Time for me to start the great search.

[FlytrapGurl]

Well, since my first VFT is dieing, I might as well start a search for another to replace it. So every plant nursery, every Lowe's, and every Walmart I go into, I'll look for any variety of VFT I can find besides Common and Green Dragon. In one Lowe's plant section, I saw something called ''Bug Biters Variety Terrerium''. It had a mix of a VFT, a small Pitcher Plant, and that cp that is sticky and has loads if hair on it(could anyone tell me what kind of cp this is). Would anyone recommend this? The plants looked pretty healthy.

 

[larry]

That cp is probably the Cape Sundew, Drosera capensis

 

[FlytrapGurl]

Will all three kinds, the pitcher plant and sundew and VFT, do better outside, with my current VFTs, or inside?

 

[Dyflam]

I bought a few similar plants from Lowes and got a drosera adelae in mine. I think all the VFT's are common. Pitchers that I've seen are darlingtonia (cobra) and S. purpurea. I would stay away from the cobras unless you have a terrarium that you can keep cool.

 

[FlytrapGurl]

I could keep it cool. I'll just keep it in the house. But since the are all in the same terrarium, what in conditions should I keep them that is good for all three of them?

 

[Dyflam]

I would split them up. They will go through a shock period but ultimately they will be much better off. I would put them all in their own 4" pots and give them all a little TLC. A little dose of Superthrive would probably be good too. I ordered some recently from PFT.

 

[FlytrapGurl]

Well, in that case, I'll go for something simple. I'm going to buy a Cobra Pitcher and a VFT in there own separate pots. Could you give me a few care instructions for the Cobra?

 

[Dyflam]

Cobras are going to be tough in FL. They are native to Oregon where they get intense sun but the temp is cool and they have cool water constantly running over the roots. I have a couple right now that appear to be absolutely dead. I put ice cubes on them daily to simulate the cool water flow and I keep them indoors (in the AC). No sign of life in about a month.

 

[FlytrapGurl]

Hmmmm... Well, What kind of Pitchers would do well in Florida?

 

[Stefano1]

I HAVE A COBRA LILY OUTSIDE here on my back screen porch, it gets like 4 hours morning sun cus i have it on a table near the house and all my others are at the screen,

it is growing kinda slowly but its healthy, i am very surprised, it sent up 1 about half foot pitcher and now another baby one, dosnt get much sun but i am thinking of puting it out more, and temps are usualy 80-86 a day

its soo cool its doin good

i have a water bottle in the fridge with distiled water, and i ocasionally water it with the 45-50 degree F water

its doin great, i wish i could post a pic

 

[Mike King]

Dear Flytrapgurl,
To answer your question 'what kind of pitchers do well in Florida?' the obvious answer is any Sarracenia and you can grow the lot outside. Really. You live in CP heaven and if I lived where you live, then I would need to invest in &#3614,000 USD in 2 large greenhouses for my Sarras in England! In fact this summer, I come to look at Sarracenia in the wild in Florida so if I were you, try easy species like flava, alata etc. Stand them permanetly in trays of rain water, give them as much sun and shelter from wind as they can get and you will surely have the best plants you can dream of...

 

[steveo]

Wouldn't a nepenthes do well outside in Florida? You could grow 'em tall there, and get both high and low pitchers going.

STeve

 

[FlytrapGurl]

There are some small Pitchers at Rockledge Gardens, where I got my other VFT, last time I went there. They seemed to be pretty healthy, and they were in full sun(and full sun in Rockledge is HOT). As I recall I think they were Lavender purple in color, definately not Nepenthes or Cobra. What kind of Pitchers are these? Could you give me some care instructions for this one? I'm probably going to get one of them.

Thanx!:biggrin:

 

[Pyro]

FlyGurl,

Those were probably S. purpurea. They are an excellent beginner species, as are flava and alata (like Mike said.) For care instructions, go to the main page of this site and click the link there but in short they are pretty much like VFTs.

I'm dropping you a message, make sure you check it out.

Stefano,

How long have you been growing you Cobra outside?

Steveo,

Yes, you could indeed grow Neps outside in FL. I am growing mine outside here in Atlanta.

 

[FlytrapGurl]

Okay, it's settled. I am going to buy a S. purpurea as soon as I can get around to it. I'll keep it outside with my VFTs. Also, it's under an overhang, so it can't, and won't, get rained on

 

[FlytrapGurl]

Oh and, thanx for all your help! I appreciate it.

 

[Pyro]

Move them out from under the ledge and let them get rained on. Rain is good for CPs

 

[Stefano1]

rain is good for CP's?

so if it rains could i take all my cps and stick em outside? like not HARSH rain jkust like drizzling, could i do that with neps?

once my common vft got stuck in the rain and there were 2 new traps about to open, i took em in from the rain and they all opened! it was so surprised, could i stick my neps out in the rain??

hehe COOL!

ive been having this cobra outhere for about 2 months now, its been rowin slowly but i think thats cus it dosnt get that much sun, i am goan stick it out in the sun with my purpurea and 2 heliamphoras, cus i just saw they like 15 hours of direct sun =D

but then i gota gte ice cubes and put em on the cobra and heliamphorahs soil =D

would drosera and butterworts do good in rain?

 

[Pyro]

Of course rain is good for CPs, where do you think they get their water form in nature

Almost all my plants are out on my patio and they love the rain. Rain water has no salts in it so it is good and clean. Also, usually when it rains it does so for long enough that there is a flow of water through the pot and this is good because it flushes out and garbage that may have been accumulating.

As long as your Neps are in a well drained mix then they should be fine getting rained on. Drosera and Pings don't mind rain a bit.

Pyro

 

[Stefano1]

ahh cool