Hello from Montana!

[PlantFanatic]

My name is Devon and I'm a botanical enthusiast living in Montana. I'm fairly new to carnivorous plants. I've tried growing the before with little success, but now I've really committed myself to giving them everything they need and they seem to be responding well. I'm currently in possession of 5 Sarracenia purpurea, 3 Dionaea muscipula, 2 Drosera Capensis (I just got them), and 4 unknown Nepenthes hybrids. I'm also giving two of the Nepenthes biweekly coffee treatments and using the other two as a control group to monitor growth differences, so that should be interesting! The biggest problem growing these here in Montana seems to be keeping adequate humidity levels (I have the same problem with my tarantulas), so I've been growing them in clear storage bins with about a centimeter of water in the bottom. I'd love to know if there are any other Montana growers on this site.

Thanks & Happy Growing!
Devon

P.S. The Nepenthes are no longer standing in water.

 

[Cthulhu138]

Welcome to the forum and the hobby ! I'm sure you'll find the info here very helpful.

Here's a few pointers :

1. Do not let your Nepenthes sit in water, they will rot. Keep their media moist but not saturated.

2. Back off on the coffee a bit. Mine only get coffee 2-4 times per year. You don't want to overload the media with nutrients.

3. Keep in mind that both Sarracenia and Dionaea are temperate plants and will require a cold winter dormancy.

 

[OscarW]

Welcome!

From my experience, VFT not a very good candidate for terrarium setting. I used to grow it inside a terrarium but it wasn't growing so well. It's now on my windowsill with 6+ hours direct sunlight and seems to be much happier.

 

[jimscott]

Welcome to TF!

 

[PlantFanatic]

Thank you for the tips. I'll be moving the temperate plants into dormancy soon. I flush the coffee from the plants thoroughly after two days with distilled water to prevent nutrient buildup.
Growing outside of the terrarium is a challenge because, as I mentioned earlier we have very low humidity here. It rarely exceeds 30% humidity any time of year, and is usually closer to %20. I'm considering buying a humidifier for my plant room, but don't have one at the time. For now I mist my other plants several times a day.
Thanks again,
Devon