FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hi,

I'm quite new to the flytrap world but I'm already hooked. I picked up a vft last week and a pitcher this week.

I'm thinking of building a small habitat in a little plastic fish tank. I plan to use sphagnum peat moss mixed with perlite and maybe some gravel for decoration purposes.

I'm just wondering if anyone has any tips for this little project of mine.

Also I'm confused on watering. Some people say to keep it wet, some say damp and I've seen some people advise letting it try out on occasions. I'm lost now.

Thanks in advance.

First what kind of pitcher plant is it? Second ditch the fish tank idea for the VFT. It will grow much better outside. For watering the VFT some people keep them sitting in a tray of water constantly and others only water every few days when the top of the soil is dry. It really depends on your growing conditions. Where are you located? That might help with some advice.

VFTs generally do much better when grown outside, and please do not use gravel as it will likely leech minerals into the media. A VFT in a sunny spot will give you much fewer headaches than one grown indoors. Also, if the pitcher you bought is a Sarracenia (American pitcher plant), it will likely outgrow the aquarium very quickly as they can get pretty tall.

As for watering, soak a sponge in water and then squeeze it out. This is generally the dampness that you want your soil to have. If you choose to grow outdoors (which, again, I strongly suggest), you may need to keep the pot in a water tray with roughly 1 inch of water. If your area gets exceptionally hot, you may need to refill the tray daily to ensure your plant stays hydrated.

Ok, thanks for your input guys.

I should have said that I live in Wales u.k so outdoor conditions are pretty poor. I think we had our summer yesterday as it's raining again now. Good for the veggie garden though.

The pitcher is a saracenia. Maybe I'll just keep them in pots. Unless you have any better suggestions

Thanks again.

You can try making a low maintenance mini peat bog out of a sturdy plastic storage tote or styrofoam cooler. Drill some holes on the side about a third of the way up from the bottom so it can self regulate the water level and not fill up completely when you get too much rain. Put it in the sunniest part of your yard/garden. Flytraps will still do quite well even in cloudy, rainy climates.

That sounds pretty cool big jack. Similar to what I was thinking of doing indoors. Would my choice of substrate work in that? Also, how deep would the substrate need to be for the plants?

Yes, peat moss and perlite work well together. Some silica sand in the mixture helps with aeration also but if you use enough perlite you can skip the sand. For a bog I would go at least a foot deep.