FlyTrapCare Forums

Lol get urticularia subuluta! ;D

Just a note to say I popped this topic in to the "All other Carnivorous Plants/General CP Discussions" sub-forum.

Personally I'm very fond of Mexican Pinguicula such as P. 'Tina', P. 'Weser' or P. moranensis... but then I am highly biased. With that being said...

briea wrote:Any experience with shaggy sundew, drosophyllum lusitanicum, butterworts or bladderworts???? They are all beautiful, i just want to pick ones that i will do well growing.. thanks everyone

The care for butterworts (aka. "Pinguicula") varies depending upon which "kind" you get; Mexican Pinguicula are ideal for starters because they are incredibly easy to care for, highly robust, simple to grow year-round on a windowsill and have slightly more forgiving care needs than many other carnivorous plants. You can find a care guide for them here.

I can also recommend U. sandersonii (a bladderwort species) as a simple starter plant.

Thanks everyone.. im going to order a couple of things this week. Im super excite to get started

Do i need to use supplemental lighting in the winter months and what about feeding?

On a sunny windowsill, additional light should not be necessary during the winter. You can always buy a light later if your plants look like they need it later in the year. A regular lamp with a CFL bulb is a good option for a small number of plants.

I feed my sundews betta fish food pellets if they aren't catching anything, though they are quite good at catching their own food if there are many bugs in the house.

P tina doesnt realy need a dry winter and has carnivorous leaves for me alll year under lights


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Honestly for my first CP I went for the best thing (VFT) out there (DC XL), because go big or go home... These can go through any type of abuse and still be healthy.

briea wrote:Do i need to use supplemental lighting in the winter months and what about feeding?

With regards to Mexican Pinguicula, you don't need to supplement their lighting in the winter if you have them on a bright windowsill. Most Mexican Pinguciula go into a winter dry period which is similar to a dormancy but not quite the same; their growth habits will change but the plant won't die back. You don't need to feed Pinguicula as they are exceptionally adept at catching tiny flies in the room, but if you would like to I advise ground betta fish pellets (available from aquatics stores) or crushed freeze-dried bloodworms, although you shouldn't need either really. The plants won't suffer if you don't intentionally feed them.

Can i buy vft now since they are about to go into dormancy? Is so i can just sit it in the garage until when?

briea wrote:Can i buy vft now since they are about to go into dormancy? Is so i can just sit it in the garage until when?

Your vft will need sunlight even in dormancy, however not nearly as much as during the growing season (which is least 6 hours of direct for best growth), so I don't know how well it will fare in your garage. What spaces do you have outdoors? Vfts are usually pretty hardy and can survive frosts for short periods during the winter if you put some mulch on the media.

briea wrote:Can i buy vft now since they are about to go into dormancy? Is so i can just sit it in the garage until when?

Like the above messages, Venus Fly Trap still requires sunlight during dormancy. Dormancy is just a period where the plant slows down its growth and goes into 'hibernation'.

Leave it out in the open, and bring it in when the temperature gets too cold. As for the period, it will start to grow faster at the start of spring. So you can leave it till then.

Venus flytraps are native to Zone #7 if I recall so anything below that should be fine. I'm in zone #8 and I've never had trouble with mine even when the temperature has dropped to 5 degrees for a day or two. They can be grown outside through Zone #4 from what I've read but you will need varying degrees of insulation to protect them depending upon where you live.

I have more than thirty cultivars and I haven't lost a single one during dormancy so far.

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