Central Texas

[JennB]

Hello! The fly population is booming at my house right now and yesterday I came online searching for diy fly traps. Of course, a link showed up in the list for a venus fly trap and on a whim I clicked on it just to look at the pictures. I've always thought these lil guys were fascinating but too hard for the average person to grow. Looking at one site lead to other sites where I oohed and aahed over the gorgeous pictures of all sorts of cps and started thinking maybe I can learn to grow these! I've done pretty much nothing today except read up on these plants and now I'm just thinking what the heck have I gone and gotten myself into But I still want to do it!

I live in central Texas, Lampasas, which is about an hour from Austin and Ft. Hood/Killeen. Is there any chance anyone knows someone or a group local to me that might let me pick their brains?

Looking back on your experiences what do you wish you'd known "then" that you know now?

And most important, of course, is what plants should a utter noob like me start with? I don't have a greenhouse and it's very hot, dry and windy here but it's been suggested that there are some that might grow outdoors even here? What do you think of VFTs and Sarracenias to start me off?
Jenn

 

[jimscott]

Welcome to TF! Another Jenn with 2 N's (as a Jenny just walked by....)

I don't live in Texas, but there are many that do. I am a Cowboys fan, however. I've also been to Dallas, Plano, Amarillo, Lubbock,... and love this restaurant called, "The Big Texan".

Experiences: Life experiences in general, or limited to CP's?

I would recommend easy window sill plants like D. binata, D. capensis, D. spatulata, Mexican butterworts.

As to VFT's & Sarracenias, I'd say that you'd just have to keep on top of making sure they are hydrated.

 

[JennB]

Hey jimscott, thanks for the welcome!

For experiences I was thinking along the lines of learning from you more experienced growers of cps, perhaps beginner mistakes to avoid and so on, but if you feel like expounding on your life experiences in general I'm game
Jenn

 

[Not a Number]

Greetings Jenn and welcome to TerraForums. I saw your post on the ICPS proboards and was going to suggest you join here also. You found your way here on your own.

There are a number of CP growers in Texas that hang out here now and then. If you can get in touch with Mike Howlett, who is a naturalist at Jesse H. Jones Park and well known in the CP community, he should be able to give you some information to CP sites in Texas. There are several Sarracenia sites.

Other than that browse through the topics and most of all the stickies and plant articles pinned at the top of the forums. These will point you to Barry Rice's FAQ, the ICPS website and several other growers sites and pages on cultivation tips.

A DIY funnel flytrap would be much more efficient than a few Venus Flytraps although not as challenging or (maybe) fun. Plans for funnel traps are easily found on the Internet. Venus Flytraps are not very efficient at pest control.

 

[mato]

Hey Jenn,

If you're wanting to control flies, I'd suggest acquiring some sarracenias. Each of the pitchers can hold a huge number of flies and are grown similarly to flytraps (in fact, many people just grow them in the same pots). Just make sure they're sitting in water and your conditions will be perfect.

 

[JennB]

Hello NaN and mato! Thanks for the info! Yes, I'll be saving up hubby's big soda bottles to construct little funnel fly traps, not relying on cps, but in the warm months at least the cps will have plenty to eat
Jenn

 

[DJ57]

Welcome to TF You came to the right place to learn what you need to know.

What I wish I knew then that I know now? Put the blinders on when walking past the CP booth at a Saturday Market because these things are addictive and no turning back. Looks like you are becoming one of us now I started out with 3 sarrs and a flytrap several years ago and now, well, can't get enough and have a huge outside bog garden full of stuff and just starting to get into some tropical CPs.

Oh, I checked and there is no AA equivalent for CP addicts. But on the other hand, I do consider my CPs my prozac.

 

[jimscott]

Venus Flytraps are not very efficient at pest control.

But it's kinda fun watching!

 

[JennB]

Heya DJ57! The part I have down pat! I'm the sort that catches an interest, immerses myself in it for a time (my husband calls it "obsessive compulsive" but I prefer to think of it as knowledge hungry ) then once I get rolling I'm not going to be satisfied until I've tried at least a little bit of everything! You should've seen my saltwater coral collection before a pet sitter cooked it all . I'm certain to end up one of those labelled as the neighborhood crazy old lady, it's just a question of which insanity will I be known for?
Jenn

 

[jimscott]

You had saltwater? I wish I could afford to cultivate tropical fish - fresh & salt! I used to work for a wholesaler and part of what I did was take care of the salt section. I do miss the corals and the stars and the shrimp and the....

 

[JennB]

You had saltwater?

I did and LOVED it! At that time I was manager at a store so I had access to several lists where I could order what I wanted and knew exactly where it came from, what condition it arrived in, and so on. When we came home from Jamaica and found the pet sitter had cooked all our tanks...words just can't describe! In purely financial terms the loss was many thousands of dollars but, of course, the actual loss went well beyond monetary for me. They were living things that I'd put love, sweat, and tears into, lovingly set up and maintained, memories of frag swap meetings, our made-with-our-own-two-hands under tank sump/refugium and HUGE protein skimmer...I simply didn't have the heart to start over again from scratch. We handed out the live rock to other enthusiasts, quickly rehomed the yellow tang and blue velvet damsel that survived against all odds, tore it all down and now it's collecting dust in our attic. One day I'm sure I'll set up something, maybe not on such a grand scale again, but I love it too much to never set up another tank.

You should totally do a tank! I normally advise people who've never had one before to start with at least 40 gallons (but the bigger the better) but you already have some experience with the animals and if you can figure out cps I'm sure you could do this if you go slow and careful. A small tank shouldn't cost much and I bet you'd love it.
Jenn

 

[jimscott]

Money is the only limitation in that area.CP's can be done on a "shoestring budger", for the most part. I do miss the Centropyge angels and the Chaetedon butterflies and dragon wrasses and anglers and mandarins and gefilte.....