FlyTrapCare Forums

Hi again my friends. Im looking to expand from what will always be my favourite carnivorous plant the mighty Venus fly trap into something different which by the way I blame evenwind for lol. I know next to nothing about the conditions needed for this vast array of awesome bug munchers. So my question is what species would enjoy very similar growing conditions to a vft that would suit a cp beginner. I ask because I grow vft indoors not by choice but necessity and would like to grow a plant or 2 that would also enjoy fairly intense 16 hour light periods during summer and a dormancy in winter so I will not have to adjust my grow space. Hopefully this will also help with my absolutely mind frazzling fungus gnat problem and look far better than yellow sticky cards. I have already had great advice on dealing with the larvae which is in hand. Thanks

Any North American temperate cp. However I'd go with a Sarracenia.

Thanks chefdean why do you suggest sarracenia species in particular. At least with a recommended species I can do my own research. When I knew i wanted to grow vft it was simple. Just research that particular species and set up some growing conditions for it but when you know you want a cp that has to match those growing conditions but dont know which species it suddenly feels like its complicated.

Really any sarracenia will do well in the climate you describe. A hybrid like Judith Hindle or Scarlette Belle are cheap and easily available. My favorite is leucophylla but I have many flavas. I'm in Atlanta, GA so I grow in pretty much the climate you described. If you have an interesting flytrap, I'd be willing to trade for a flava.

I just reread tour post and saw that you are growing indoors. You would like a smaller sarracenia like purpurea. The flavas are pretty tall.

Thanks panman i will look into purpurea. It's a whole new learning curve for me with other cps. I'd love to trade later down the line but I've only started propagating or dividing my mother plants recently and I don't know if you would consider the cultivars interesting. I have g10, mirror, b52, great white shark, large clone, ARPC, FTS purple ambush and jigsaw.

Ive just realised you said the flavas are pretty tall. My grow space is 1.2m tall but I'm running cfl lights so they are very close to my vfts. Not that any of my vfts are mature enough to be worthy of a trade lol.

These sundews would make good companions: Drosera capillaris, filiformis, and intermedia. All of them grow wild with the Venus flytrap, so they need the same conditions (light, soil, water, and temperature). They'll also help to put a dent in your fungus gnat problem.

Definitely Drosera like filiformis. Capensis can go into a light dormancy too btw

Since you're in Wales, there's need to look further than the native European Pinguicula (like P. grandiflora). They could be fairly easy to for you to acquire and should certainly suit your purpose.

Oh, and, You're Welcome!

The two that came to mind for me too were Sarracenia and Pinguicula. Especially when he described indoor growing with dormancy. Either of those two would be good choices for lower maintenance plants. Pinguiculas are great in how the majority of them are quite small and can fit into a 3 inch pot or smaller. They're relatively flexible with water levels and a lot of them actually change their leaves to look like an entirely different plant in the winter. They're the first plant that I got after a venus fly trap. I've been propagating them like crazy lol. Cool plants. Excellent for taking out gnats too. I have a Moranensis that literally doubled its size within the last month going to town on some gnats in my germination tray It's kind of scary how fast it grew tbh...

Anyway, of those two, pinguicula would be my choice because you wouldn't need to shift lights or habits to accomodate a larger plant. I'd also say Judith Hindle. I've collected a few Sarrs but JH was my first and still my favorite.

Thanks for all your great responses. From what you guys say drosera and pinguicula stick in my mind as to the species I think ill get. Just one of each (im going to regret this). From what I can see pings are mainly short rosette type plants but are any drosera particularly short as like I previously mentioned my lights are only about 4" above my tallest vft so I wouldn't want to raise the light and take precious lumens away from my vfts.

What did I miss here?

Are you looking for drosera and ping species to buy?

Im venturing into other species. My fungus gnats and evenwind lured me in that direction lol. Yeah I will be buying them come pay day along with my mosquito bits. Luckily there is a couple of nurseries locally that have a huge choice of all species of cp.