Lot's of folks have asked for more info on my carnivores.  Here are some pictures of my babies and some basic info on how their traps work.

Drosera Capensis, aka 'sundew'.  This has been my MVP ever since I brought my figs indoors to break dormancy earlier under lights.  I had been wondering how I would feed my carnivores through the winter, but then Christmas morning I went downstairs to check on the figs and Santa had left me a fungal gnat infestation!  They were like a sparse cloud before I moved the bog box garden down there for a few nights. This 3" bad mamma jamma had over 200 gnats stuck to it the next morning.  Several of the leaves were completely curled up crushing insects below and not a single flying insect was to be found.  Since then it has grown by about a third--the largest growth spurt it has had since germination.  


'Hummer's Giant' Cephalotus Follicularis, aka the Western Australian Pitcher Plant.  This brilliant little trap attracts insects with a sweet smell.  When they get closer they see light penetrating the pattern on the hood, much like sun through stained glass, and cannot resist going towards it.  Once they cross the waxy spiked lip there is no turning back.  Bugs cannot get footing and fall into the shallow pool of digestive juices on the bottom.  Along the walls of the inside of the pitcher are thousands of microscopic needle like hairs all pointing down making it impossible to climb.



This 'Eden Black' Cephalotus Follicularis is very special.  This is one of under 30 that exist in the world and is the only one in America.  When it arrived here it had endured a trip from England to Scotland, a flight from Scotland to America, and being held up in customs for 9 days by FedEx.  Following that disaster I had to immediately put it through a stressful repotting and the primary pitcher had been snapped in transit.  Two weeks later all of the original leaves and pitchers had fallen off from stress.  Lucky for me, it recovered well and is now thriving.  I was not willing to risk it being in the basement but I did tweezer feed it 4 fungal gnats for Christmas.  



I planted this seed pack of nature-cross-germinated flytraps from an internationally recognized collector in the Netherlands.  I'm excited to see if any of them mature into something amazing.  Dionaea Muscipula aka the common venus flytrap is actually very closely related to the Dosera (sundew) family.  When a bug moves into the trap if it stimulates a trigger hair twice it will close (but one trigger does nothing.)  This takes a great deal of energy from the plant, so the eye-lash shaped part on the top comes together quickly but the gaps between then close slowly before starting to digest anything.  Biologists speculate that this has been a selected trait because it allows smaller victims to escape as to not waste energy digesting a meager meal.



This Heliamphora Heterodoxa x Minor, aka Sun Pitcher, is the more primitive version of modern Sarracenia, aka American Pitcher Plants, that I didn't take any photos of today.  It has hairs pointing down all over the inside of the tube like other pitcher plants, but does not pool any liquid.  Being native to the rain forest these have a slit running down the front pitcher so no liquid accrues to dilute their mild digestive enzymes. Unlike Sarracenia most of the Heliamphora's digestive process is via symbiotic benefit from local bacteria.  


This Huernia Zebrina Magniflora arrived at my doorstep from Hungary 2 days ago.  It is still dormant, but when it flowers it will release putrizene, which is the chemical that attracts carrion birds to rotting meat.  The odor released from the flowers of this succulent, while not noticeable to humans, will attract every bug in my house to it's vicinity.  Once bugs get within 10 feet or so of the grow room the sweet aroma of my carnivores will overpower the putrizene and hopefully complete my bug removal system!


This next picture is of the mother plant my cactus came from just so you can get an idea of what the flower looks like.



There are some other not pictured carnivores in my garden that deserve some credit as well including a full spectrum of Sarracenia plants, Butterworts, and Nephentis (monkey pitchers).  Also I had been keeping a dozen cups of fragrant roses inside to help reach all of the insects in every corner of the house.  They will all move outside to be permanently in the ground this spring and the Magniflora will be completely in charge of long reach attraction.

Greg - those are beautiful!  I have always been fascinated by these plants- plants eating bugs - fabulous stuff!

Are there any that would survive outside in my area?  They would be an interesting addition to any garden!

I grow all of my carnivores indoors and have not really looked into their outdoor survival much so I don't know.  I know the Sarracenia family does well outdoors in many parts of America.  Most of my carnivores are native to jungle and tropical climates so I am pretty much experienced only with artificial environments for them.

That's something you should hit the internet up for!

Yup - I'll put it on the list of things to do!

sundew. tried doing a flytrap years ago but it died from root rot. kinds scared to put up that kind of investment again.

You sure it was rootrot?  Did you water it with tap water?

WOW.
wonderful plants and pics

Greg,

   These are too cool. Many are endemic to very small areas and so are threatened by habitat destruction. Raising awareness anywhere will help their survival. Remind people to look for artificially propagated specimens. Have you seen Sarracenia in their native habitat, such as Ohio's Cranberry Bog?

Dale,

I've seen them in public gardens in Westerville Ohio.  There is also a nursery around there with a bunch of Sarracenia regularly on sale.  

In other news, the Celeste you sent me in August was my first tree to break dormancy under the lights this winter.  :-)

Looks nice,

I might go out and buy some for myself.
It'd be nice if they eat squirrels.

Jo Ann, to answer your question about growing outdoors, I have been growing a couple pitchers and venus flytraps outdoors for a few years now. They go dormant in winter and reappear each summer. There are temperate zone and tropical carnivorous plants and a web search will quickly show you which is which. Greg, I can see that you are very serious about growing these indoors, your plants look amazing. I only grow a Butterwort indoors but am inspired to try a couple Sundews now and maybe pick up another Butterwort as well. These plants do really work well at controlling gnats as my lone Butterwort cleaned up the location I put it in in quick order. My only concern with growing them indoors is that I know they require high light and I am vey space challenged indoors as I currently grow a lot of high light plants. I'll have to squeeze them in some how. I really want to use them under my light stands but don't think the light is strong enough, only using conventional flourescents. 

Greg,

   My Celeste is growing under lights right now. I gave Mom one and it went dormant, even though she brought it in. It is now in a south window and pushing foliage (well over six feet tall). If you recall, my nephew near Jacksonville was my source, and he says his is just going into dormancy.

   I must comment again, these pictures are just too cool.

While Octopus is the expert, this is what you really want to see.  This arrived yesterday and clicking the link will take you to where I got it.  I've ordered from a few different places but these guys have sent me the best plants and have the most info on their site.  I haven't ordered from http://www.carnivorousplantnursery.com/ but the owner answers questions well.






Mine are doing well under the same fluorescent lighting I use for my baby fig trees.

Greg, I ordered my C. plants as soon as you mentioned it a couple weeks ago. I now have 8 Sundews and 2 Butterworts watching over my  figs.
I really appreciate the info you shared earlier and the pics/info in this thread. This could be the best answer yet for the fungus gnats.

Thanks for the kind words everyone!

Barry, I grow all of my carnivores under standard 4' shop lights from Lowes with 1 cool white and 1 warm white cfl bulb in each hood.  They cost about $14 per hood including bulbs and give the carnivores everything they need.

Rafed, I have heard of mature nephentis eating rats, squirrels, frogs, and birds.  



Dale, that's ridiculous that it's just going into dormancy.  Winter is almost over (if it evens counts for having started?)  

Very cool stuff...thanks for sharing..

nah i bout it when i was a kid at frankes nursay or somthing like that. it had the humiday dome on it when i bought it anfd i left it one untile the flies in the dome was gone. when i took the dome off the soil was still very moist and the plant just fell from the soil lime. happy hour plesr exuse m typing.  but it died , it was years ago. i have been looking ay sundew and picture plants alot latly.

A friend of mine took me to a state park here in the mountains of West Virginia a few months back,
There is a cranberry bog that has pitcher plant, and sundew species found only in Canada and in this one park in all of West Virginia left over from the ice age. 
I found a pitcher plant growing near the boardwalk that was nearly 18" across, It was amazing.
I used to grow carniv. plants myself 8 years ago, If I remember correctly, the Venus Flytrap orginally came from a bog in North Carolina, and grows from bulbs, they need to be watered with distilled, or rain water, and grown in sphagnum moss only. Lowes sells them for about $4.99 a small pot here.

Fungus gnats are a real, real, real pain in the butt for indoor/GH plants.

Growing those delicate carnivores-plants may be in itself a challenge - may not be so easy.

Currently, I seem to be clean of them gnats - they come back -
then comes the heavy artillery - malathion.... 

Just ordered a Giant butterwort and a couple Sundews, one was capensis I forget the others name. I'm gonna put them in small terrariums and open periodically when I see gnats. The Butterwort will just go under the light stand no terrarium and we'll see how it goes with the light. 

after seeing the other thread, i have been reading about the carnivorous plants and ordered one of those Cephalotus. i don't have gnat problem, but it seems like really cool plant to keep. seems like after learning about figs, carnivorous plants are much harder to keep and grow. it would be interesting. 

greg has been great help in pointing to right places to look for further information.

Pete, may I ask who you are geting your Cephalotus from?

Stephen Morley discovered the first Eden Black from a pack of seeds he had germinated in 1985.  As registered cultivars are, every Eden Black in existence is a genetic clone of that one, and the only one of those that has ever touched down in the US is sitting in my grow room.  :-)

Day it arrived from Europe:

After repotting but before primary pitchers/leaves fell off: 



Stephen's parent plant:

Greg, Any idea how to tame a pitcher plant that is taking over my sun room. I don't feed it and don't give it much water and haven't repotted it in years. But it just seems to keep growing anyway. 6 months ago - or there a bouts - I hacked off numerous 5 foot long "branches". I guess the darn thing loves stink bugs and those Asian ladybird beetles as the growth this thing is putting out is impressive.
Anyway you know of to slow down growth. It's in a sun room so plenty of light.
thanks
mgg