# Easy "Starter" Carnivore?



## Wallace Grover (Dec 6, 2009)

Anyone have reccomendations for an easy-to-keep carnivorous plant? I wanted to start my FF cultures in advance and a post saying how they feed the extra FF's to them peaked my interest...


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## Spaff (Jan 8, 2011)

I find most of the members of the genus Sarracenia to do well outdoors. I've had the most success with S. rubra, purpurea, and rosea, but they do require high light and a winter dormancy.


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## josh_r (Feb 4, 2005)

You may want to consider how you want to grow them and where you live as to what you choose to grow. Many species of carnivorous plants are very easy to grow. Here in Washington, I grow darlingtonia californicum, sarracenia leucophylla and 'Judith hindle', soonest muscipula, and some other stuff out side all year round. They are relatively maintenance free and attract and trap insects incredibly well. I used to grow many tropical and subtropical species indoors back in the day and many of gem are relatively easy as well. Just do some research online. There is spool much information to be found


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## Wallace Grover (Dec 6, 2009)

Any carnivorous plants that do well indoors? Right by my vivs and my plant-growing chamber there is quite a bit of light, not comparable to full sunlight ofc but still...


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## Spaff (Jan 8, 2011)

You might want to look into tropical Pinguicula, Drosera, and if you have the conditions... Heliamphora or Cephalotus.


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## boabab95 (Nov 5, 2009)

Drosera scorpoides...IME, it creates the most dew which means more flies  or D.shizandra if you can find it...


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## Steve25 (Jan 29, 2010)

It's according how much sun and humidity the plants indoors can receive. I grow a few Nepenthes in my windowsill. They are hybrids (highland *lowlands)

Outdoors another story I have loads outside and all easy to grow


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## Steve25 (Jan 29, 2010)

Outside easy to keep include sundews, most if not all Sars such as Alta, Rubra, Leuco, and hybrids. The Venus flytrap is finicky. 

I would get a sundew and a few Sars to start


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## ryan10517 (Oct 23, 2010)

i heard that nepenthes alata is about the easiest tropical pitcher to start with. From my limited knowledge, i hear they like bright light, damp soil, distilled or RO water, and warmer temps around 80F. I've been wanting one for a while


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## Wallace Grover (Dec 6, 2009)

I LOVE sundews. They seem to be overshadowed by Flytraps and Sarracenia. I have always seen them in pictures and stuff, now I need to read up on care...


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## fishr (Dec 20, 2010)

Spaff said:


> You might want to look into tropical Pinguicula, Drosera, and if you have the conditions... Heliamphora or Cephalotus.


I was actually about to type the same suggestions. Personly, I love, love sundews. I recommend picking up a copy of The Savage Garden. Tropical Sundews would look pretty sweet with a few tropical Pings.

Cephalotus and Heliamphora I've read are a little trickier in their care and would do well in long term care under T5HO's.

EDIT Just a note, I would not house carnivorouse plants with frogs. With all the walking and hopping Darts do, they will antagonize or damage the plants to quite possibly to their demise. A seperate tank devoted to tropical 'bug eaters' is recommended in my experience.


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## Wallace Grover (Dec 6, 2009)

Believe it or not I have an unread copy of "The Savage Garden" just sitting around unread. Time to get to it!!

BTW, these are going to be beside the frog tanks, not in!


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Many utricularia are also easy to grow and bloom. I also noticed that no one mentioned Genelisea. 

Ed


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## fishr (Dec 20, 2010)

Ed - Never heard of Genelisea to my memory... 

Wallace - Then that'll be cool! Take a look through your copy of the book and see what interests you.

My next choices down the road is the Autralian pitcher, typical form, carnivorous brom, and a sun pitcher for their own viv. and Cobra lillies since I have AC in my bedroom and can keep the plant lighted well and cool.


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## boabab95 (Nov 5, 2009)

I completely forgot about Genelisea's!!! they are by far the EASIET CP out there...i started with one small rooted cutting to the pic below in about 2 months...


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

The savage garden is a decent book but there are others that are as good if not better.. such as Growing Carnivorous plants by Barry Rice, or even Carnivorous plants of the US and Canada, the taxa specific books by McPherson (like Glistening Carnivores) or (if you have lots of money) the trio of books by Lowerie on Australian CPS. I have most of the above (although I only have one of Loweri's books and I still need to get the Taylor's monograph on Utricularia). It all depends on the level of information that you want or your area of interest. Regardless of that I heartily suggest joining the ICPS, as it doesn't cost a lot, there is a lot of good information archived with that group and you get to hear the latest information (like a Nepenthes with black (or very dark purple) pitchers) and finally get to purchase seeds inexpensively from thier seed bank (and they are able to legally supply seeds from the endangered native pitchers for hobbyists to grow (but the plants can't be sold or traded in any fashion..). 

Ed


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## Greasy (Sep 1, 2011)

boabab95 said:


> I completely forgot about Genelisea's!!! they are by far the EASIET CP out there...i started with one small rooted cutting to the pic below in about 2 months...


You sure that is a Genlisea? What is the species? It looks very much like a Stylidium, a protocarnivore.

Anyway Sundews are pretty easy. Be careful tho some species are super weedy when their seeds get blown everywhere. Some Nepenthes are pretty easy too, but remember they are essentially vines. A good compact easy highlander would be ventricosa and a good compact lowlander would be ampullaria.


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## Brotherly Monkey (Jul 20, 2010)

Some nepenthes species can be rather hardy, and have found maxima to do great in a number of conditions. Also, "Mountain orchids sometimes has cuttings for sale, at really lows prices (I think 7.99 before shipping). Can't speak to this being their standard size, but the one I bought was probably 12-18 inches

Mountain Orchids, Orchids & Plants for discriminating tastes.

I didn't see any currently listed, but you could always email them


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## beatusb (May 3, 2011)

I have traps but I do not feed them ff as they are too small except for the youngest traps. The FF are too small to triger them.

You may want to look into pitcher plants in addition to the others recommended already.


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## josh_r (Feb 4, 2005)

Utricularia and genlisea are some of my favorites! Most of them are fairly easy to grow and quite rewarding. The utricularia have orchid like flowers. Some species of utricularia are difficult to grow so do some research before purchasing a species. Great starter species would be livida or sandersonii. 

I do have a ridiculous amount of cobra lillies and their seeds if anyone is interested in a trade. The parent plants send out runners and they spring up all sorts of new babies. I could definitely spare a few. 

Josh


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## Greasy (Sep 1, 2011)

josh_r said:


> Utricularia and genlisea are some of my favorites! Most of them are fairly easy to grow and quite rewarding. The utricularia have orchid like flowers. Some species of utricularia are difficult to grow so do some research before purchasing a species. Great starter species would be livida or sandersonii.
> 
> I do have a ridiculous amount of cobra lillies and their seeds if anyone is interested in a trade. The parent plants send out runners and they spring up all sorts of new babies. I could definitely spare a few.
> 
> Josh


Do you know the eco-type of your clone? ie Coastal vs Mountain? I never had any luck with cobras, can't keep the roots cool enough. =(


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## josh_r (Feb 4, 2005)

IceDragon said:


> Do you know the eco-type of your clone? ie Coastal vs Mountain? I never had any luck with cobras, can't keep the roots cool enough. =(


I have both coastal and montane. The coastals do better as they don't need to keep consistently as cool as the montane ones.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

IceDragon said:


> Do you know the eco-type of your clone? ie Coastal vs Mountain? I never had any luck with cobras, can't keep the roots cool enough. =(


In one of the ICPS journals, they had an article on growing them down in Louisiana successfully. They took a shallow styrofoam shipping box and cut the lid of the box to let the lid be placed over the plant and allow the plant to stick up into the air. In the box, once to twice a day depending on the heat, they would place frozen cold packs to chill down the roots (as that is what the plant wants) and replace them as they melted. It apparently works well as it was used in a botanical garden to successfully maintain the plants. 

Ed


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## ryan10517 (Oct 23, 2010)

Ed said:


> In one of the ICPS journals, they had an article on growing them down in Louisiana successfully. They took a shallow styrofoam shipping box and cut the lid of the box to let the lid be placed over the plant and allow the plant to stick up into the air. In the box, once to twice a day depending on the heat, they would place frozen cold packs to chill down the roots (as that is what the plant wants) and replace them as they melted. It apparently works well as it was used in a botanical garden to successfully maintain the plants.
> 
> Ed


sounds like a ton of work just to grow plants! i guess they can be pretty demanding in terms of care. I guess its really a huge hobby within itself! very cool though


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## Wallace Grover (Dec 6, 2009)

I'm surprised people don't use tropical bladderworts in the vivs, they look like they would be perfect. Maybe too delicate though?


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## josh_r (Feb 4, 2005)

Wallace Grover said:


> I'm surprised people don't use tropical bladderworts in the vivs, they look like they would be perfect. Maybe too delicate though?


I have grown a few different species in some older dart vivs I had. They never seemed to fare as well as when grown in pots. Not sure why.

As for successfully growing cobra lillies, the method Ed posted above has worked well for people. Here is an article on this technique.

The Carnivorous Plant FAQ: Building a Darlingtonia cooling box

yes, it is a lot of work, but it is worth it to grow such amazing plants! I am fortunate that I live in an area where they do very well. I recently visited some darlingtonia locations in california. I will make a separate post for it. Got some very cool pictures!

Josh


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## Greasy (Sep 1, 2011)

Wallace Grover said:


> I'm surprised people don't use tropical bladderworts in the vivs, they look like they would be perfect. Maybe too delicate though?


I have a few Orchidioides utrics, I find them fairly easy to grow and the flowers are generally flashier then the small utrics. I plan to use them for my vivarium walls when I start it up. I think one reason no one really uses them is cause no one really has them. You either have to live in Europe or do some networking to hunt down hobbyist that have them, for most of them at least.


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## josh_r (Feb 4, 2005)

IceDragon said:


> I have a few Orchidioides utrics, I find them fairly easy to grow and the flowers are generally flashier then the small utrics. I plan to use them for my vivarium walls when I start it up. I think one reason no one really uses them is cause no one really has them. You either have to live in Europe or do some networking to hunt down hobbyist that have them, for most of them at least.


There are quite a few collectors here in the states that have MANY species of utrics from commons to very rare species. You don't see the more rare and difficult species offered very often because they are generally harder to grow for most people. Growers typically want their plants to get into qualified hands though sometimes, the more difficult and rare species, even Orchidioides utrics can be found on ebay of all places. Like you said, Most often you really do have to network to find the good stuff though. 

What species do you grow IceDragon? I've not kept any utrics in many years. I've been wanting to get back into them.

JOsh


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

My U. uniflora is blooming like crazy right now and my U.longifolia short leaf is still growing well. I'm going to have to repot it soon. 

I also have a good colony of U. sandersoni "blue". 

Ed


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## Greasy (Sep 1, 2011)

atm I have:

biloba
bisquamata
bisquamata "Betty's Bay" 
dichotoma 
graminfolia
lateriflora 
praelonga* need a flower confirmation
sandersonii 
tridentata 
longfolia 

alpina
asplundii 
humboltii 
reniformis "large form" 


Right now I'm in expansion mode. Trying to hunt down a few more of the "macro" utrics. The micros meh, they are ok. I noticed that if you don't refresh their media annually they have a tendency to crash very rapidly on you. I mainly have them for potential aquarium ground cover or the flowers are nice. 

You wouldn't happen to have any Macodes petola or Marcgravia would yah? I'm in the market for those 2 non-carnivores.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

IceDragon said:


> You wouldn't happen to have any Macodes petola or Marcgravia would yah? I'm in the market for those 2 non-carnivores.


I just gave some cutting of my Macodes from my grow out area to a friend of mine so it will be quite awhile before I can make more cuttings. 
I haven't had the smaller utrics crash like you mention and have run some of them in the same container for as long as 4-5 years. I lost most of my collection back in 04 when we moved and something changed in thier culture. 

Ed


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## tahir tareen (Dec 17, 2009)

i didn't see anyone suggest Drosera adelae yet, this is one of the easiest sundews to grow indoors and does well in lower light levels than most others and will actually catch some FF. I love the look of U. sandersonii flowers carpeting the floor in my vivs. Mexican butterworts are great too!


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## Shinosuke (Aug 10, 2011)

This is a great idea, I always seem to have a few roaming FF's or bean beetles right by my viv. Did you ever find a good carnivore to put by your tank?


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## frogparty (Dec 27, 2007)

Nepenthes ventrata is the easiest of any Nepenthes I've ever grown. It's a hybrid, and super hardy


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## brinkerh420 (Oct 2, 2011)

I think sundews still are the best for FF's. Or butterworts. Both would look the coolest and demonstrate their carnivorous plant attributes (dead fruit flies), especially sundew.


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## frogparty (Dec 27, 2007)

I disagree. As someone who has grown sundews, butterworts and Nepenthes near frog tanks I have to say that my Nepenthes caught far more flies


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## JimO (May 14, 2010)

I just can't believe nobody has recommended the most obvious starter carnivore _Canis lupus_. Of course, I'd recommend one of the multi-generational CB morphs, such as the Boston Terrier, Boxer, or Golden Retriever. The smaller varieties are less expensive to feed and, unlike the dart frog hobby, line breeding and breeding one morph with another is acceptable and mixed specimens are much less expensive.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

JimO said:


> mixed specimens are much less expensive.


Only if you avoid the designer mixes. 

Ed


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