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I know the author, quite correctly, rules Venus flytraps out, but for the sake of argument: I used to keep some just for the sake of it, not at all to hunt bug

by the_af 3y ago

I know the author, quite correctly, rules Venus flytraps out, but for the sake of argument: I used to keep some just for the sake of it, not at all to hunt bugs because that won't scale. In humid Buenos Aires, I tried both indoors and outdoors and... they are pretty hard to keep, aren't they? You must water them lightly with distilled water. You must NOT let them flower (it's hard to overstate this, but it's true and I verified it first hand: the plant sprouts a single flower once a year, and if you don't prevent this by cutting the stalk ASAP, a single ugly white flower will sprout, and then your flytrap will die of exertion). You must not overfeed it. If it catches a bug on its own, chances are the "trap" will turn black and rot. They seem to be very hard to keep outside their natural swamp environment...

dylan604 3y ago
I've only seen carnivorous plants do well in terrariums. Trying to keep them as a house plant doesn't work since most houses are not humid jungle climates inside. even orchids do not do well in most people's homes. The best orchids I've seen were kept in a bathroom with a window steamy showers are taken daily.
a_bonobo 3y ago
>They seem to be very hard to keep outside their natural swamp environment... As the NatureServe status says: >The Venus Flytrap, a carnivorous species, is a narrow endemic of the coastal plain of North and South Carolina in the southeastern United States. It has very strict habitat requirements which include frequent natural fire, an open understory and low nutrient soils. There are close to 100 extant natural occurrences and between 73,000 - 158,000 total individuals. The species continues to decline, however, and should be reviewed frequently. Threats include poaching from wild populations, habitat conversion, and fire suppression. There are very few natural areas left where these plants can survive, and these areas are tiny! >Current range: The range of Venus flytrap is quite localized in scattered savannas of the coastal plain of southeastern North Carolina and adjacent eastern South Carolina in an approximate landward radius of 100 miles around Wilmington, North Carolina (North Carolina Natural Heritage Program 2010). Currently 68 extant occurrences are known from the following counties in North Carolina (the number of occurrences in parentheses): Bladen (5), Brunswick (21), Carteret (1), Columbus (3), Craven (1), Cumberland (4), Hoke (7), New Hanover (5), Onslow (12), Pender (7), and Sampson (2) (North Carolina Natural Heritage Program 2010), and Horry County (4), South Carolina (South Carolina Heritage Trust 1993b). In a way, these plants have evolved into a dead end. They mostly lost their chloroplast genomes so they can't 'go back' to being regular plants. Perhaps your mistake was that you don't set your kitchen on fire often enough? https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.159781/Dionaea_muscipula https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.1597...
schrectacular 3y ago
In more ways than one! You might enjoy this podcast/story: https://thisiscriminal.com/episode-five-dropping-like-flies-4-24-2014/ https://thisiscriminal.com/episode-five-dropping-like-flies-... TLDL; Because of how hard they are to cultivate, they have attracted thieves. But Criminal is an excellent podcast and Phoebe makes the story way more interesting than I ever could.

by the_af 3y ago

dylan604 3y ago

I've only seen carnivorous plants do well in terrariums. Trying to keep them as a house plant doesn't work since most houses are not humid jungle climates inside. even orchids do not do well in most people's homes. The best orchids I've seen were kept in a bathroom with a window steamy showers are taken daily.

a_bonobo 3y ago

>They seem to be very hard to keep outside their natural swamp environment... As the NatureServe status says: >The Venus Flytrap, a carnivorous species, is a narrow endemic of the coastal plain of North and South Carolina in the southeastern United States. It has very strict habitat requirements which include frequent natural fire, an open understory and low nutrient soils. There are close to 100 extant natural occurrences and between 73,000 - 158,000 total individuals. The species continues to decline, however, and should be reviewed frequently. Threats include poaching from wild populations, habitat conversion, and fire suppression. There are very few natural areas left where these plants can survive, and these areas are tiny! >Current range: The range of Venus flytrap is quite localized in scattered savannas of the coastal plain of southeastern North Carolina and adjacent eastern South Carolina in an approximate landward radius of 100 miles around Wilmington, North Carolina (North Carolina Natural Heritage Program 2010). Currently 68 extant occurrences are known from the following counties in North Carolina (the number of occurrences in parentheses): Bladen (5), Brunswick (21), Carteret (1), Columbus (3), Craven (1), Cumberland (4), Hoke (7), New Hanover (5), Onslow (12), Pender (7), and Sampson (2) (North Carolina Natural Heritage Program 2010), and Horry County (4), South Carolina (South Carolina Heritage Trust 1993b). In a way, these plants have evolved into a dead end. They mostly lost their chloroplast genomes so they can't 'go back' to being regular plants. Perhaps your mistake was that you don't set your kitchen on fire often enough? https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.159781/Dionaea_muscipula https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.1597...

schrectacular 3y ago

In more ways than one! You might enjoy this podcast/story: https://thisiscriminal.com/episode-five-dropping-like-flies-4-24-2014/ https://thisiscriminal.com/episode-five-dropping-like-flies-... TLDL; Because of how hard they are to cultivate, they have attracted thieves. But Criminal is an excellent podcast and Phoebe makes the story way more interesting than I ever could.