better clarity. Enjoy !

Byblis liniflora: One of my newest additions to my CP collection. This little guy is extremely happy, pumping out flower after flower followed by seed pods. I have enough seeds to start me up a colony next Spring . Here are my Cephalotus' still going through a massive growth spurt. Here are my 6 Heliamphora minors (divided mid Summer). I've experimented several placement locations for these throughout my sunny/shady points of my roof deck to see how they tolerate certain weather conditions without exposing them to extreme heat. They've survived and already new shoots are beginning to show since settling after their division and temperatures dropping to their liking. Over night, I do place a clear tupperware dome over them so they hold on to some good humidity before being exposed to the growing elements of my window sill with natural daylight throughout the day. Pending on their daily conditions, they'll endure a few mist showers along the way .

Nice update gt!

nice cephs

The Autumn rain and the cripy chill on those clear days are upon us here in the southwest coast of British Columbia, Canada as a dusting of snow has crept upon us in the past week that has all indications that Winter is just around the corner. My CP setups have taken their place as some will continue their year round growth in a newly efficient setup compared to last year's setup and the others are all set for their Winter dormancy in the mini greenhouse up on the roof deck.

The NEW setup for my year round CPs consist of an actual terrarium using the exo-terra lighting fixture (2 X 26Watt Daylight 6500K CFLs) as its partial lighting source. This terrarium is placed right on the window sill of my front room where the cool temperatures in combination with the lights help sustain the temperatures and humidity of the terrarium. When need be, I can have the window ajar to allow added circulation especially on those sunny days where at times extra heat can build up. Last year's setup worked well, but I did have some issues with the consistant warmth and stagnent air where I've seen fungle spores develop on the ground media of the plants. I had a small fan nearby to circulate the air around and into the container of that setup, but it wasn't enough. I've been experimenting with this new setup which turns out to be fairly basic for a few weeks now and the plants have adapted very well to its new environment. I allow the plants to use the natural light coming from the window from sunrise to dusk as the light timer will then kick in for another 5 hours with artificial light. Another advantage to this is that it saves me quite a bit on the electric bill too .

The following thermometer information from this setup are the average temperature/humidity readings taken throughout the day due to various outdoor conditions:

Daytime (sunny) - 27c/65 Humidity
Daytime (cloudy) - 20c/75 Humidity
Daytime (showers) - 19c/80 Humidity
Evening (with lights) - 21c/70 Humidity
Overnight (no lights) - 15c/85 Humidity

Last Winter was my first attempt in raising these year round CPs, though it has expanded a little. With a litte more accurate research from these forums and some common sense, this setup will definitely suit these plants under my care. Only time will tell .

Meanwhile, enjoy the updated photos !

A daytime view of the NEW terrarium setup. A more detailed view. Here's a behind the scenes photo where extra air can circulate into the terrarium when an ajar window is needed along with a small caption photo of the light timer used. A night time view of the NEW terrarium with the artificial lights at work. Somebody forgot to tell this Byblis that it's suppose to be an annual plant. One of my prized Cephalotus' going through an insane growth spurt. My Heliamphora minor beginning a growth spurt of their own since being in its NEW environment. My other baby Cephalotus' enjoying their NEW environment. Saying the same for my Droseras. My mini greenhouse housing my temperate CPs up on the roof deck. The top shelf consists of my dormant Dionaea Cultivars and baby Darlingtonias. Sitting on the bottom are my Sarracenias. Here's a close up photo of my 1 year old Darlingtonias going through their first dormancy purchased as seeds from FTS.

Looking Great!!!
That setup is amazing, your plants will be really happy there!
My ceph went through a growth spurt too, with a ton of foliage coming up, probably preparing for winter.
Your helis look great too!

Thanks for sharing pictures!

all ready for a snooze eh? lol
awesome byblis and heliamphoras as alsways

Gothic Traps, your plants look GREAT! Thanks for posting all the photos of your setu. Your Heli. minors look very healthy and happy. The Dionaea seedlings look off to a very good start. Whatever your regimens are, the plants seem to love your care.

Those are some great looking plants Gothic Traps! I really like your Cephalotus