How to make a simple Carnivorous Plant mini bog...

[Sean]

Sean's Carnivorous plants
 
As a natural extension to aquatic gardening, the wonderful world of Carnivorous plants add hardiness to North American gardens that would not be found in many other aquatic plants. Because many of these plants are North American natives and require a winter dormancy they will survive in many zones throughout North America with little or no winter protection. The lure of carnivorous plants is a strong one. You will not be able to stop with just one plant.

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I purchased four Sarracenia Leucophylla aka (White Trumpet Pitcher) in January 2003 before I went looking to find more information on them. I have wanted to try them for many years and was able to get these ones half price for $5.00 each.
Here is a quick photo of them.



 
There are hundreds of websites that came up in my search but they all say the same thing which does not answer my questions. I know one of them must have the correct information but I get tired reading websites with "Cloned" information.
 
I am planning to use one of the 30 gallon lotus pots I acquired at the symposium last year to make a small bog garden for them but would like to know what is the best soil for them? I have read they prefer plain sphagnum but they are currently planted in a mix of what looks like peat, loam and Pearlite. I dislike Pearlite personally and would like to eliminate it if it's not needed. I have access to live moss everywhere but have heard they dislike sheet moss and that it can kill them. If this is the case, should I just use peat moss with dead sphagnum and hope it starts to grow again on it's own? I want to give these little plants their best chance.
My research found that the best mix for carnivorous plants is one of 1/2 peat moss and one half silica sand. Ideally live Sphagnum moss is preferred but it is rather difficult to acquire live sphagnum in large quantities. Using the Peat and Sand mix works just fine allowing one to top off with Live Sphagnum moss for a completed effect.

 
Another question is how wet/dry/moist is ideal for them?
The research I conducted also found that these carnivores do not like to dry out.

While the Pitcher Plants can be found growing in wet bogs or even standing in pools of water, many of the other carnivorous plants do not like to be as wet.

The Venus Flytraps and Sundews prefer to maintain even moistness and are best planted in the top layer of live Sphagnum moss where the wicking action of the moss draws water up to the root zone of the plant. Watering your carnivorous plants is another touchy situation. These plants should never be watered with city tap water or softened well water. The ideal water for them is rain water, providing you do not live in a large city where it comes down as acid rain, distilled water, or reverse osmosis water.

 
In the last week since I purchased the first four Sarracenia 'leucophylla'  I have found that there is a local Carnivorous plant society that I plan to join. I have also lucked into a few other varieties and cultivars of Sarracenia that were available at various local nurseries. These plants were a bargain at 50% off due to the season and being in dormancy. The wonderful finds were a rare cultivar named Sarracenia 'Judith Hindle' that is considered to be the most beautiful Sarracenia by many enthusiasts and a Sarracenia leucophylla'  var. 'Tarnok' which is a mutation of the species Sarracenia 'leucophylla' where the pitchers look the same but the bloom is fully double.
 
Now that I have had an opportunity to collate all the information I was referred to I have finished my mini display bog and was lucky enough to even gather some live Sphagnum Moss to decorate the top.
 
Here is a photo of the dormant plants in their new home.




Another couple Sarracenia I recently acquired are S. 'purpurea and S. 'rubra' Here is a photo of purpurea.




Just to show how bad I have it, here are a couple photo's of two new Venus Flytraps I purchased to add to my mini bog.
This first one is a hybrid Dionaea Muscipula (Venus Flytrap) named Red Dragon. In ideal conditions this plant is a deep maroon color and slightly larger than the common species variety.







 
This new addition and it's friend Dionaea Muscipula 'Dente' have been potted up in the mini bog.
Here is photo number two of the other hybrid Dionaea Muscipula 'Dente' .
This Venus Flytrap is named for it's teeth like filaments at the ends of the trap. When mature they look like Sharks teeth.
 





The mini bog is now in it's completed form at this time with all the new plant material added. Now it's just a matter of waiting for the spring temperatures to bring these plants out of full dormancy. I will not be adding any more plants to this mini bog until I see just how much the plants want to grow and fill in.

Here is a photo of it as of February 3, 2003


 
Cheers,
Sean 

[patsy]

Thanks Sean! I am thrilled to see that you have included a site for the much deserving carnivorous plant family!

 I’d like to tell you about how I got interested in these fantastic plants. I made a purchase from an on line nursery last  summer and in an effort to meet their minimum purchase amount, I ordered a plant that they had advertised on sale. A plant known as a pitcher plant, Sarracenia 'Judith Hindle'.

I had never owned  a carnivorous plant before. After researching the culture of the plant and finding that although this one can stand some freezing temperatures it is not hardy year round in my area, so I potted it in a pot so when colder weather came I could put in a cold room in our house for the winter. I admired it's beauty right away, and sat it in a location next to one of my outdoor ponds where it looked very attractive.

One day I noticed that my Sarracenia had a pea sized hole in one of it's pitchers. I went to examine the cause of the hole and was startled to see a Yellow Jacket trapped in the tube and proceeding to chew it's way out. I thought that it might kill or harm the plant so I reached through the hole and first squashing the insects head I then pulled it out though the hole. I was surprised to see that there was yet another Yellow Jacket in the tube on top of where that one had been, but that one seemed dead so I gave it a squashing for good measure and just left it there. In my terror of what these venomous stinging beasts were going to do to my lovely plant I went on the internet and found a forum about Carnivorous Plants. I asked the nice folks there if the Yellow Jackets were a danger to my plant. But no one seemed alarmed. I learned that these plants do indeed eat Yellow Jackets!
 
I have grown very fond of that little plant, it seems almost like an animal instead of a plant. Kinda like an immobile pet. Now I am looking at other CP spiecies to purchase. And I'm telling all of my friends and relatives about my amazing plant that eats Yellow Jackets. Indeed a new passion has been instilled in my life. I’m eagerly awaiting the arrival of spring so I can to build a bog area next to my ponds for growing CPs. Hah - that’ll show those pesky yellow jackets!

Patsy   

[Sean]

Great to hear you have been introduced to these marvelous plants Patsy. I figure more people should try them, they are not just wonders for little children.

Cheers,
Sean

[Ky Kim]

My neighbor bought my daughter a venus flytrap.  It still looks pretty good in the greenhouse, but curious what to feed it durring the winter.  I know, I should have done a search for the answer.  But this seemed so much easier, to be able to talk to someone who has them.

Kim

[Sean]

Hi Kim,

They dont need to be fed since it's winter but if they really want to feed it , I know many people will use dehydrated blood worms which is fish food found at any pet shop. The same stuff you feed your aquarium fish.

Cheers,
Sean

[Ky Kim]

Thanks Sean.

Kim

[Rocmon]

That's a great looking bog! Wish I had a forest of them like that...

I bought a little pitcher plant Sarracenia rubra ssp. rubra at a U.C. Davis arboretum plant sale. They told me to only water with reverse osmosis water—where am I going to find that? I set it in my pond and it wasn't happy with a great deal of sunlight, (it was a small plant) once I moved it to the cooler shady side of the pond and in the shadow of a rock it has been rather happy.

I just repotted it last week, and now I just read that I should not have used the nutrient rich compost for potting soil. It appeared to be in mostly peat with some nice sand on the top... oops! Have to go get some peat and replant.

Here is a link with a small article, but better yet it lists a newsletter publication that is about carnivorous plants...

http://www.dateline.ucdavis.edu/dl_detail.lasso?id=7940

http://www.carnivorousplants.org/

I found the second link to be very informative, but I haven't spent much time searching.

I've come across large meadows of them growing wild in northern Calif—areas that get a good deal of snow so the natives certainly take the cold. I was concerned about my little plant this winter with mid twenties temps for a week or two but didn't seem to phase it. The base/ root of it was under water that stayed around 35*. Now you've peaked my interest I'll have to go read about them more.

[patsy]

Rocmon,
I really don't think that the reverse osmosis water is necessary. Good grief these plants live wild in nature and 'they' don't know anything about reverse osmosis! I melt snow/ice and gather rain water for my CPs. They seem to be doing just fine with it. Someone did say though that you can purchase soft water in gallon jugs most grocery stores.

This past winter I left my sarrecenia purpurea ssp. purpurea outside to face the elements on it's own and although our coldest temperature was only -14° It came through the winter unscathed! I'm soo looking forward to making a hardy CP bog beside my waterfall this season.

Patsy

Go for it..........Patsy

[Rocmon]

Yikes! Kalispell is cold. I had a friend housesit one winter there. Her steering wheel cracked in her car during a spell of minus 34* or so. It's warm here now a little frost a few days ago but warm days again. I'm hoping my little carnivorous additions start putting on some growth.

The places where I saw them growing in the wild—the water is pretty pure. Snow melt in the middle of nowhere... I haven't had any problems with it in the pond. I bought half a dozen more after reading this thread. They were mail order and cut down in size... I built a little bog around the edge of the pond in a couple of spots. Pulled back the liner on the backside of the border rocks adding a few inches of width about 1/4"–1/2" deep of water then backfilled with peat/sand mix. I got a couple of mature plants a several smaller ones.

Seems everything around the pond is an experiment. The one from last year did really well, so I'm hoping for good results.

[patsy]

Rocmon,
I like the looks of your little garden. Especially all of the beautiful healthy, new green growth! I'm envious! Nothing is growing here yet. The crocus are just starting to bloom.  We've had low 20° nights here lately. I have most of my stuff in our greenhouse but still have to add extra cover at night because it freezes in there too. It's finally supposed to warm up some on Easter, THEN - get cold again.

I might add that I have lived here for over 60 years, and -30° temperatures are not really very common. I'm think I can count the times I've seen it that cold on the fingers of one hand.

I'm wondering if that moss growing on your rocks is sphagnum or what they call sheet moss. I have heard that the sheet moss will kill the CPs and that you shouldn't plant it around the plants themselves.

Thanks for the nice pix.. Hope you will post again later so we can keep track of how your garden is growing

Patsy

[milliemax]

  You might look into a nursery a couple of miles from me at Californiacarnivores.com/ Don't know why that didn't make a link!  NT

[Rocmon]

Here's the link...http://www.californiacarnivores.com/ it needed the www. We're several hours south of there. There's another nursery I need to visit in Sebastipol too, for some native dogwoods. But it's a long drive...

That's where I got my plants, they were on sale at the time. They sent more than I ordered , they were a little small but cheap price, all seem ok so far.

Patsy, I'm not sure what kind of moss it is. Some was on the CP plants that were sent to me, most was from the woods next to our house—the big wood chunks with moss. That moss on the rock was a gift from the recycle gods, after the trash guys came and went there was this big hunk of moss in the road, I couldn't just leave it there...

My friend was staying I think N.E. of kalispell. Kalispell's where the p.o. box was...

Yes this time of year is awesome with everything leafing out, flowers blooming, of course the folks in Florida have been there done that already—our crocus were probably a month or so ago.

[milliemax]

  Well, I'll tell you that now is the PERFECT time to visit Sonoma CO.!
  It is just beautiful this time of year!
  My DH grew up in Scotland, came to So Co one spring and hasn't left since!  Nancy

[Argos5]

I bought a sarracenia a couple of years ago and put it in a floating planter...it has survived our very hot summer temps and relatively mild winters, plus some raccoon attacks where they flipped the planter over...here's a picture of it


     

[Rocmon]

Those look really awesome—nice and thick. Do you have any details on that floating planter? Did you make it?

My new CP have been putting out a little growth, I'll have to post a pic soon.

[Argos5]

Rocmon...I bought three of them on the internet a couple of years ago...they were relatively expensive compared to the cost of the materials (styrofoam ring and plastic pot) but I think they're great for adding color and variety to the pond, especially if you don't have a bog option...Impatients, sarracenia, pickerel weed, calla lily, water celery and others have done well in them.

[FrankJScott]

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