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Bay Area Carnivorous Collector

Hey Everyone,

1st day here on this thread. Grateful to be here with others as passionate as I am. I have as of recent begun building a carnivorous plant collection. Currently I'm really into Nepenthes, Cephalotus, and Heliamphora. I also have some Sarracenia that I love, but the Nepenthes are what really have me right now. I used to be really passionate about salt water tanks, reef and fish only, but quickly found myself spending more money than I could on it. Fast forward to now and I feel like that obsession is now live and active with these plants. Looking forward to sharing this journey on here, and learning as much as I can.
 

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Welcome to TF, carnivorously. Lots to obsess about here! Fortunately, a lot of the best stuff isn't necessarily expensive or hard to come by, as I'm sure you have realized. That's a nice collection.
 
Thank you Bluemax! It is definitely less expensive than salt water reef tanks, that's for sure. What would you classify as the "best stuff?"
 
Welcome Bay Area friend!
A lot of Nepenthes species that were near inaccessible have been obtainable through tissue culture efforts. Up until then, we were heavily dependent on cuttings. Plants that flowered often were unable to cross with others of the same species due limitations of communication, and so for the most part hybrids dominated the scene.

Best stuff is really dependent on what you want? For some people it’s tuberous drosera, for others it’s highland Nepenthes species, and still others, it’s sarracenia. There’s something for everyone.
 
Welcome and nice collection, i lived in a squat in oakland for a while and have always loved the bay area.
 
Welcome Bay Area friend!
A lot of Nepenthes species that were near inaccessible have been obtainable through tissue culture efforts. Up until then, we were heavily dependent on cuttings. Plants that flowered often were unable to cross with others of the same species due limitations of communication, and so for the most part hybrids dominated the scene.

Best stuff is really dependent on what you want? For some people it’s tuberous drosera, for others it’s highland Nepenthes species, and still others, it’s sarracenia. There’s something for everyone.

Welcome Bay Area friend!
A lot of Nepenthes species that were near inaccessible have been obtainable through tissue culture efforts. Up until then, we were heavily dependent on cuttings. Plants that flowered often were unable to cross with others of the same species due limitations of communication, and so for the most part hybrids dominated the scene.

Best stuff is really dependent on what you want? For some people it’s tuberous drosera, for others it’s highland Nepenthes species, and still others, it’s sarracenia. There’s something for everyone.
Very grateful for how far technology has come, and that means for us in terms of accessibility to rare plants, without causing harm to their natural environment. It sounds like you have been in this hobby for a while now. What part of the bay area are you from?
 
Here are some more of my plant children. They bring so much joy lol
 

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Welcome! looks like you're off to a great start. Are those lights on the bendable arms the only lights you have going in there? Are they powered by a USB port style plug? If so, I would be concerned that they're not going to provide enough light.
 
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Thanks Andrew! I have a total of four sets of those bendable LED lights total, but they are all plugged into outlets. I have wondered that myself, but it does get hit with some close to direct light for a couple hours a day too. If you have any lights that you would recommend, definitely open to hearing.
 
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Thank you Bluemax! It is definitely less expensive than salt water reef tanks, that's for sure. What would you classify as the "best stuff?"
I realize that I am offering an opinion here, and I'm really a sundew grower. But I think N. ventrata, alata and glabrata (those 'ata' plants, ha!) are nice and generally not expensive. In the sundew world I would say Drosera aliciae, capensis and binata, to name a few, are among the best and inexpensively available.
 
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Welcome! looks like you're off to a great start. Are those lights on the bendable arms the only lights you have going in there? Are they powered by a USB port style plug? If so, I would be concerned that they're not going to provide enough light.
I use those in combination with florescent, but also in a different area with just a CFL and the ones with the cfl seem to be working well but they are new.. are they known to be not enough? Cause i also thought that price wise its too good to be true but idk..
 
  • #13
I've had success growing with cfl's but I generally use screw-in led lamps.
 
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I use those in combination with florescent, but also in a different area with just a CFL and the ones with the cfl seem to be working well but they are new.. are they known to be not enough? Cause i also thought that price wise its too good to be true but idk..
If they're the USB power supplied LED units (or even with the power supply brick built in) then I've seen/been given a couple which were useless. CFLs (as Mark said above) or higher power LEDs, regular flourecent lamps etc can all work well. I use some screw in type 120v leds on my kitchen Nep which is doing well. Far cry than the USB powered led fixtures I've seen. You've dealt with reef (which I also have) so you should understand power consumption has a lot to do with power of light. So how could a 5w 3a USB adapter (or close to that) actually put out anything decent light wise? I was just letting you know since it sounded like these plants were all pretty new to you, I didn't want them to all start sulking. Just something to keep an eye one. For reference, the light I am using on this plant: My house Nep (N. x ventrata) is this light: https://amzn.to/3N0wYx6 seems to be working well, but is still supplemental as it gets lots of morning sun (and some afternoon dependning on the time of year when it comes in the back sliding glass door and reflects off the tile). I've considered buying another and adding it to see if the plant does any better, TBH.
 
  • #15
If they're the USB power supplied LED units (or even with the power supply brick built in) then I've seen/been given a couple which were useless. CFLs (as Mark said above) or higher power LEDs, regular flourecent lamps etc can all work well. I use some screw in type 120v leds on my kitchen Nep which is doing well. Far cry than the USB powered led fixtures I've seen. You've dealt with reef (which I also have) so you should understand power consumption has a lot to do with power of light. So how could a 5w 3a USB adapter (or close to that) actually put out anything decent light wise? I was just letting you know since it sounded like these plants were all pretty new to you, I didn't want them to all start sulking. Just something to keep an eye one. For reference, the light I am using on this plant: My house Nep (N. x ventrata) is this light: https://amzn.to/3N0wYx6 seems to be working well, but is still supplemental as it gets lots of morning sun (and some afternoon dependning on the time of year when it comes in the back sliding glass door and reflects off the tile). I've considered buying another and adding it to see if the plant does any better, TBH.
Yeah i thought the same thing about the USB.. but the ones im using it for mainly are also getting a little light from a hanging florescent and then they got a cfl and then a regular lamp next to em thats got a dollar store one which honestly happen to work great. This setup/plants are new but everything seems to be doing good, my main setup with florescents and LEDs and humidifier is in my bathroom so i made this lil setup near my bed and also chose plants that are more "windowsill" easy
 
  • #16
Very grateful for how far technology has come, and that means for us in terms of accessibility to rare plants, without causing harm to their natural environment. It sounds like you have been in this hobby for a while now. What part of the bay area are you from?
I’m on the peninsula
 
  • #18
Howdy! I grew up in Santa Cruz and spent the better part of a decade in Berkeley. Definitely a lot of great plants you can grow outside, easily. If only anyone could afford the space... ;)

Agreed that I'd expect the bendy lights to be under-performers, but the proof is in the pudding I suppose. If your combo of natural and supplemented light is giving you good results, don't mess with it too much!
 
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