FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

I'm quite intrigued by both Venus fly traps and pitcher plants. Is it possible to grow them with one another? Is their care similar? If I can only grow one, then I'd go with the fly trap, but I'd love to have both if it's possible.

Can Venus fly traps and/or pitcher plants thrive in a fish tank? (Given proper lighting and temperatures?)

Can they eat other bugs besides flies, such as mealworms or wax worms? Is there a 'safe' list of bugs for these plants?

I'm sure I'll have more questions later, but these are starters.
Thank you in advance!

Depending if they're Sarracenia, or Nepenthes, you can.
Sarracenia are temperate, and so a Flytraps, whereas Nepenthes are tropical.

Nepenthes would love a tank, warm, humid, and bright all year round, but Sarracenia and Dionea (Flytraps) need a period of cold, dark dormancy in the winter, not usually available in a tank.

As for food, imagine any insect that fits.... with the exception of Caterpillars, which can munch they're way out! (In the case of a Nepenthes, Insects, vegetables, and mammals!)

I wonder if putting a mesh screen or some kind of cover over the tank, along with a cooling mechanism (not exactly sure how cool they need to be for the dormant period?) would suffice. Maybe covering it with something and opening it up so the warmth and humidity aren't kept in the tank?

So Sarracenia and Dionea can be grown together, they just need a dormancy period?

konotashi wrote:So Sarracenia and Dionea can be grown together, they just need a dormancy period?

Well yeah. They do grow along each side in the wild.

That's awesome!

Browsing around in the shop, I came across the 'Ruby Slippers' and the Drosera Capensis red.
Would it be possible to put grow all 4 together? Or do they require different climates. (I obviously have much reading to do).

Drosera capensis grows all year and doesn't require the cool dormancy of Venus Flytraps and north American Sarracenia.

Venus Flytraps grow healthiest a little higher from the water table than Sarracenia. If you were to find both in a natural setting, say next to a pond, the Sarracenia would be growing near the water's edge (in this imaginary example) and the Venus Flytraps would be growing up somewhat higher on a sandy bank exposed to the sun. Both Venus Flytraps and Sarracenia grow more easily outside a terrarium. Terrariums introduce additional problems and challenges to the growth of these and other plants that require more expert attention and care and usually more experience with growing plants in enclosed environments.

Good luck.

konotashi wrote:I wonder if putting a mesh screen or some kind of cover over the tank, along with a cooling mechanism (not exactly sure how cool they need to be for the dormant period?) would suffice.

If your cooling method happened to be a refrigerator that might work, although I'd hate to see the energy bill from having a fridge hooked up to an open tank!

As Steve has pointed out, your VFTs and sarrs are going to grow better outside a tank environment. Temperatures for dormancy should ideally be between 40-70deg F during the day and between 30-60deg at night. All of my plants are happily dormant in my window sill where I assume it hovers somewhere between 50-55 at night and 55-65 during the day. Without some active cooling mechanism for a terrarium you probably would have trouble getting the temps low enough.

Does anyone know where you can buy a cooling system? Heating systems are easy to find, but the cooling... not as much!

konotashi wrote:Does anyone know where you can buy a cooling system? Heating systems are easy to find, but the cooling... not as much!

2 simple steps:
1-bag it up
2-chuck it in the fridge!

Don't waste your time and money on a cooling system. If you want to grow indoors select tropical pitcher plants and tropical Sundews and Butterworts.

The only sufficient cooling i could think of would be a very high powered Peltier chip. Which are very fiddly. Steve's given you som good advice

I'm not sure of your climate, but i reckon outside would be a better place to grow Flytraps and Sarracenia. Or by using the fridge method of dormancy in winter.

I live in Arizona, where it's hot and dry most of the year. They'd get plenty of sun, but there would be no moisture. Also, winters are usually not below 50 degrees (and that's a COLD winter day, here!)

I think I'll go with the tropical pitchers. They seem like they'd be easier to grow in a fish tank or reptile enclosure, and they don't need the cold dormancy period.

Plus, this plant is just AWESOME. (Nepenthes Villosa, I think?)
http://ourfunnyplanet.com/wp-content/up ... illosa.jpg

http://www.cpukforum.co.uk/uploader/use ... _200kb.jpg

Looking on the site, most of the care info is on VFTs. Are there any in-depth care instructions for these guys? And is the care for the different types of Nepenthes basically the same? (Can I grow several types together?)

konotashi wrote:I live in Arizona, where it's hot and dry most of the year. They'd get plenty of sun, but there would be no moisture. Also, winters are usually not below 50 degrees (and that's a COLD winter day, here!)

What city in AZ are you closest to? There are people on these boards that live in AZ and grow VFTs quite successfully. The owner of this site used to live and grow VFTs in AZ (I'm pretty sure Matt was around Flagstaff, but he can pipe in and correct me if I'm wrong). The other admin of this site lives in NE New Mexico where the sun is very intense and it's quite dry and his plants are breath taking.

The point is that VFTs don't need high humidity to thrive. You need to pay attention to the soil moisture more than anything, and you would probably want to get some shade cloth that would protect the plants from the harshest mid-day sunlight and heat. Other than that, if you grew them outside, in insulating light colored pots (16oz styrofoam drinking cups with drainage holes poked in them are what ALL of my plants are potted in because they work great) you would have no trouble growing happy healthy venus flytraps. As far as your winters not being cold enough, much of dormancy is the decreasing photoperiod. People always play up the temperature piece because the sun does the photoperiod decrease for you. My plants have not seen temperatures below 50deg the entire winter since they're inside and they're happily dormant. Many people have quite a bit of success stuffing the plant in the fridge for a few months around dormancy time. Really it boils down to the fact of: if you want to grow a VFT you can. On the other hand, if you're more interested in growing the tropical pitcher plants and drosera and you're not too terribly interested in VFTs those are fine choices as well. Where there's a will there's a way!