How to Grow Plants That Eat Things
Ferns are nice and all, but they’re not exactly dynamic. If you’re a person who demands action from your houseplants or wants some really deadly greens, you should consider growing a carnivorous plant. They look beautiful, and as a bonus, these are houseplants that should not violate the generally accepted rules of nature. Venus flytraps and their lesser-known friends are pest control in your home and garden, and if you keep them alive, they’ll mark you as a unique weirdo who’s determined to grow a kill garden.
What are carnivorous plants?
There are over 630 species of meat-eating plants known in the world, and all of them should not exist, if you ask me. They often grow in swamps where there aren’t a lot of nutrients in the soil and water, so these plants have evolved the ability to get what they need from meat – usually insects, but sometimes lizards, frogs, and small rodents. Insectivorous plants trap their prey by trapping it on sticky natural adhesives or placing traps on it like the Venus flytrap. (Underwater carnivorous plants use suction, while those that eat microorganisms use other methods of attraction.)
Three Carnivorous Plants Easiest to Grow at Home
Cape sundew, water lilies, and venus flytraps are generally considered to be the easiest carnivorous plants to maintain in the home, and sundew is the toughest carnivorous plant and the hardest to kill.
(If you’d rather grow a more difficult variety of carnivorous plant because you’re so big, I suggest a low pitcher. Borneo native, Nepenthes Iowii is a bowl-shaped plant with sweet nectar around its “lid”. The nectar attracts shrews, which defecate in a perfect a toilet pitcher underneath.Import some shrews from Borneo and start growing your crappy plant, gardener!)
Cape sundew
Native to South Africa, the Cape sundew produces large pink rosettes that glisten with sticky mucus. When a mosquito, housefly, or mosquito touches the tentacle, it gets stuck and the leaf is drawn in and surrounds it. Then they are slowly digested.
pitcher plants
Pitcher plants are more passive in catching insects than other carnivorous plants. Their vase-like leaves form a vessel for nectar. When an unsuspecting beetle enters the affected area, it slides down the side of the jug and quickly finds that the sides are too slippery to climb back out and the nectar doubles as digestive fluid.
Venus flytrap
The mountain stars of the carnivorous plant world, the venus flytraps wait for something to crawl innocently over their “leaves” and then – CLICK – the trap closes and the digestion process begins. Murder!
These three plants may be the least labor intensive carnivorous plants for your home, but growing them can still be a challenge. Their adaptations have evolved in response to certain environmental conditions, so in order to keep them alive, you must create something like their home.
What kind of soil is needed for a carnivorous plant?
Ordinary potting soil will kill the carnivorous plant. The three species listed here need moist, highly acidic soil, free of nutrients and minerals, like a swamp. You can make your own soil by combining one part peat moss and one part perlite, or you can purchase ready-made materials from Home Depot .
Carnivorous plants need distilled water
Tap and spring water will kill your insectivorous plants just as fast as fertilizer. Instead, water them with distilled water—it doesn’t contain the minerals they hate—and water them a lot. Sundew, water lily and Venus flytrap come from marshy and wet places.
Consider a terrarium for some predators
All of these plants do well in a closed, humid terrarium environment as long as they get plenty of light, but this is not necessary for their growth. Besides, they won’t be able to catch bugs there, isn’t that the point?
Carnivorous plants need a lot of light – until they do.
For most of the year, most predatory species require plenty of heat and light, so place them in a shade-free window and let the sun shine through until winter. Flycatchers and pitchers need a different environment during their winter dormancy, so between November and February, move them to a dark, cool location, such as a barn or basement. Sundews do not need winter dormancy.
Pruning your predator
If parts of your flytrap have turned black, this is completely normal. You can trim these parts carefully with scissors, but don’t cut out the green parts of the leaves. Sundews are basically the same, although they don’t need pruning very often. The rules for pruning pitchers are the same as for any flowers: cut off dead flowers at the base of the stem.
Feeding a carnivorous plant
The big disadvantage of insect-eating plants is that they don’t need a lot of meat to live. They still photosynthesize for most of their nutrients, so making sure they have the right amount of light, the right soil, and enough water is more important to their health than having a steady supply of meat. However: we all want to watch them catch and dissolve the bugs.
Your pest plant will almost certainly get all the bugs it needs if planted outdoors, but if it’s indoors, you may need to help it. Feed them what they can only catch in the wild: freeze-dried mealworms, bloodworms and crickets can be fed to all the novice predators listed here.
With flycatchers, feeding can be a challenge. The traps won’t close unless they sense something moving, so you’ll have to help them by pushing their little trigger hairs as long as food is there. You can use live worms or beetles – that will provide the best show – but don’t blame me if they break out of the trap. Nature is not perfect.
Don’t poke a Venus flytrap
Everyone wants to poke a flycatcher and watch it closely, but don’t. It’s not because your plant will be disappointed that your fingertip isn’t a succulent fly; this is because each trap can only go off four or five times before dying. It takes a lot of energy to do your thing, man.