FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

We had a "pickup" order at Wallyworld the other day. While we were working on the order I started looking for "pots" for flytraps and sundews...you know, essential things.

Anyhow, I came up on this plastic cup. It appears durable with little flexing. I figure a 1/4" drill bit could make some quick drainage holes. I opted for the gray as it is the brightest, non-red color that they had. It's specs are:
3-5/16" top diameter
2-5/8" bottom diameter
6-5/8" tall
26-ounce capacity
Cost: $0.55 w/local tax included (not as cheap as the 20oz foam cups from Chic-Fil-A, though)

Kind of narrow, though. But, the bottom "corner" is pretty square so the cup seems to be rather stable. It might work for a low-growing flytrap that wants to hang over the edge of it's pot (or even an upright-growing one, I guess) or maybe a couple of sundews. I've used it a good bit so far...dipping water out of buckets.<grin>

Just thought I'd pass this on in case someone's looking for a narrow but tall pot. FWIW.

Yep, gotta drill'em in the sides. I grow vegetable seedlings in styrofoam cups and place them in 16qt Sterilite containers so the drain holes have to be in the sides of the cups. This photo will give you an idea of how I use styrofoam cups for my vegetable seedlings. Btw, the pencil is a wonderful tool....the point dibbles the planting hole, picks up the seed (moistened by the moist soil it just made the hole in) and drops it in the hole, the eraser firms the soil around the seed, and finally the point is used again to put drain holes in the cup. ...and everybody thought pencils were just for writing with!

I've got some small white pots I'm using for...small plants. Mostly sundews. I've been looking for a low-sided tray for them so that when it rained it wouldn't flood them but would hold some of the rain water. I was at Wallyworld today and saw a cousin to the gray cup that started this thread. It is 10.5"square by 0.75"deep. It's the same price as the cup....$0.50 each. I got one and moved three cups of sundews out of their fancy Styrofoam multi-compartment plate to this one. I wish they had them in white, but I think gray is about as lightest a color as they come in. I checked it out and I should be able to fit nine of these small 2.75" square pots on the tray...six pots with plenty of elbow room between them! I also took a page from MikeB's playbook and grabbed some large plastic cups from a place we ate lunch at recently. I really gotta plug the place...EXCELLENT FOOD!!! . I only had one of these cups at my table but I told the nice girl that was waiting on us that I was going to plant flytraps in the one I had...so she brought me two more!!!!! COOL!!! Anyhow, just thought I'd share this...

A couple of more scores here...

We stopped by a restaurant/food supply store the other day to pick up some things for our church. While there I made a point to check out containers and such...some followed me home.

I brought home a pack of these 32oz Styrofoam "Deli" cups. I've used two of them so far and I like them, but be careful holding/lifting them as they will "flex" some (they're styrofoam, remember ). I punch three holes in the sides just above the bottoms using a sharp pencil that I twist inside the hole to smooth it out. $5.45 for 25 of them. Cup dimensions are...

Depth: 6-1/2"
Top width: 4-1/2"
Bottom width: 2-7/8" I also grabbed two of these white polypropylene trays...EMI 18" White Tray". They are 18"x18" including the sloped sides, so usable flat surface area is probably something like 16"x16". It looks like they're 1-1/4" deep..I may end up drilling a few holes around the sides to lower the water level these will hold...maybe at about the 3/4" mark. Or, I could simply put something beneath one end and have a graduated depth across the bottom. These cost $6.65 each. Another "FWIW Post" from the sloughs of Intheswamp...

I posted these images of some zip lock bags in another thread and decided they'd fit good in this little running thread of different pots and such.

These are cheap generic gallon-size zip locks from a dollar store. I slit the bottom seam of the bags and slide the pots down into them through the zip lock opening. The cut-open bottom allows the pot to soak water from the tray it sits in and the zip lock works great in adjusting humidity levels and allowing some fresh air in. I use them on 5" square and 6" round pots. They make nice, functional humidity domes. Naturally most any plastic bag will do. I've used bread bags, dry-cleaner bags, bags that store-bought ice came in, etc.,. For the low-volume of use for my CPs I like the functionality of the zip lock bags, though....nice, neat, and easy to use.

FWIW.

That has enough room to germinate a *lot* of seeds in it, Mike! And the price is right! Cool!

Something that often gets thrown in the garbage at get-togethers, especially birthday parties are those plastic domed cake platters. They have a shallow base but a deep clear top that's several inches tall. And, they come in several sizes. They're not the stoutest plastic but with some care should hold up through at least a couple of germination cycles. It would need pots or trays to plant in. I think your burrito bowl is a bit more durable and it's an all-in-one and doesn't require separate pots.

I dunno, pencils don't require plugging in and warming up, they won't burn something (including you!), they're lightweight, and they go through Styrofoam with minimal effort. I've used them for years. In growing vegetable seedlings they're also very handy for dibbling seed holes, good for picking up seeds and depositing them in the dibbled holes and then covering them. For carnivorous plants I use the pencil to make planting holes. It's a very versatile tool.

And....you can even write with them!

Aquariums and fish bowls are bad ideas for flytraps as they do not like to have their roots sitting in water.