Carnivorous plants...

[navy2kcoupe]

Originally Posted by 85vette

Wouldn't that be nice! I don't think they have any predators that would eat them though.

I have a 2000 coupe that, judging by the front end, is a VERY good predator
that likes to "eat" love bugs
Andy

[Mark Dalton]

This may be a dumb question but, if there are no insects for these plants to eat, what sustains them? Are they then like other plants in that reguard? You just water them and so forth?

[Rich Z]

Well, I think I'm doing better with the sundews than I am with the flytraps. The flytraps don't seem to actually be taking the full sun as well as I was led to believe. I put the new ones out to catch full morning sun and be shaded in the afternoon, but the morning sun burned some of them pretty badly.

The sundews out in my mini-bog seem to be doing just fine in full sun nearly all day long. One of them is getting a lot of red color to it and flowering. I haven't put the two newer ones out there as I was afraid they might get damaged by the sun.

I've got the flytraps sitting on the porch to catch some brief dappled sun in the morning, hoping they will bounce back. Maybe they just need to be better acclimated before tossing them into full sun.

Here's pics of the two original flytraps that are out in the mini-bog exposed to full sun most of the day.





I'm leaving them there so I can see what happens. Maybe they'll bounce back and the new growth will be better able to withstand the sunlight.

Here's a pic of the mini-bog Connie and I set up. Nothing fancy, to be sure.



The two sundews there look like they are doing just fine, I guess..





Of the newer flytraps that got burned from that half day of full sun, these look the worse for wear.





Of course the largest of the bunch was one that got really zapped by the sunlight. But hopefully they will bounce back for me.

[Rich Z]

Originally Posted by Mark Dalton

This may be a dumb question but, if there are no insects for these plants to eat, what sustains them? Are they then like other plants in that reguard? You just water them and so forth?

Well, they can die from lack of nutrients. They do get energy from sunlight, just like any other plants, but they need the nutrients that trapped insects provide. Unfortunately, trying to add nutrients via fertilizer in the soil apparently just kills them outright. People who grow them inside actually have to manually feed them periodically to keep them alive. Which is why I want them to grow outside. I really don't want to have mouths to have to feed. Had my fill of that when I had the snake breeding business.

[Mark Dalton]

Originally Posted by Rich Z

Well, they can die from lack of nutrients. They do get energy from sunlight, just like any other plants, but they need the nutrients that trapped insects provide. Unfortunately, trying to add nutrients via fertilizer in the soil apparently just kills them outright. People who grow them inside actually have to manually feed them periodically to keep them alive. Which is why I want them to grow outside. I really don't want to have mouths to have to feed. Had my fill of that when I had the snake breeding business.

What sort of mechanism do they use to attract prey? Is it coloring or a scent of some sort?

[Rich Z]

Originally Posted by Mark Dalton

What sort of mechanism do they use to attract prey? Is it coloring or a scent of some sort?

Actually both. And there is some sort of nectar that must be tasty to the bugs. Sort of a "last meal" offering, I suppose.

I'm actually leaning more towards the sundews than the other forms, as they seem better at getting rid of the numerous gnats that seem to be everywhere. Plus they are supposed to work well for mosquitoes as well. So these seem better suited for small insect prey.

It's a shame that the area around the stream we have on our property is so heavily wooded, otherwise I would try to relocate and establish some native sundews there. But I think they wouldn't get enough direct sunlight there for them to thrive.

[Mark Dalton]

You're probably right. From the pics I've seen of your property, there would be very little sunlight reaching them. It almost reminds me of pics Ive seen of the rain forest. The trees form such a thick overhead canopy that the forest floor is very dimly lit.