In a bog, in a tray, in a draining pot, in a undraining pot.

How to keep your plants wet enough in dry weather? Years of experimenting. I am no closer to a reliable answer. Unfortunately, I have no greenhouse, no controllable conditions. It is either super hot and dry or hot and flooded. Cold and flooded or cold and dry with humidity. Not a friendly environment for CPs. I want a greenhouse. :)

There are about 10 Sarracenia in this bog. They are in better shape than last year when they were in individual pots with trays.

Here's my main bog. It is overrun with native bog violets and ferns. It was just weeded. I think I will start pulling out the ferns and violets to sell.

This is a small undrained bog. It is super heavy. It has Sarracenia seedlings, a couple purpurea, a huge D. filiformis and VFT.

In Trays. D. filiformis, D. indica, Sarracenia, Utricularia and VFT, and a pot of yearling Sarracenia.

Another undrained bog with S. yearlings, a couple volunteer Drosera, a bog violet. . .

Squirrel damage. Augh! Seedlings VFT, D. capensis, D. indica, D. burmanni. . .

Windowsill plants in a tray: Pings and a D. Alice. I need to repot those baby P. "aphrodite"

Sundews in a tray under lights.

More sundews.

Nepenthes in a tray. I don't keep a lot of water in the tray. More so water doesn't end up on the floor. Utricularia longiflora int he background.

Wow! I hope my filiformis volunteer gets that big. I grow my purpurea(sp?) in a lot of live sphagnum moss and they do well for me. It gets crunchy when the heat moves in but greens up pretty quickly after a rain or when its a little cooler out.
You have so much variety, no wonder you cant keep them all watered. I have a few VFT's, Dana's Delight S. and the red pitchers. I want some different Sarracenia for next year.
C

I do have too many plants. I need to get some control on my obsession. I think your filiformis is a different species. Mine is a Traceyi, and they get huge and sticky. Remind me in the spring. Maybe I can figure out how to send you some roots and leaves to expand your collection. I have been collecting about 5 years. I also left the spigot open on my rain barrel which isn't helping my drought situation.

I don't think you can really have too many plants. I am going to order from cobra plants this spring and if they have that species I will get one, its nice.
C

Starsplitter, you have a lovely collection! I've seen quite a few of your photos on here as I work my way through the cp posts.

I have 4 cp plants sitting in temporary "housing" until I figure out what type of permanent set up to use. I have two sundews in a large jar, with no lid, on the dining room table. Then I have two sarracenias in a pot on the floor by the patio door.

My goal at this point is to build a bog bowl and stick the sarracenias outside. I'm trying to find better instructions than I current have and also find a container.

The Sar. need a winter dormancy and should be outside.
C

I was a bit worried about putting them outside now. They are in a 6 inch plastic pot and I wanted to put them in a better set up (hopefully this weekend) before I set them out. Where they are gets a nice cold draft but still gets bright light. I've had a few herbs die when I put them there because it was so cold.

edit to add: Found a container!! Now I'm going to go make my bog

This message was edited Nov 13, 2010 10:08 AM

They won't die, mine were in small but not that small pots and last winter we had snow here in TX and they survived. I can tell you from experience if they don't get cold they will weaken and die.
C

Cobraplants is in Oregon and all Sarracenia and Venus Flytraps are outdoors year round. Now that you have the right put, keep them moist and put them out. Where did you get your plants. What kind of Sundews do you have? Can you post some pictures? :)

Sarracenia only need protection from freezing wind once they are dormant. You can put them in a sheltered place until that wind is gone. Freezes and snow are fine. :)

I put them out a couple hours after my last reply on here lol. If wind becomes an issue there are a few clear plastic containers I can use to keep the wind out plus I have some very tall pots to use as a wind guard.

I think I have a spatula and a adelae. I'm not 100% of course. I bought the spatula at my local Lowes and the adelae from a Lowes in a neighboring city since they got in a new shipment last Monday or Tuesday.

They should not be left outside, only the Sar.
C

When you say 'They' do you mean the Drosera? Mine are indoors and will stay there. I'm figuring out a nice permanent home for them but so far they have their own jars to sit in. They get lots of light and some morning sun.

Yes, I meant the sundews, I was not sure if they were going into your bog as well.
C

Yeah, I should have been clear. I've read that some do put theirs out in a bog but I assumed they either used natives to their area or had temperatures that suited the ones they used. After reading up on both types I seriously doubt either would like my local temperatures.

D. filiformis show be grown outside. They need to go dormant, and there are lots of sundews that need cool temps like the Round Sundew. I can't grow them here. Look up temperate sundews, and you can put those in your outdoor bogs.

Here are my carnivorous plants. I'm a bit hesitant to go on the deck right now do to the wasp activities so the Venus is still out there.

If you go clockwise from the VFT you have a VFT, two Sarracenia (the top one may be rubra, and the bottom looks like a hybrid), the top Sundew is a Lance Leaf and the bottom one I don't know. Maybe a spatulata.

I find Lance Leafs inpossible to grow, but others find them super easy. The bottom one will be easy. Leave it is a sunny spot and it will color up and be easier to ID.
http://cobraplant.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=26&zenid=64235a06e66a8d06421420fc8de911c3

Lance Leafs don't like rapid changes in temp and they don't like full sun. Maybe someone can give you a little advice. If the plant dies, do not throw it away. Keep watering it, and it may come back from roots or send up babies.

They were listed as Red Pitcher and Purple Pitcher. They also had a x Judith Hindle but at the time I didn't recognize the name. I'm shopping around for a better bowl to use as my bog bowl.

Because I'm using a bowl from my kitchen until I find them a better one I've placed it back towards my patio door. They'll get loads of sun but still be protected by the rain plus my son can sit and watch them eat bugs. I have a row of pots acting as a wind block since we are currently having a wind storm.

I think they are Lance Leaf and Spatulata. I had to google Lance Leaf since I'm only familiar with the fancy name (drosera adelae.) I have them in front of a window with vertical blinds. I'll just have to switch around the jars so I can shield one from full sun.

What a beautiful bog! Are the plants in the pool potted in their own containers, and the pool is a "tray" or is the pool the "container"?

Love that fern with the pitchers!

Rose

The first year I had the pool, I had the pots in the water in the pool. However, it didn't work well, because the pots were different sizes and some would get flooded and others didn't have enough water. Sometimes they fell over and the plants drowned. So last spring, I took them all out of their pots and planted them in the pool. The plants have been faring better and it is easier to keep them from drying out during out long draughts we have in Florida. The bog has VFT, Sarracenia, Sundews, Ferns and native Florida Bog Violets. The ferns and violets are accidentals and aggressive, and I remove them into their own pots when they start overwhelming the bogs. THe squirrels also plant all sorts of strange plants into the bog.