Plant Care Info

This is just what works for me but everyone's setup, location, environment & situation will be different so only use this as a rough guide and try to experiment and figure out what works best for you.

Drosera/Dionaea muscipula/Sarracenia

Media/soil -

The default "CP mix" that works for the majority of these is an equal mix of Sphagnum peat moss and coarse (washed) propagation sand or perlite but the ratio of the mix is not that critical. Drosera Regia does better in a 50/50 LF sphagnum moss/perlite mix though.

Water -

The water tray method is best for these. Rainwater, distilled or reverse osmosis is best, tap water is fine in some places but I would test it regularly with a TDS meter and flush out with rainwater or distilled every now and then to avoid mineral build up.

I use filtered rainwater for all my plants as it’s free and seems to rain here more than enough to keep my tanks full.

Light -

Bright indirect sunlight or part day semi shaded will suit most Drosera, some will take full sun or even mostly shade but with lower light they will not get the red colouration on them.

VFT and Sarracenia will happily take full sun and both require a winter dormancy period as well.

All do well under grow lights.

Feeding/Fertiliser -

I don’t fertilize any of these species and as most are grown outdoors or semi outdoors they catch plenty of food on their own as do the plants I have scattered around the house, in some of my indoor green houses I will give them a feed of dried blood worms every 2 weeks if I feel like they’re not catching enough.

Pinguicula

Media/soil -

I use a mix of pumice, perlite, vermiculite & akadema for my pings but they will grow in a variety of other mixes as well as live sphagnum moss.

Water -

The water tray method is best for these. Rainwater, distilled or reverse osmosis is best and I’d avoid tap water with them.

Not as water hungry as the Drosera, VFT or Sarracenia and can be left a little longer between refilling especially in the cooler months.

Light -

I use LED grow lights for most of my pings but I also have some on window sills that do well and some growing outside in the live sphagnum moss that tops my Nepenthes pots which seem fairly happy.

Feeding/Fertiliser -

I do not fertilise my pings at all and will only feed with a small amount of dried bloodworms on 1 leaf every 3-4 weeks if I feel they aren’t catching enough and not at all during the cooler months.

Nepenthes

Media/soil -

Long fibre sphagnum moss and perlite is the standard mix for most neps and orchid bark, charcoal and various other things can be added for more drainage, I’ve started to switch to a different mix now which I feel they are preferring which consists of equal(ish) parts of coco coir, coco chips and perlite.

Water -

Rainwater, distilled or reverse osmosis is best, tap water is fine in some places but I would test it regularly with a TDS meter and flush out with rainwater or distilled every now and then to avoid mineral build up.

These prefer a damp media over a wet one and they need to be free draining and not sitting in water, I water every few days until it runs out of the bottom of the pot then will leave it to dry out a bit before watering again.

Light -

Bright indirect light is best and some will take more than others so you may need to move them around a bit until you find what the prefer.

Inside I have them under fairly high strength grow lights and will move them up or down depending on how they go, outside I like to have them under 50% shade cloth or polycarb but I also have some growing in a few frangipani and umbrella trees that are loving it and vining all over the place.

Growing outside will depend on where you live and the species you choose to grow so research the plants requirements beforehand.

Feeding/Fertiliser -

Plants outside generally won't need feeding as they will catch plenty on their own and inside plants I will give a dried meal worm or cricket once every 2 weeks.

I use a diluted mix of Seasol and Powerfeed mixed at seasol-4ml and powerfeed-2ml per liter every couple of weeks.

I'm experimenting with a few others at the moment and will put the details up here once if they end up being successful.