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Carnivorous Plants/growing together

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Expert: - 12/2/2008


Question
In case I want to make composition from the carnivorous plants (e.g., Pitcher Plants, Venus Flytrap) can I plant different species together in relatively small pot? Are the carnivorous plants friendly to their neighbors or aggressive, suppressive?

Answer
Hello Jogaila,

Many carnivorous plants can be grown together quite easily. If you are going to do so, use a large pot to give each plant a little growing room of a couple inches between them so each can get plenty of light and root space. Make sure the species of plants you grow together are similar in their soil, light, and watering needs so they will all survive in the same place equally well. For instance, you would not want to place a Venus Flytrap with a Nepenthes or a Sarracenia with an Australian Lance Leaf Sundew. Tropicals belong with tropicals, temperates with temperates. If you want to grow Venus Flytraps with Sarracenia Pitcher Plants and North American species of Sundews that would be just fine. You might want to create a dome on one side of the pot for the Venus Flytraps and plant the Sarracenias on the lower side as Sarracenias like to be closer to water than Flytraps.

These plants often grow together in nature. Venus Flytraps have been found growing with small sundews and some species of Sarracenias naturally. They cannot harm one another except for larger plants covering up the smaller ones and taking up all the sunlight.

Christopher

Carnivorous Plants

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Christopher Littrell

Expertise

I am capable of answering questions about the most common carnivorous plants found in cultivation. I have no personal experience with Byblis, Drosophyllum, Aldrovanda, and Heliamphora. I have not cultivated gemmae forming pygmy sundews nor tuberous sundews. For information regarding those aforementioned species, I would suggest contacting other experts. I can answer questions regarding most species of Nepenthes, tropical and temperate Drosera, Mexican Pinguicula, Sarracenias, and Dionaea. I have some limited experience with growing Utricularia, Cephalotus, and Darlingtonia.

Experience

I have grown carnivorous plants off and on for about 27 years. I have made the same mistakes and suffered the same mishaps that many growers make as they attempt to separate the myths from the realities of growing these plants. Currently, I am successfully growing a variety of tropical sundews, a Nepenthes, several Venus Flytraps of varying ages, and Sarracenias. I have been successful in stratifying Sarracenia seeds and providing artificial dormancy requirements for my temperate plants when needed.

Education/Credentials
I hold a Master's degree in Educational Psychology. Over my lifetime, I have constantly read books involving the growing conditions of carnivorous plants. I hope to incorporate the educational aspects involved in psychology with teaching other people how to cultivate carnivorous plants.

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