My Miniature CP Terrarium

[Ghostie]

OK oddly enough my first contribution here will be my Carnivorous Plants!

I don't know much about mantids but it seems I can make a nice "CP Terrarium" without much trouble.

Here's some pictures of my 2.5 gallon setup.

I have napanthes, serracenias, drosera admirabilis, drosera pulchella, a very nice red trapped Dionaea muscipula.

Not to mention a few other unknown grasses that joined in unannounced and are starting to take over. The sphagnum even came back to life on me. hehe.

Here's some pics. Ask away if you have any questions. The substrate is fish rocks and sphagnum. Some of them are in cups that have since grown into the terrarium scene a bit. You can see little ones that I grew from seed that are just starting to take off too. They look like little palm trees. I think these are drosera roseana.

I can't seem to get them nice and compact like some people but I think I needs more light. Just using a simple compact fluorescent for 12 hours a day continuous flouring cycle so they always bloom. When the drosera Pulchella (orange flower) blooms it creates a flower just about as big as itself and looks beautiful! They then turn into seeds!

sorry I kinda trip out on these things and all they do is sit here and grow. I threw all these plants together months ago and expected the tank to be totally moldy by now but it just took off! All the sudden I have a year old carnivorous plant terrarium that's still going strong! A small spider even found it's way in there with the carnivorous plants! I guess he feels at home amongst the other blood suckers. lol The dead pitchers are being regrown by new ones I think so you will see dead as well as live pitchers in there.

This rig is perfectly self sufficient with the light, besides the fact that every three weeks I have to add an inch of water to the gravel line. Way too easy to take care of these! They feed themselves!

 

[hibiscusmile]

Wow I am jealouse, never could spell that word

! I could live in there myself

 

[ismart]

Very pretty! I may have to put CP Terrarium together soon! You make seem so easy.

 

[Ghostie]

Thanks guys and gals.

I am still sort of surprised by this thing myself.

I forgot to mention the serrecenia on the left (spelling?!)

It's another form of pitcher and seems to be doing well too. (hard to see though)

What I like about these plants as they love regular acidic sink water with no additives! Too easy!

All kinds of weird things start growing in there too like those funky grasses trying to break out the lid. I think I have to trim them back soon and trim off some of those dead pitchers as well!

 

[Peter Clausen]

I'd like to see a closer shot of that middle plant in the transparent deli cup. It looks like a little palm tree from where I'm sitting. Interesting!

 

[Ghostie]

Will do a bit later today The chameleon in my avatar has a vet visit today so will get to it when I'm free.

That is one of my Drosera Roseana's that I hatched from a gemmea! Forgive me if I spell my terminology wrong but that's what it is.

I've been meaning to get some clearer pictures. It's a normal Drosera but it has stretched out from the lighting I give it. My lights move around a bit now and again and it can play games on the plants as far as stretching out like those little "palm trees" hehe

I bought some of them from here...

http://droseragemmae.com/

He lives very close and send live viable gemmae! (live drosera clone seeds!)

they take so long to grow from seed! :blink:

 

[Vore]

Awesome flytraps! And I'm jealous that you can grow Nepenthes. I haven't had much luck with them. I noticed your Sarracenias are greenish yellow. Sarracenia flava?

 

[Ghostie]

Awesome flytraps! And I'm jealous that you can grow Nepenthes. I haven't had much luck with them. I noticed your Sarracenias are greenish yellow. Sarracenia flava?

Sarracenia Purpurea to be exact! (Besic common lowes/home depot species!?)

Thanks guys, I didn't really have to do much work with these! I just leave them on a 12 on 12 off cycle and "just add water". Too easy. They did the rest themselves!

Here's pics of that stretched out Roseana! I think what happened is the cup is too small also so it's roots went down to the bottom and pushed it out.

I tried to grow drosera trichocaulis and drosera lasianthia as well but they did not turn out so good and died or molded off. The roseana seems to be a hearty species.

Also, one more better pic of the Serracenia. Maybe one day I will start another 2.5 gallon carnivorous plants terrarium soon! This one will be ayear old next month! I can't believe it already! I know because I quit smoking cigarettes a year ago when I made that terrarium! Thanks goodness.

Now I just need a nice clear picture of the pitcher plant. Those things are so cool too! I have considered the purchase of several exotic pitchers on ebay before but they can be quite expensive!

My basic Sarra

 

[Ghostie]

Also, thanks for helping me feel at home here on the Mantid forum. I'll post my dart frogs and my chameleon(s) here pretty soon as well. No time! Can't wait for my Mantids to show up! I think I ordered too many but have room to house them no problem. More worried about making sure I give them all proper care according to each of their different needs! I think I'm in for a little shocker when they show up. lol

 

[Ghostie]

Well took the "CP's" out for a trim today. Tried to remove some of the old dead branches. I guess the branches die off after one or two bugs or whatever and they start to pile up underneath the plants. Needless to say on the napes and serras this can be unsightly so I cut some of them back and took a few pics.

I sure never pictured myself having to cut back some of the plants! I thought they'd all be dead by now for sure. lol

That fly trap was also a home depot specimen but with a bunch of light on it, it has turned nice and red like the ones you see on ebay and elsewhere.

These plants really need a bunch of light to do well.

 

[LauraMG]

So what exactly are you feeding them? Flies? Roaches? Mantids?

I think it's beautiful! I mentioned to my sister and a friend that I would like to raise some CPs and they both told me they were much more trouble than they are worth and that they're not worth the money to buy. I'm discouraged, but not to the point that I've dropped the dream! Looks like yours is doing well!

 

[Ghostie]

These ones were very cheap. $5 each or so at home depot.

They come in a tiny pot that they will live in fine. You can set them in a window and they will live and eat flies. You don't really have to feed them anything, They attract their own food! Specially if you are feeding you Mantids some flies. The ones that escape will end up in the fly traps and napenthes and sarracenias. lol

You do need lots of light on them though. They basically need their own bulb 12 hours a day.

Other than than that, just add sink water. They have to have a high humidity so I put some fish rocks and then the substrate (sphagnum) to hold water in the tank at all times. The humidity stays at 75% with the lid cracked so flies and bugs can get in to be eaten.

Nope, no mantids will be harmed by this terrarium, unless they escape and find their way in there. I hope not! lol

I sure wish I could find some more of these 2.5 gallon tanks though. They are spiffy. The glass lid would be perfect for holding in flies for mantids.

 

[LauraMG]

I sure wish I could find some more of these 2.5 gallon tanks though. They are spiffy. The glass lid would be perfect for holding in flies for mantids.

That's a 2.5 gallon? It looks like at least a 5 from the pics! I've got a 5.5 gallon that one of my mantids lives in. Maybe I can just recycle it when her time comes

 

[Schloaty]

Great looking set up.

What do you do about dormancy requirements for the temperate plants? The VFT's and Sarracenia - do you take them out for a three month nap each year? If so, do you have them potted, but the pots burried?

Otherwise, the neps and dews look great!

 

[Ghostie]

It would seem the Drosera Pulchella might be going through it's dormacy cycle now. Otherwise, I don't remove them for dormacy. They are set to a continuous flowering cycle on 12/12 hours of light on/off. I think they just stay in there flowering. lol

The drosera pulchella shot off several stalks with flowers last year. I think like 4 or 5 of them, each with three tiny orange flowers. Apparently the seeds from the plant are inside the dried flower afterward. It appears to be doing a dormant thing now, but who knows it might shoot off another flower stock again.

Hard to say what will happen. So far so good for a year!

Some of them are in cups, but this is how they get their water. You set the cups on the rocks, then substrate around the cup. Poor water to the rock line and the cups wick up the water to the plants. Most of the little pygmy sundews will come in a cup if you buy them, so I opted to just put the whole cup in the terrarium so I didn't have to replant the droseras and I knew they would get their water right. I do not take them out. You can see the sphagnum starting to grow into some of the cups and around it.

The big Nape, Sarra and Fly Trap have no cups, and are planted directly into the sphagnum substrate.

I found it cool that the sphagnum came back alive from a dead and dried state.

 

[manzano167]

Dont use sink water unless its PPM is under 40, Distilled water or rain water are the best so is Reverse Osmoise

BTW Humidity is not neccasery for the Venus flytrap and the Sarrecenia

And try to not over water as the venus flytrap can root rot easily but the sarraceia is a bit harder IF i were u ill take out the venus and the sarracenia out to natural sun but u need to accomadate them

 

[Schloaty]

It would seem the Drosera Pulchella might be going through it's dormacy cycle now. Otherwise, I don't remove them for dormacy. They are set to a continuous flowering cycle on 12/12 hours of light on/off. I think they just stay in there flowering. lol

This will work for the short term (2 years, maybe a little longer), but if you don't allow the VFT and Sar to go dormant, they will eventually wither and die of exhaustion.

You don't have to worry about the nep, and any of the othe tropicals. If the pulchella is going dormant on it's own, I guess you're good there, too. But the VFT's and Sars just won't last that way.

That's such a beautiful VFT (green dragon, if I'm not mistaken), it would be ashame to loose it like that. I would highly recommend that you take that one out of there, pot it, and put it back in. Then you can remove it easily around Turkey Day, put it somewhere cool and dark, and then put it back in around Valentine's Day.

 

[Ghostie]

You guys are right and I am by no means an expert on these things.

Only been into CP's about a year or so.

I think the aim of this project was to throw them in there and "see who lasts, what takes over and how long it can run itself". Sort of a science project I guess. Let it go and see what happens.

I have no RO water though. The fact that it has been run on plain tap alone for a year is surprising itself to me. To be honest I drank tap water my whole life until I recently purchased a sink Britta attachment. :lol: I think my sink water likely comes out between 200-350ppm. (without using the filter) At least it did at my old place before this apartment. I will measure soon.

I agree, that is a nice set of traps. I got them from "Lowes" (like Home Depot). Is there a way I can clone them? They have all already taken root into the substrate and tangled in roots with each other for a year and it would be tough to pull one or the other out individually besides the few in cups.

I was not aware the traps required less humidity. They came in a humidity dome so I just threw them on in there. Hehe. I should probably do some study work on these things one day but kinda like to watch it change on it's own and see what takes place. That trim I gave it a while back was the first real thing I did to it since I set it going.

 

[Ghostie]

BTW I seem to have a bunch of CP seeds I won't be needing. I have heard they are very hard to hatch, possibly requiring cold stratification. I prefer to buy tiny Drosera on ebay for $4 already sprouted and growing. I have substrate for the seeds too. Would be willing to trade or sell if anyone is interested. Very cheap.

The seeds I have are drosera dielsiana, drosera spatulata, drosera burmanii and drosera venusta. I have a bag of 50 seeds of each. I have a gallon bag of the substrate for them, I think it is perlite and vermiculite mixed 50/50.