FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hello community,

I was doing some research online about a mystery drosera I have (finally identified!) and I read several articles about feeding a variety of carnivorous plants. Now, I know feeding them isn't a necessity however I have read that it will increase growth and the overall health of many of the plants if they receive the odd tidbit here or there.

I read that freeze-dried blood worms (if ground into a fine dust) can be used to feed drosera and pinguicula. I've also been reading up on various other foodstuffs but this particular one is interesting because I have a tropical aquarium and so have a huge pot of these freeze-dried creepy looking beasties.

I'm wondering: would you recommend this product for carnivorous plants? My droseras don't look too bright and I was thinking maybe if I fed them they would improve their condition, however due to physical incapabilities and the cold weather at the moment I can't go running around catching flies. I'm also wondering if anyone has ever tried giving nepenthes and dionaea freeze-dried bloodworms, and if you have, what were the results?

I'm fascinated and excited that I may be able to share my two prime hobbies amongst each other, and I love the thought of not having to hunt down and catch flies

Bloodworms should work well for feeding Drosera, it definatly helps the smaller plants to grow up. I use fishfood flakes which you may have also.

Im not certain about the nepenthes but they will probably work fine, just try a little in one pitcher at first.

Bloodworms & other types of fertilization can help many CPs grow faster if done in moderation (typically less is better). However (with a few exceptions), CP will grow very well without fertilization and any problems you are experiencing are probably a result of deficiencies in your care system (water, media, light, temperature, humidity, air flow, etc). Efforts spent toward understanding the plant's needs and correcting these possible deficiencies will help your plants prosper more in the long term than a simple 'juicing' with fertilizer (imho).

Thank you both for the information.

My plants are all in good health, my nepenthes are thriving, as are my pinguicula and dionaea. I have (since posting this thread) repotted my drosera in a different media and they are now looking much healthier and more robust. I'm looking into acquiring artificial lighting for the winter as it's always good to have a backup lighting system.

Thanks again!

i have been using them for some months and think they work well especially on sun dews,sorry for late reply

jim or pat whichever,i noticed you said fish food flakes,would it work with pellets aswell?

I have heard of people using pellets, but never heard how they did...

i was guessing crushing them up into a powder

Sounds right...

Just an update on the bloodworm front, I fed my nepenthes a couple of partially crushed freeze-dried bloodworms mid-November and the pitcher I fed it to has grown substansially compared to the others on the plant. So. Yeah, they like it and now I have a use for that massive pot of fish fodder.

Have you tried fish-food with the nepenthes yet?

squirtoman wrote:Have you tried fish-food with the nepenthes yet?

Not as of yet. My fish have had babies so I'm running out haha.

Hehehe you could always get rid of some of the babys,I'm sure a nepenthes would appreciate sushi

Never! That's mean D: I love my babies! They even have naaaaaaaaaaaames T_T.

But I'll buy some more fish flakes soon and try it, then let you know.

It's the (kind of) natural order,Plants eat fish