# What is the best carnivorous plant for renegade flies?



## 41714049 (Feb 23, 2006)

I am looking for a carnivorous plant that would do a good job of catching renegade flies for my new frog room (still in planning stages... the house isn't even built yet).

I would prefer a plant that was easy to grow and doesn't have to be that pleasing to the eye. For this plant I am looking for function and ease of care.

Thanks.


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## bellerophon (Sep 18, 2006)

just about any drosera, they grow like weeds and are perfectly suited for bulk catching ff's. Here's my D. Adelae. They're practically impossible to kill and the flowers are self fertile so when they flower you'll get literally thousands of seeds that will quickly grow up to this size in under a year.










here's what it looked like in march after being shipped upside down covered in soil.


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## jejton (Sep 3, 2006)

Thats a cool plant. Whered you get it?


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## bellerophon (Sep 18, 2006)

you can buy them online or trade with other growers on various forums. I also sell divisions of my plants on here.


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## 41714049 (Feb 23, 2006)

Thanks for the help!


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## Dendrobait (May 29, 2005)

Would a ping work for this too?


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## bellerophon (Sep 18, 2006)

pings aren't bad but they don't seem to do nearly as well with insects larger than fungus gnats. they also grow much slower and most have dormancy's that will put them out of commission for half the year.


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## rattler_mt (Apr 15, 2005)

Mexi pings...........


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## 41714049 (Feb 23, 2006)

bellerophon said:


> you can buy them online or trade with other growers on various forums. I also sell divisions of my plants on here.


Do you ever get seeds from them? Finding carnivorous plants here is nearly impossible. I would be interested in getting seeds if anyone has any.


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## Dendrobait (May 29, 2005)

http://www.petflytrap.com may help.

I know you can get seeds from sundew...particularly D. capensis, pretty easily.


Now, if I could figure out how to grow the cursed things!


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## bellerophon (Sep 18, 2006)

My capensis is just losing its flowers now so I should have more seed than I know what to do with soon. I'm toying with the idea of an entire shelf with a forest of capensi. As far as getting them to grow, its usually a matter of how to stop them from growing :lol:


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## yut (Oct 8, 2006)

my drosera keep on living .. but they seems to be barely surviving and if i take them out of the sealed 10 gallon tank they dry up even when i keep them in my basement where the humidity is very high.. darn things wont keep glue on their leaves. got any ideas on how to keep them all sticky?


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## bellerophon (Sep 18, 2006)

how are the other factors? light, soil etc..


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## rattler_mt (Apr 15, 2005)

MOST Drosera's dont need humidity. i grow plenty in 20% humidity. light = dew production. which species do you have?


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## shortymac83 (Jun 27, 2007)

I know that around here, you can get different carnivorous plants (i.e. drosera, fly traps, etc), from Lowes or Home Depot. Don't know if the same would apply to canada though...


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## yut (Oct 8, 2006)

i've got an adelae right now.... lol didnt want to get any more because this one isnt doing so well. I have it under 2 2 ft flourescent tubes about 8 inches away and the tank is wrapped in foil to help reflect light back to it. The tubes are 9 month old repti glow 8.0. i also took the lil booger outside for a few days with not much luck. i live in northern indiana so its pretty humid and sunny out.


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## rattler_mt (Apr 15, 2005)

for the record............i grow prolly 15 different species at the moment, including some difficult ones from Aussieland i have grown prolly another 15 species off and on......i cant grow adelae to save my life. spatulata, capensis and binata are MUCH MUCH easier...........adelae is also a species that hates full sun(unusual for a sundew) and is one of the species that prefers higher humidity though 60% or so should be sufficient.........


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## Jungle_John (Feb 19, 2007)

bellerophon said:


> just about any drosera, they grow like weeds and are perfectly suited for bulk catching ff's. Here's my D. Adelae. They're practically impossible to kill and the flowers are self fertile so when they flower you'll get literally thousands of seeds that will quickly grow up to this size in under a year.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


how do they get the flys? and how many do they kill? i got alot of strays also do they attrack flys with a smell?


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## yut (Oct 8, 2006)

they are all sticky so when flies land on them they get stuck and digested. very cool lil plants


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## Grassypeak (Jun 14, 2005)

Do Mexican Pings grow all year? What is their culture like. I’d love to have something that gets rid of fungus gnats!


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## rattler_mt (Apr 15, 2005)

mexican pings have carnivorous leaves and winter succulent leaves to get them through the dry mexican winter. other than a small handful of difficult species they have no true dormancy. they just move back and forth between the leaf types as the water level and some other unknown clues tell them to. actually they grow faster in their winter growth than in their carnivorous. as for culture, carnivorous plant culture is a fluid thing. there are no set in stone guide lines. on person will grow them one way and a guy 2 blocks away will use a different method and both succed.

as for culture bright florecent light. i grow mine wet year round. most will tell ou not to do this but i and atleast one other individual have a few years experiance doing this(ok a few for me, MANNNNNY for him) and know it can work fine. one thing we have both noticed however is that mexican pings grown wet year round on pure peat or mixes high in peat form no roots, they just float on the soil which is fine if they are always wet but if they suddenly dry out than it will usually kill them. what i and the other idividual do is use mixes that are mostly inorganic, specifically something along the lines of Schultz's Aquatic Plant soil. this allows more air into the mix and the plants form roots. using this for soil even if they are grown wet year round they move in and out of their carnivorous and succulent leaves. pure peat generally keeps them in carnivorous.

a few things. pure peat might not work for you. not everyone can keep them wet all year i dont think if we are talking pure species. it has worked for some ppl but not all. also some pure species only bloom when they are in their succulet leaf stage. away around this is to grow hybrids. 'John Rizzi' and 'Aphroditie' are easy to find, easy to grow hybrids that stay in carnivorous leaf year round easily as well as flower while in carnivorous leaf to the extent of reminding me of african violets, almost always in bloom with the occational short break. 

also they will not get rid of fungus gnats completely but they will help control the numbers to tollerable levels.

feel free to ask any other questions, ill answer them to the best of my ability.


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## Grassypeak (Jun 14, 2005)

Thanks rattler


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## reggorf (Oct 24, 2006)

Here is a butterwort we just picked up. I am guessing, only by looking at some pictures, that it is a moranensis. Anyone have a more educated guess? Also, should I transplant them out of these small pots into a bigger one? Should these be kept in a tray with 1" of water or watered like a regular houseplant? Any info on this plant would be helpful. Thanks.


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## bellerophon (Sep 18, 2006)

I keep mine the tray method. Nice mature pings ya got there, no clue on the ID but I'd say your not far off if at all.


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## rattler_mt (Apr 15, 2005)

there are quite a few forms of moranensis also it is the parent for alot of hybrids. i would guess its as likely as any. keep them wet. i dont know of any you can just water as a house plant. some need a wet season and a dry season but going back and forth on a weekly basis will prolly stress them out and kill 'em


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