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Carnivorous Plants/Humidity
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Question
I read that carnivorous plants don't need much humidity but I'm growing all my carnivorous plants in a terranium. I have a round leaf sundew, sundew cape, 2 Venus fly traps,a small nepenthes,a butter wort , a sarracenia purpurea and a sarracenia flava. Can you tell me which plants can be grown in very low humidity
Hi Alberto,
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Most, it not all, of those plants can be grown in low humidity. However, you can't just suddenly move them from a very humid place like a terrarium to low humidity. They need to be hardened off gradually. We have a chapter in our volume #1 DVD titled "Rescuing Venus Flytraps From Terrariums" that goes through this process. The other volumes have similar chapters on how to transition plants out of the death cubes they are sometimes sold packaged in, and into normal room humidity.
Terrariums are particularly bad for North American natives since you are placing them in tropical rainforest conditions, and their native habitats are nothing like that. For most Sarracenia it is next to impossible to get them adequate light in terrarium settings, and they don't get winter dormancy. These photos might be helpful: http://www.cobraplant.com/gallery/Humidity/humidity.html
With tropical plants the issue gets fuzzier since some do fine if you set the terrarium up properly, but the devil is in the details. Terrariums need artificial light, partial ventilation, and need to be watched carefully for fungus. The only plants I'll go out on a limb and say really should be in an enclosure are lowland Nepenthes such as N. ampullaria, and N. bicalcurata. Some lowland hybrids are fine, however, in normal room humidity. Some of the Heliamphora species do better in elevated humidity also, but again, some of the hybrids are fine in a sunny window.
Alberto, I can see your in that place so many new growers find themselves in where you are trying to follow directions that either you had been told carnivorous plants need, or you read a bunch of conflicting things on the internet. Our DVD's will really be a good investment before you buy anymore plants, and I'm not just saying that to sell videos. We did those DVD's because we found there was a dire need to people to have hands-on examples of how to grow these plants that didn't require all kinds of special treatment. There was also a need to dispel a number of myths that carnivorous plants tend to be plagued with.
If give me some specifics on where you live, if you have a sunny outdoor area, or sunny windows in your house, I can give you some specific recommendations on good plants for your area.
Good Growing!
Jeff Dallas
Sarracenia Northwest
http://www.cobraplant.com
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Answers by Expert:
Sarracenia Northwest
Expertise
If your plant is showing poor growth, discoloration, abnormal leaves or possible infestation, the growers at Sarracenia Northwest can help! Carnivorous plant experts Jeff Dallas and Jacob Farin will help you diagnose the problem and get your plants on the right track. Their no nonsense approach has helped thousands of growers all over the world. They can help you too!
Experience
With over 40 years of combined experience, Jeff and Jacob has definitely taken a straight forward approach to growing carnivorous plants. They have encountered many types of diseases, abnormal growth and infestations related to carnivorous plants, and they know what it takes to get plants looking beautiful and healthy again.
Education/Credentials
Authors of Secrets to Growing Beautiful Carnivorous Plants for Your Home and Garden and producers of the Grow Carnivorous Plants! DVD Series. They also produce a monthly video podcast to illustrate how plants cycle through the seasons.
No terrariums. No myths. No nonsense.
Just the straight facts from guys who grow and propagate
thousands of carnivorous plants each year.
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PLEASE READ BEFORE SUBMITTING YOUR QUESTION: We no longer answer how-to questions (i.e. How do I propagate...?; How do I grow...?). Instead, we help growers by diagnosing a specific plant problem and offering solutions (i.e. Why is my sundew not producing dew?; Is now a good time to divide my Sarracenia?; Why are the traps turning black?; What's a good substitute for perlite?; Why didn't my seeds germinate?; Can you identify this carnivorous plant for me?) For general plant care, please read our care sheets on our main website: http://www.cobraplant.com/caresheets For business questions: http://www.cobraplant.com/contact |
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