Venus flytrap repotting

I got my first Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) from the Cactus Jungle back in October of 2013. Strictly speaking, it was my roommate's plant, but he very quickly gave me full custodial rights. Here we are right out the beginning.

We've come a long way.

Now, I like D. muscipula as much as the next guy, but they don't excite me as much as they excite, say, the Carnivore Girl. So I've sort of ignored this guy for the last 18 months or so, but recently things have started to get ridiculous.

A brief note before we continue – it was much, much too sunny out today to take decent pictures, at least with my phone (which is, at best, a blunt instrument). I was also busy repotting and trying to not get my phone wet and covered in peat. It took some serious Photoshop to get these in even semi-workable condition. Anyway. On to the plants.

A bit crowded in here.

As you can see, things uh, went a little crazy. The Cactus Jungle gets its VFTs from tissue culture, just like almost everyone, because VFTs are really, really cheap from tissue culture. One thing that happens with TC plants is that they can clump like crazy in the first year or two. That appears to be the case with my little plant. Luckily, I had a plan.

I was excited to find this pot.

A big pot. When I first started growing carnivores I came across a photo (which I can't find at the moment) of a nice, wide pot filled entirely with beautiful Venus flytrap mouths, all red and hungry-looking. It was pretty cool, and has been a minor goal in the back of my mind ever since. I picked this pot up at California Carnivores a couple weeks ago specifically for this purpose.

First though, I had to get this thing divided.

Pretty good for a 2-inch pot.

Based on the flower stalks I guessed there were at least 10 big divisions in here. I got it out of the pot and then started spraying it gently with the "center" setting on my garden hose. This started to reveal some nice-looking rhizomes.

They were all pretty healthy.

I then sat there working them apart and hosing them off before depositing them in a bit of a bath to wait it out (I learned this bit from the Carnivore Girl – her pictures are better though).

All taking a bath.

All told there ended up being 11 big divisions and 4 or 5 very small offsets that may or may not survive the stress of repotting. In any case, things are looking much better now.

Now with some room to stretch out.

Can't wait to see what this will look like with a full growing season under its belt.

Now, in order that I not fill a post entirely with over-manipulated, ugly photos, I present for your consideration this Sarracenia oreophila, which is inviting its pollinators to play a very dangerous game.

You can never trust an oreo.

Treacherous.

A thief among the Sarracenia

I went out today to water my Sarracenia and I found a tricky thief laying in wait on Sarracenia leucophylla (Hurricane Creek, AL).

This is a lazy freeloading mantis.

It took a while for me to get a shot in focus and the little guy was getting a little antsy, so I don't have any better close ups. Hope he catches a couple snacks!

Also outside is my Venus fly-trap (Dionaea muscipula), which is all kinds of confused. It's growing a bunch of spring traps and is in flower.

A grim warning to careless insects.

Pretty cute! I should clip it before the seeds form at least.

On the one hand I'm pleased to see it looking so good, since it had kind of been sulking over the summer. On the other hand the flower stalk is draining energy from the plant (I should have clipped it), and winter is coming. Our winters are pretty mild though, and it's catching lots of prey, so I suspect it'll be fine. This is a tissue culture plant too, which might account for some of its weird behavior.

Finally, the Dionaea 'B-52' that I bought from Brie a month or so ago seems to be settling in and has a bit of new growth.

Getting settled in it seems.

Really looking forward to seeing the big time traps in spring!

Some plant progress photos

Decided to share some photos of my plants progressing and growing. It's fun! Although in the case of the VFT it's more "breaking dormancy" and less "getting more mature" but who cares. First, my mixed pot, featuring Drosera allantostigma and the mystery sundew.

Feb. 15, 2014

Apr. 7, 2014

  Sarracenia purpurea also has a few nice photos in my folder.

Jan. 28, 2014

Feb. 15, 2014

March 26, 2014

Finally, Dionaea muscipula.

Dec. 10, 2013

Apr. 3, 2014

Having a camera makes growing plants more fun. Do you have any good progress shots of your plants?

Pygmies and D. adelae

I last posted about my Drosera scorpioides a couple weeks ago. Shortly after that post I made a bit of a mistake when I removed the humidity cover over the tray with the gemmae in it and forgot to replace it for 3 days or so. I lost about a third of the plantlets, but the remainder have put on some decent size.

D. scorpioides. Those cocktail straws are being used to prop up the humidity cover.

That guy in the back is my favorite. He's doing great.

I was kicking myself when I realized  I'd killed some of my gemmae, but mistakes happen, and the rest seem to be doing fine. I'm even holding out hope that a couple of the babies that looked a bit brown are bouncing back. We'll see in another couple weeks.

On the subject of pygmies, my D. allantostigma just continues to look great. I can't wait to get gemmae out of this guy – I really want to have a whole pot of them.

I love the color contrast between the green petioles and red laminae on this D. allantostigma.

 The D. adelae that I got from NG Carnivorous Plants is also doing well. It had some serious red coloration from being right near the lights for a couple weeks, but I think I'm going to put it under some lower lights for a few weeks to see if I can get it to size up a bit. It's taken well to feeding also.

D. adelae showing some color.

 Finally, 3 of my 4 dormant Sarracenia outside have begun to break their dormancy, but I couldn't get any decent pictures yet. So until they get a bit bigger, here's a beauty shot of my VFT, happily munching on some bugs it's caught in the last week or so.

Dionaea muscipula showing its predatory prowess and a nice sun tan.

Tasty.

Outdoor things

I unexpectedly had the day off yesterday, so I decided to dedicate myself to tidying up my outdoor plants. That's mostly my cactus and succulent collection, but I also rearranged some carnivores (including moving my VFT and a small D. capensis outside, making a bit of room under my lights). It was great! I love spending a day out with my plants.

The best part of my day was putting together a display shelf for my cacti and succulents. Too many of them had been sitting the ground, too low to be appreciated and all cluttered. But now things are looking a lot nicer!

The cinderblocks and 2x4 shelf was pretty inexpensive for how much of a difference it made in my backyard.

Cacti and agaves really look nice with some backlighting. Here are a few highlights from my collection.

Agave tequilana 'Sunrise' (along with – from left – Cleistocactus tupizensis, Agave parryi var. huachucensis, Opuntia subulata monstrose), and a mixed African succulent planting..

Unidentified Mammillaria – the first blooms since I've had it.

Stenocactus crispatus, looking even more fabulous than usual.

Clockwise from back left: Euphorbia trigona, Kalanchoe eriophylla, Agave americana, Agave 'Joe Hoak', Crassula 'Moonglow', mixed Haworthia/Gasteria planter, Agave schidigera 'Shira Ito no Ohi'

I also tidied up the old display stand that my roommates made for me back in November. No more plants just abandoned on the ground!

Much like my lights, I remember when this plant stand seemed to have a lot of extra space.

In the background are my outdoor carnivores. Their digs aren't quite as fancy, but hopefully I'll be able to address that lack soon enough.

My outdoor carnivore collection is a bit slim!

These round trays are pretty inefficient in terms of water loss, but they'll have to do until I can purpose-build some more ideal trays. The green pots contain Sarracenia rhizomes I received as part of a trade a month or so ago. They haven't put out any new growth, but I'm willing to chalk that up to shipping stress. I've heard that Sarracenia can be a bit touchy after having been divided and shipped and then potted. Just gotta keep 'em wet. The other plants look pretty decent though.

S. purpurea, with new growth coloring up much more quickly in full sunlight. I took the occasion to give it a slightly bigger pot as well.

The pioneering D. capensis.

Hopefully my VFT will also color up nicely. I feel like it could also afford a repotting.

Pretty fun use of a day off, I think.

Things are growing!

It feels like Spring here in Pinkhouse, even though it will be winter for another week still. Things are budding everywhere, the wood sorrel is blooming like mad along the driveway, and the air is warm and breezy.

It also feels like spring among my carnivores, even though I know that I'm maintaining pretty constant subtropical conditions. I think since the setup is near a window, the plants are sensing a change in sunlight color and responding. Or maybe I'm just projecting. But still, it seems like everything is growing and happy.

New spring traps everywhere on the VFT.

First new growth I've seen on the Utricularia livida.

This D. aliciae is blooming so daintily.

D. capensis, on the other hand, is just going for broke.

I have yet to see a Drosera capillaris "Alabama" flower open. They must open early in the morning.

Yeah, the Drosera 'Marston Dragon' isn't really big enough yet. It needs to fill up more space.

I love how the laminae are doubly-curled like this. They seem so exciting.

Happy growing everyone! :)