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Just a little note before we begin - the
following pages contain cultivation notes that were written by
me through my own experience and from reading many excellent
books. As you might now, climatic conditions may vary, so what
works for me may not work for you. Still, these general
guidelines should hold no matter what conditions you grow the
plants in. Now, don't come screaming at me if your plants die,
I did warn you! =) On the other hand, you are most welcome to
email me if you need any help with your plants. I'll be glad
to share and learn together!
The basics - Water, water, water!
Water is everything for most CPs! Many of
them grow naturally in boggy conditions, and will dehydrate in
a twinkling if you do not give them enough water. The standard
practice would be to stand the pots in water. You could use
individual saucers for this, or if you've got a lot of plants,
you can use shallow troughs or trays. One cheap idea that's
worked for me was to use polystyrene boxes (you know, the ones
they use in the market to hold fruit or fish?). These boxes
may be a little too tall, so try to get the shallow ones if
possible. I've discovered that the best places to hunt for
these shallow polystyrene boxes were near fruit vendors'
stalls. If your area has any reptile breeders, you could ask
them to point you to the right direction - these boxes are
used also for shipping animals.
The thing is, if your box is too tall, there
are just 2 things to do - either to use a polystyrene cutter
to shear off the top and leave a height of 3 inches or less,
or to place a stainless steel or plastic rack at the bottom of
the box to hold the plants up. The thing is, whatever method
you use, - trough, box or saucer - the pots should always be
standing in at least 1cm of water, or more if you can manage
it. Some plants such as Utricularia and selected Drosera
species (Drosera intermedia is one of those that like tonnes
of water) like more soggy conditions, so for these a couple of
inches will do the trick. There are exceptions to this though,
and you will find some of these in the next chapter on
"Noteworthy genera and species". Generally speaking,
Nepenthes should never be allowed to stand in water, and this
applies also to Drosophyllum too. For Cephalotus, some people
advocate watering from the top only, but I've grown mine using
both ways and see no difference.
Here you see some of my private collection
sitting on long trays of water. I bought these trays at a
local plant nursery for S$12 each, and each tray easily holds
up to 6 mature Sarracenia and more than 10 pots of Drosera or
Dionaea.
Now we're settled with the water - or are
we? Not all kinds of water should be used for CPs. Only soft
water should be used, so most tap water is a No-No for these
guys. You can either filter your tap water, add water
softener, use rain water or distilled (or Reverse-Osmosis, if
you can afford it!) water. Alas, yes. I remember 3 years ago
there was a shortage of rain water during the hot months, and
I almost got a whipping from my mom for buying tens of dollars
of distilled water just to water my plants. A note about
softening water - I personally would NOT trust using
commercial water softeners on water meant for CPs. Instead,
what many people do is to simply infuse a handful of peat in a
tub of water. The water may eventually turn a tan colour due
organic acids that leach out of the peat. I find this method
excellent - at the same time, any chlorine in the water would
have been vapourised while the water was standing. You could
also add a little Blackwater Extract, commonly used in aquaria
to soften the water. And now about rain water - you should
only collect rain water from non-polluted areas. If your area
is severely polluted and you are in dire need of water for
your CPs, I recommend collecting water only during very heavy
rains, and after letting the rain fall for perhaps half and
hour or so before collecting.
Pots that are standing in water should never
be allowed to dry out under normal circumstances, although for
Cephalotus I will only add water after the water's gone. At
the same time, many plants appreciate a washing-down of the
media by watering from the top.
Home, sweet home - Medium
With the exception of epiphytic and aquatic
species, the medium in which to grow the plants is of utmost
importance. Most, if not all, CPs require acidic soils. Peat
is almost a must in the mix, but using pure peat is hardly
recommended due to it's tendency to break down into a smelly
slimy mess when stood in water for prolonged periods of time.
Instead, I add in a mix of other inorganic media that aids in
"airing" of the peat. Some of these include: sand
(NEVER use beach sand!! White, sharp lawn sand will do),
perlite, vermiculite, small orchid bark, milled dry sphagnum
moss, whole long-fibred dry sphagnum moss and charcoal, just
to name a few. I personally use a 2:1:1 mix of peat, sand and
vermiculite for my Sarracenia, Drosera and flytraps. For
Utricularia and wet-loving Drosera, I use a 3:1 mix of peat to
sand, and for Nepenthes a mix of 1:3:1 mix of peat, sand and
perlite is used. I also like to throw in a few pieces of
orchid bark or charcoal into the Nepenthes mix as well.
Some plants, however, seem to love live
sphagnum moss. From my experience, Drosera filiformis performs
excellently in pure live sphagnum moss, and also Darlingtonia
and some Nepenthes species. Seriously, live sphagnum's got to
be the best thing that's ever existed for CPs. When in doubt,
use live sphagnum. Of course, this does not apply to plants
like Drosophyllum and tuberous Drosera - these hate too much
water around their roots. It's not a good idea to use live
sphagnum for pygmy Drosera either, since several months later
you'll discover you're growing the sphagnum instead of the
Drosera. In effect, do not plant any slow-growing plant in
live sphagnum, for the sphagnum will soon overgrow them and
smother the poor plants.
The Key To Life - Sunlight
This one varies, again, from plant to plant.
But generally, the more sunlight, the better. I grow all my
Sarracenia, Utricularis, Drosera, Byblis, Cephalotus and
Dionaea in full, direct sunlight that lasts from 9am to 4pm,
then filtered bright light (because of the tall coconut tree
at my place) from 4pm to 6pm. The exception, as you've
noticed, is Nepenthes. I grow most of my Nepenthes under a 50%
shade cloth, and leave the sun-loving Neps to climb up the
racks on their own.
After a Year's of Hard Work - Dormancy
Many CPs require a rest period during the
cold parts of a year, called dormancy. This includes all
Sarracenia (above 2 years of age), tuberous Drosera, sometimes
plants from the D.petiolaris complex, temperate Drosera like
D.filiformis, D.rotundifolia and D.intermedia, Dionaea,
Aldrovanda, some aquatic and tuberous Utricularia, and
almost all Pinguicula. Sarracenia simply die down into
rhizomes, while tuberous Drosera retreat into their famed
tubers in the middle of the Australian summer. Other Drosera
simply stop growing, and some may form modified scale-like
buds called hibernicula. This happens to Pinguicula too.
Dionaea will simply stop growing and produce very tiny leaves,
while Aldrovanda and other aquatics may form turions. During
dormancy it's important to let temperatures fall to between
0-5C, but never below freezing point. Reduce watering to
prevent rotting, and spray on a diluted solution of fungicide
if you're worried. Also, keep the plants away from light, and
when first signs of regrowth appear, gradually increase
watering each week and move the pots out towards more light.
One nice thing is that many plants will flower after dormancy,
so it's really a blessing in disguise.
More on special dormancy methods I use on growing
temperate plants in the tropics in a new section!
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