FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

I made a care sheet for my customers on eBay, I wanted to know what you guys thought of it!
The pole is open for 7 days.

Jake’s Random Plants care guide !
Venus fly trap Dionaea muscipula, zone 8
Outdoor Pitcher plants Sarracenia zone 4-9
Temperate Sundews, Drosera Zone 4-9
The care for all three plants listed above is the same: Grow outdoors in Full sun; keep in a tray of water, no more than half way up pot. Distilled or rainwater is best. Grow in 50% peat moss and 50% prelite make sure there is no fertilizer in either of the two. Winter care. Care for zone 5 Bring in unheated garage or shed in late November. Cut off all the leaves on your plant. Spray with sulfur based fungicide. A good fungicide to use is ,Safer Brand Garden fungicide. Bring back outside in late march. It’s ok if the plant freezes. Care for zones 6 and 7. (Leave plants out side) Around the binging of December Cut off all the leaves on your plant. Put plastic over your plant then put 6-7 inches of bark aspen or pine needles. Then cover with more plastic. For added protection dump leaves on top, occasionally check for fungus, spray with fungicide if necessary . Care for zone 8 and up nothing special is required accept to bring plants to cover (or cover them) if an arctic storm approaches Do not fertilize !

Tropical Pitcher plant, Nepenthes
Grow these plants as a house plant in the winter and bring out side in the summer when temperatures are above 55f at night. Grow in dappled sun light, Like under a tree while growing outside or slightly shaded by blinds while growing indoors. If growing indoors grow in a sunny west or south window. Distilled or rain water is best, keep soil constantly moist, do not let dry out! grow in 1 part peat moss and 2 parts perlite make sure there is no fertilizer in either of the two. A better mix is 1 part peat moss, 1part perlite and one part orchid bark.

Tropical Sundew, Drosera
Grow in Full sun, , keep in a tray of water, no more than half way up pot. Distilled or rain water is best. Can grow outside in full sun when temps are Above 55F, or grow as a house plant in a sunny South or west window. Grow in 50% peat moss and 50% prelite make sure there is no fertilizer in either of the two.

Tropical Butterwort Pinguicula
Grow these plants as a house plant in bright indirect sun in a south or west window.
Distilled or rain water is best. Keep in a shallow tray of water, allow the tray to dry out before filling again. Grow in 50% peat moss and 50% prelite make sure there is no fertilizer in either of the two.

Temperate Butterwort (Pinguicula)
Flow the same instructions for the Venus fly trap, Outdoor Pitcher plants and Temperate Sundews. Accept this, keep the water level lower and keep slightly shaded..

If your tropical plants are not catching bugs you can foliar feed them with an orchid fertilizer if you wish, but is not entirely necessary. Use ¼ the recommended rate and spray the leaves until wet. You can do this once every 2 weeks during the summer and once a month during the winte

For questions or more info feel free to email me at carnivorousandmore@gmail.com

Great job! I see you put a lot of work into this! Very Informative

I can't really comment on the first species as I don't have much experience with them, though I do wonder why you mention to cut all leaves off. I would have thought that may hinder the plant rather than help. I know some who cut off most pitchers of Sarracenia during winter but I've not heard of this practice for venus fly traps; again though I don't really know. What works for one may not work for another. I can see you put lots of work into this.

Regarding the Pinguicula, there are two "groups" of temperate Pinguicula and they differ slightly from each other:

Warm temperate Pinguicula (sometimes confused with tropicals) experience similar yearly conditions to venus fly traps except their winters tend to be milder. To that end they have no dormancy period nor a "state of dormancy" (eg. in the form of a hibernacula) and they are not resilient to snow or frost. They may die back if they get too cold and can take a fair while to return to life. Many species don't like direct sunlight and should be kept moist; some species approve of occasional flooding. Some species are absolute cake to care for whereas others are rather challenging.

Cold temperate Pinguicula should be kept similarly to venus fly traps, as you correctly stated, and they experience a wet dormancy in which most species form a hibernacula and later gemmae. They don't do well in warmer temperatures so they can be a pain to keep in warmer regions; shockingly, during a heat wave, I lost my cold temperate Pinguicula as I could not keep them cool enough.

Tropical Pinguicula are actually somewhat scarce in private collections. Possible to attain, yes, but not as easily as other "groups". They do not have any form of dormancy period and they can die off completely if they get too cold or if water levels drop too low. Some species like flooding whereas others detest it. Bright, indirect sunlight is usually recommended and these species are usually short-lived perennials so pollination or propagation is essential to keeping plants long-term.

If I may, I'd also like to mention that it might be worthwhile to add that Pinguicula tend to be very intolerant to fungicides/pesticides; these aerosols can kill them off. Many Pinguicula make fantastic windowsill plants but the care really depends upon each species; unlike flytraps and apparently Sarracenia, the conditions for each species of Pinguicula in each "group" can vary quite wildly.

Good stuff! I wish you luck on eBay

Thanks for the info grey!
I did not take in to consideration the warm temperate ping verses tropical pings.

though I do wonder why you mention to cut all leaves off.

I do this to minimize the water loss during dormancy, and this also helps to prevent fungal infections on the plant.
I do this with all my temperate plants.

Very, very interesting. I hadn't considered that at all -- splendid idea!

As far as Sarracenia are concerned, cutting of all the leaves has never helped me avoid Botrytis, it just kills the plant anyway.

Temperate Pinguicula seem to appreciate a colder dormancy than most plants I grow too, as does S purpurea.

First. Great idea, good information.

If this is your final draft...

Temperate Butterwort (Pinguicula)
Flow the same instructions for the Venus fly trap, Outdoor Pitcher plants and Temperate Sundews. Accept this, keep the water level lower and keep slightly shaded..

Follow the same... and: Except, not accept

You might also want to consider a bullet list when major points are involved. Such as:

The care for all three plants listed above is the same:

• Grow outdoors in Full sun
  Keep in a tray of water, no more than half way up pot.
  Distilled or rainwater is best.
  Grow in 50% peat moss and 50% prelite make sure there is no fertilizer in either of the two.

Readability will be increased as well as quick reference...

Highlight or emphasis on zone differentiation may help as well, where applicable.

Thanks for pointing out the spelling errors.

You might also want to consider a bullet list when major points are involved. Such as:

The care for all three plants listed above is the same:

Grow outdoors in Full sun
Keep in a tray of water, no more than half way up pot.
Distilled or rainwater is best.
Grow in 50% peat moss and 50% prelite make sure there is no fertilizer in either of the two.

I would have done it that way, the only problem I have is that the text will not stay on one page.

Just suggestions...

Line spacing, font size... and if you match up your instructions with the type of plant you're selling... those should help free up some page real estate.

You could ultimately keep a master file of instructions with which to print and/or email pertinent sections along with your orders.

I'm making this much more complicated, but I'm about the details. I certainly understand the reasoning of making a single page care sheet.

Looks good.

I would like to point out to anyone reading this that he cuts the leaves off the plants during that part of dormancy because he covers them to protect them from the cold. No light = no photosynthesis and no need for leaves.

If you live in an area where you can leave them outside through out dormancy definitely do not cut off your leaves since they are still capable of photosynthesis.

I would make it a bit more clear that you're only recommending cutting the leaves off if you live farther north where you're covering them or putting them in a garage for winter.

Thanks for puting that out there.
That is what I ment to say.
Thanks for the feed back every body !

I have another comment...

About the first three.

I have a knack for Sarracenia, they grow for me, and I accept that, I don't however, have a knack for Dionaea, I grow them just like I grow my Sarracenias, and most Flytraps hate me. I've grown temperate Droseras like my Sarracenias too, they hated it as well. So I gave them different treatment.

In my experience, these three genera are different in many ways. No doubt however, other people will say they are very much the same, these are just my thoughts.

I suggest that instead of grouping the species together, you expand on that, and give whoever buys plants from you a good chance of growing them well.

parker679 wrote: If you live in an area where you can leave them outside through out dormancy definitely do not cut off your leaves since they are still capable of photosynthesis.

I would make it a bit more clear that you're only recommending cutting the leaves off if you live farther north where you're covering them or putting them in a garage for winter.

I agree. Any time you cut off live tissue you're opening the plant up to infection. That options seems pretty close in nature to a fridge dormancy. I'd definitely prefer photosynthesis if possible. The only other thing I thought is maybe say distilled, rain water, or RO water is required. "Best" may sound too optional to the novice grower, but maybe you've already thought about that wording more carefully than I.