FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hi Guys!!
I want to create a terrarium for keeping 2 Venus fly traps 2 sarracenias and 2 sundews.
Wilk this setup work??--
1 aquarium T5 light
1 small ultrasonic foggger
1 medium sized aquarium

Should I use aquarium light or fluroscent tubelights?
How can I create heat?
Should I use fan?

Regards
Vibhuti Shyam

I dont keep my plants in a terrarium so i cant say too much, i know though for the plants you want to keep in their that a good airflow is a must otherwise fungus and mold will thrive. Those plants do pretty well outside, depending where you are? or on a windowsill. where abouts are you?

To answer your questions T5 tubes. The light is your heat source. Yes.

Those plants shouldn't be in a terrarium. The sundews may be okay, but they won't be truly happy. The fly trap and Sarrs are temperate plants. They need dormancy for long term survival. So they need to be taking cues from the sun like every temperate plant.

By growing in an enclosed environment you are creating headaches for yourself. Without proper airflow you're inviting mold and rot. The only plants of mine that are in a terrarium are my Heli's. That's only because they prefer a more specialized growing environment.

I started off growing the same stuff in a terrarium, and my plants didn't thrive, some survived but they were not happy. They're happy now that they are out of the box.

If you really want to have truly happy healthy plants they shouldn't be in an enclosed environment. You would be better off with an open air rack. The plants would be happier too.

That's not to say some growers aren't successful with growing in terrariums. But it's a lot easier to do without.


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Hi there, I think I've probably made every mistake in the 'trying-to-put-cps-in-a-terrarium' book, but I think I finally have a firm grasp on what works and what doesn't.

As others have said, Sarracenia and vft's do not do well in a terrarium for several reasons. Mainly being that they require dormancy and a glass tank outside in the winter is not suitable. There are ways to provide sufficient air-flow and drainage in a terrarium but they are somewhat costly and not something I would recommend for a beginner. Sundews, nepenthes, certain pinguicula, and bladderworts have done quite well in terrariums, but you have to have a sustainable setup. The only CP I currently in a terrarium are bladderworts. If you search on the forum you can find several examples of what to do and not do!

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The biggest mistake I see with people building terrariums is not having a drainage layer, so algae builds up and things rot. Make sure you do either an egg crate false bottom or a gravel layer, using screen, sphagnum moss, or both, to separate the drainage layer from the dirt you are planting in. Computer fans are often used to provide air-flow and springtails are (in my opinion) a must for every terrarium.

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You can order springtail cultures from Josh'sFrogs - I also recommend you check out the forum dendroboard for tips and ideas to build a vivarium/terrarium.

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Choice of lighting is up to you and what your budget can afford. A lot of people have had success with T5 lighting but be aware that the bulbs need to be replaced periodically (maybe even every 2 year or less) because the light they put off becomes less useful to the plants over time.

LEDs (like those used in aquarium lighting) don't have this issue, but they have higher up front cost than T5s. Also, the quality of the diodes is a consideration. A lot of aquarium fixtures have low powered diodes that might not be optimal for growing plants and/or the colors are not the right wavelengths. Another consideration is that LEDs are more efficient than fluorescents (so if electricity consumption is a concern, maybe you want to look into LEDs).

Not to say you can't get good results with an aquarium fixture, but there are fewer people doing it so you won't get that much guidance on whether it will work. Alvin415 recently posted on his finnex aquarium fixture, but I believe he uses it as supplemental to window lighting.

Crystal
grow list: http://www.flytrapcare.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=32983

boarderlib wrote:The sundews may be okay, but they won't be truly happy.

I like terrariums...

I threw a Nepenthes Ampullaria X Talangensis, a D. Capensis and some U. Sandersonii into my vivarium and the nepenthes seems to like it a lot, but the capensis doesnt look like it's doing to great, the tips of the leaves keep getting burnt up and getting smaller and smaller...

The U. Sandersonii seems to be liking it in there so far, can't really tell though since it hasn't been in there for too long.

But then again, my vivarium isnt set up for carnivorous plants in the first place, i just kinda threw them in there just to see how they'd do.

Wikiwakawakawee wrote:I threw a Nepenthes Ampullaria X Talangensis, a D. Capensis and some U. Sandersonii into my vivarium and the nepenthes seems to like it a lot, but the capensis doesnt look like it's doing to great, the tips of the leaves keep getting burnt up and getting smaller and smaller...

This happened to my capensis in my terrarium. I think the issue is that it can't handle high humidity/lots of water unless in extremely strong lighting. Though, I also find this happened to most of my capensis that were planted in lfs.

Stupid phone.

Benurmanii wrote:
I like terrariums...

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