It's well-known among carnivorous plant growers that the plants require purified water. But what does "purified" mean, and why is it so important for healthy plants? Strap on your goggles, and let's dive into this water topic. What is purified water? Purified water is water that has gone through advanced filtration to remove impurities [...]
A few folks have asked me how I photograph my carnivorous plants. My answer? Well, it sort-of depends. I use three different devices based on the type of photo I'm looking to capture. Am I trying to photograph an entire Sarracenia? Maybe just a single Venus flytrap trap? Or what about individual sundew glands? [...]
D. binata root cuttings 2 weeks in D. binata root cuttings 3 weeks in D. binata root cuttings 4 weeks in Drosera binata root cuttings at 9 weeks. What troopers! They demonstrate near-capensis-levels of heartiness. What are root cuttings, & what Sundews can you [...]
Mesa Exotics, expertly run by Mr. Don Elkins, is a carnivorous plant nursery that sells at plant shows throughout California. His primary focus is on Venus flytraps (Dionaea muscipula) and North American Pitcher Plants (Sarracenia). More specifically, Don is a leading seller of Dionaea muscipula King Henry, a giant cultivar that [...]
How do scale infestations happen? Last year, I purchased a Nepenthes talangensis x sibuyanensis at the Bay Area Carnivorous Plant Society Show and Sale (totally recommend going - it's an excellent event that falls on June 3rd, this year) and introduced it into my Nepenthes terrarium without a full [...]
What's in a name? If it's a plant name, quite a lot, actually. Plant taxonomy, including carnivorous plant taxonomy, is the science that 1. identifies plant characteristics, 2. classifies those characteristics, and ultimately 3. describes them via a name. Frequently, Latin is used to describe unique characteristics as a way to differentiate species. The result is a name that doesn't [...]
Terrariums are a spectacular way to grow many carnivorous plants. They maintain high humidity, keep temperatures constant, allow in ample light to keep plants happy, and provide a porthole through which you can monitor your plant’s progress. They’re also an elegant way to put plants on display as beautiful indoor and outdoor decorations. [...]
Thrip damaged sarracenia leaf with the little buggers circled. Thrips - the bane of pitcher plant growers, the world over. These tiny devils invade your plants, carried to them on breeze or introduced by other infested plants. Thrips have asymmetrical mouths with the right mandible being vestigial, or missing all-together, and the left mandible [...]
Transplanting Sarracenia (North American Pitcher Plants): I spent a good chunk of last weekend transplanting Sarracenia from the cramped pots they had become root bound in, to larger 20 gallon containers where they will be able to stretch their rhizomes and send out new runners (in turn creating new plants). During the process, I [...]
A Passion Project For The Carnivorous Plant Community: As you'd guess, we're huge fans of carnivorous plants. We've been collectively growing for almost four decades, and the wonder of these plants still captures our imaginations. The notion that a plant species would evolve highly-specialized traps to lure, ensnare, and digest prey to compensate for [...]
