Herself's Houseplants

We love our plants. And we really love growing them in pots. The current ‘in’ color scheme is complimentary. These are colors opposite each other on the color wheel. ( orange-blue, yellow-purple, red-green )

Gardening and houseplants are one of the things people continue to spend money on even in a recession, probably due to low cost and because they make us feel so good.

When it comes to using plant-filled pots on the porch or around the landscape, Americans are hardly able to contain themselves. U.S. consumers spend more than $1.3 billion a year on this gardening method, according to Container Gardening Associated, an online site devoted to the technique.
Container gardens, the use of a variety of plants in any type of container, are often associated with yardless apartments or condominiums. But they also are popular with the elderly and disabled , as well as for areas where soil quality is a problem or where pots define an area or direct traffic. [ read more Americans Hard to Contain on Potted Plant Expenditures ]

[ These are wild Drosera, likely brevifolia ]

Sundews can be found all over the world including the south eastern United States. They are not found in desert regions or rain forests. Most of the 160 species known are found in Australia. While not as easy to grow as pitcher plants they are much easier to grow than fly traps.

Their small size and cool coloration make them great for dish gardens and terrariums. Most lay flat and are only a couple of inches across. Some grow upright but even those are very tiny and tend to have super thin strands like a spider web. Very few of them are large or viney.

At the end of each leaf is a gland that emits a sticky fluid to trap insects.

The most important factor in growing sundews indoors is sufficient light. They need a very bright window and some direct sun each day. They easily flower indoors, flowers are also quite tiny and grow on a long stem that shoots up from the center of the plant.

I find sundews do best in regular unfertilized potting soil. The wild ones I saw on my expedition were growing in a half sand, half soil mix so I trying that now. The part sand/part soil/part peat mix was also recommended to me by an expert carnivorous plant grower. Since they like acidic soil it is also recommended that you mix a bit of peat in with the soil when you repot them. Be cautious buying soil, I had to look far and wide to find potting soil that did not have fertilizer mixed into it.

I place the potted sundew in dish with about and inch of water and keep the water level at about an inch. I use tap water and rain water when available.

Droseae have a dormant time in the wild and you may find yours will die back in the winter. Give them less water, you don’t want the roots to rot. You should see them perk back up come spring.

Never give them fertilizer. It is far to strong for them. They are accustomed to growing in poor soils. That is why they developed their bug eating capabilities.

Remember the bugs they eat must be very tiny, these are very small plants. Do not feed them meat. They eat bugs, not animals. ( at least all the ones we’ve found so far ). They really love mosquitoes which is as large of a bug as you should ever consider feeding your sundews.

The Droseraceae family of plants contains waterwheel plants, flytraps, and sundews. Waterwheel plants use sticky substances to trap prey while both flytraps and sundews actively trap their dinner.

Most of the sundew plants are perennials. Some sundews have storage roots, some do not.

The Drosera name is derived from the Greek word, droseros which means ‘dew covered’.

Sundews were well known in the Middle Ages and covered in many herbal books of the day. They were often recommended in the treatment of respiratory ailments, heart ailments and as aphrodisiacal. Extracts were most commonly added to alcohol. ( ‘Rosoglio’ ). In Australia they were used as a nutritional supplement and the red dye was used to color foods. Today they are mainly used as ornamental plants.

Charles Darwin was the first to demonstrate that there some plants were carnivorous.

You can fertilize them but only use the fertilizer at one tenth the normal dose and spray it on the leaves only.  Do this no more than monthly.

Aphids, mealy bugs, scale and thrips can all be a problem for fly traps.  Orthene or some other systematic insecticide is best.  Follow the directions on the label.  Do not use soap based insecticides.

Black spot and other fungus can also be trouble.  Captan is the favorite fungicide right now. You should be able to find it at any plant supply store.

I love carnivorous plants. There is something cool about a meat loving plant, being an omnivore myself. The eight known species of Sarracenia are native to the US and can be found in the wild through out the south east and as far west as east Texas in bogs and swamps.

Carnivorous plants all love humidity and most want lots of light. You’ll find pitcher plants don’t need as much humidity as other carnivorous plants so they are an excellent choice for a house plant. You do need to give them ample light. The most likely cause of troubles with pitcher plants grown indoors is too little light.

If you live somewhere very sunny like I do in Houston, you might want to filter the light a bit. Use the color of your plant as a guide. If they start to look pale or bleached, reduce the light. If they are not developing the reds in ones that have red, or if they are dark green, give them more light.

I went to visit a local protected wild patch of carnivorous plants a couple of weeks ago. The dirt they grow in is mostly sand but not all, some regular soil was mixed into it. It was dry at the time I visited but it is normally quite damp there.

I’ve successfully grown them in sphagnum moss; dirt; and a mix of half dirt half sand. I am now trying some in peat moss. Any combination of sphagnum, peat, sand and unfertilized soil will do.

I water mine with tap water and rain water when available. Bottled water is just someone else’s tap water don’t bother with it. Distilled water is too pure to use for plants.

You never ever fertilize carnivorous plants. They get what they need from the insects they consume.

They should not ever be given meat, hamburger etc. It is bugs they, need not cows. If they wanted to eat cows they would have evolved to be much larger plants. If you must feed your plant bugs, smaller is better.

If your plants are growing indoors you should add a little bit of water to the pitchers. Just a little, they don’t need much.

Many pitcher plants are not large and make excellent additions to dish gardens. They do flower indoors, flowers are unusual, and grow on long stems and hang down. All the flowers I’ve had so far have been red, green or a combination of those two colors.

In the wild the flowers appear early spring followed by pitchers. The flowers need the bugs to pollinate themselves so no point killing them for food until the pollination is accomplished. Plants go dormant in the cold weather.

It is not uncommon when the plants are outside to find tiny toads or frogs living in the pitchers.

Less than 3% of the native habitats of carnivorous plants are left. Which means you must be very careful buying them to be sure they are not wild plants that have been harvested. It also means to save them we want lots of people growing them.

The earliest mentions of these plants appear mid 1500s. It wasn’t until 1920 that we knew for sure the pitcher plants were eating the insects they caught.

There are eight species of Sarracenia. They are long lived perennials, leaves are arranged in rosettes. Depending on the plant type leaves may be 4″ long to 48″.

The traps attract prey with bright colors and using scent glands that are on the cover and around the upper edge of the pitcher. Under the hood are hairs angled in to help coax prey inside. The upper corner of the pitcher and bottom of lid often have translucent areas which act like stained glass. Insects see this area, think it is a way out and move towards it.

Beneath this area is a slippery area, covered with waxy cells that do not allow the prey to gain a foothold and escape.

Lastly is the digestive area. This contains water and enzymes to break down the insect into materials usable by the plant. This area contains digestive glands and hairs that help to keep the insect trapped.

Some mosquito larvae and some moth larvae are able to live in this fluid and feed off the dead insects. The adult Exyra moths are able to scale the trap walls and go from pitcher to pitcher laying one egg per trap. The moth larvae eat their way out of the trap, killing it.

You can fertilize them but only use the fertilizer at one tenth the normal dose and spray it on the leaves only.  Do this no more than monthly.

Aphids, mealy bugs, scale and thrips can all be a problem for fly traps.  Orthene or some other systematic insecticide is best.  Follow the directions on the label.  Do not use soap based insecticides.

Black spot and other fungus can also be trouble.  Captan is the favorite fungicide right now. You should be able to find it at any plant supply store.

See also:
What is that stuff in the pitcher of your pitcher plant?
Slime used to trap insects
Carnivorous plant eats mouse

You will probably have to look in the outdoor plant section to find this beauty. It is a member of the mint and Swedish ivy family and a great indoor plant.

The leaves are thick, fuzzy, deep dark green on top and dark purple underneath. The more sun it gets the better leave color you will get. But don’t put it in a south facing window or you’ll burn it.

It will grow in east, west or north windows, any light exposure that is not direct sun will do fine. It will bloom easily indoors, flowers are light lavender and small on long spikes.

It does best in a hanging basket.

Water frequently and drain well.

Flowers occur on new growth, so prune regularly. And you can easily root your cuttings to make gifts of this plant for friends.

These are tropical plants, protect them from cold drafts in the winter.