# pitcher plant care



## Johnald Chaffinch (Apr 10, 2006)

just bought a pitcher plant called Vleesetende sarracinia, anyone know how to care for this ( or pitchers in general ) ? any links to place that could help?

need to know about if to use

strong sunlight? would misting it help? how many flies should i give it how often? soil type? etc...

here it is:







it's about half a foot across

thankyou!


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## infinity (Apr 10, 2006)

key thing with carny plants is to treat 'em mean :twisted: the soil u have them in will keep them going for ages- u NEVER wanna ut in compost because that negates the whole point of the pitcher. Use rainwater or distilled to water them as some can be sensitive to chlorine etc. Mine did find in a reasonably shaded environment-as these tend to be in *dappled* sunlight anyway. Temperature- any normal house temp is fine- plants are more acceptant than bugs... have to be kept moist though- so sit the pot in a tray and fill that tray up with water so it saturates the soil.

If you think u need soil, sphagnum moss is good.

As for bugs, feed them when you're bored... The bug size should be around 1/4 ish of the diameter of the 'bulb' hood that covers the top of the pitcher - in theory, anything that can fit in the holefor something that size- housefly size is good  

Ask ian, i believe he keeps them- he'll correct me or add to what i've written


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## Lukony (Apr 10, 2006)

Ya, he is right. You have to remember that these plants live along running water and their soil has very little mineral value if any. So, their main source of energy is taken from bugs. When I use to breed and sell them I kept them in a mixutre of sand and moss. You can usually buy it from any website and he was right about watering. If anything you use has minerals it will burn the plants. Many of the plants can survive on water alone if you water them just right.


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## Johnald Chaffinch (Apr 19, 2006)

my plants looking kinda dry, though i'm sure i've watered it enough. how often is it supposed to get watered? ( it's the one in the pic above, it's about half a foot across). also, i havent fed it anything yet ( the pitchers dont seem mature enough, though i'm not sure...), any advice?


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## infinity (Apr 19, 2006)

yeah, if they're in a flowerpot, make sure there are holes in the bottom... then put it in a tray- maybe an inch or two deep and fill THAT up with water... don't let the tray go dry - and the substrate will absorb as much as it needs to


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## Lukony (Apr 19, 2006)

basically water it and wait until the soil gets a little dry like the water has gone away and then water again. It ranges with different species.


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## Johnald Chaffinch (Apr 19, 2006)

cool, thanks


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## BigBreeder (Jul 30, 2006)

I have naturally occurring sarracinia on one of my properties here in Mississippi, also observed them in Georgia and Florida, USA. Very poor soil, mostly sand, acidic, all usually near pine trees, mottled sunlight, all very wet. Moved a few from a spot where I was building a shed to my main house backyard, set up a sandy bog type of structure, used pond liner to hold water, plants doing well.


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