You are here:

Carnivorous Plants/carnivorous p climate

Advertisement

Expert: - 5/19/2007


Question
I live in cleveland ohio, I have grown CPs from seedlings  in terrariums for 3 yrs can I grow them outside i've never tried

Answer
Hello Lamer,

Ohio is in zone 4-5, so is actually the natural growing condition of the Purple Pitcher Plant. There are many species of North American carnivorous plants, so you could grow them outside for most of the year. The main problem to worry about would be winter hardiness since each plant has it's own hardiness range, Venus Flytraps, for instance, being zone 8 from North Carolina. You would need to protect most of the North American species from extreme cold below 30 degrees as such weather might dry them out and kill them in pots while they are dormant.

If you grow tropical species, you would need to keep them indoors during winter as they would not go dormant and would die if the weather gets too cold.

In any case, getting them out of the terrarium would be a good start as many carnivorous plants, including most of the tropicals, can live quite well in lower humidity levels. Just slowly adapt them to lower humidity by opening the terrarium a little every 3 days until it is completely uncovered in two weeks, then repot the plants without humidity domes. Terrariums tend to perpetuate the myth that carnivorous plants need high humidity and limits the amount of light they can be given since most of the temperates require full sun to really grow well. Terrariums also increase the risk of mold, root rot, and souring soil and makes providing dormancy requirements very difficult.

Christopher

Carnivorous Plants

All Answers

Answers by Expert:

Ask Experts

Volunteer

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.

©2012 About.com, a part of The New York Times Company. All rights reserved.