FREE DELIVERY
ON ORDERS OVER R1500
Carnivorous plants need NUTRIENT DEFICIENT SOIL to grow in. In nature, they come from areas where the soil is completely void of any nutrients, which is why they have adapted to catching bugs.
You must NEVER use normal potting soil, compost, or sand from your garden as these all contain nutrients, and/or fertilizers to encourage regular plant growth, but this will burn the very sensitive roots of your carnivorous plants and kill them. Your potting media must be nutrient-free sphagnum and peat moss, mixed with either perlite, akadama stones, silica sand, lava rock, or any other such course media, depending on what your plant requires.
MOST nurseries that sell peat moss in little bags, acquire this from suppliers who mix fertilizers and additives into this peat. This is perfect for normal garden seedlings and plant cuttings, but the additives in it will kill your carnivorous plants.
I say this again, BE ABSOLUTELY SURE YOUR POTTING MEDIA DOES NOT HAVE ANY NUTRIENTS IN IT.
I sell the perfect blend of various mixes for each type of plant. I’ve sourced it from suppliers that import this specifically for this purpose. It is guaranteed safe from any additives and is of the highest quality.
This can be found under the accessories page, section and is listed in each plant category section.
Carnivorous plants are formidable hunters, and when grown outdoors, will catch all the food they need. (Light is more important than food as they get most of their energy from Photosynthesis.)
However, they will benefit from a mild foliar fertilizer spray like Novion or Seagrow, sprayed directly onto the leaves and into the pitchers once a week. REMEMBER THIS NEEDS TO BE DILUTED WITH PURE WATER AS WELL and not Tap Water 🙂
If you really cannot resist the urge to feed, drop live, fresh dead bugs or even freeze-dried bugs such as bloodworms or dried fish pellets into the pitchers. Goldfish flakes can be crushed into a rough powder and sprinkled onto the sticky bits of Sundews.
DO NOT FEED YOUR PLANTS MEAT. Some people think that because these plants eat bugs, they need protein. This is not the case. Plants eat bugs to get Nitrogen which they cannot get from the soil. Meat, or any other human food, does NOT have the required nutrients and will kill the pitchers/traps.
DO NOT FEED YOUR VENUS FLY TRAPS DEAD FOOD. The trap will close, but unless the prey continues to move inside the trap after it closes, it will simply open again. Venus Fly Traps use ALOT of energy to close, so avoid wasting this by feeding them things they cannot eat.
Refer to my blog on Venus Fly Traps and how they catch their prey.
Be careful to not over-feed your plants. If you do drop food into pitchers, only feed 1 or 2 pitchers at a time and not all of them. Also only feed 1 bug / pellet at a time. Over-feeding can result in an imbalance of nutrients (too much) and this can stress the plant.
It is natural for the pitchers and leaves to brown and die over time just like any other plant. They can only absorb so much nutrients before the pitcher or trap starts to die and that is perfectly normal. If the plant becomes unsightly, cut off the dead bits to encourage new growth.
Watch the video below on how you can safely and with ease, trim off all the dead bits on your plants.
Like the soil, the water you use must also be completely free of any additives or nutrients. I refer to this as PURE water.
I always use rainwater, however you can also use Distilled or Reverse Osmosis (R.O) water. This can be purchased at large supermarket stores which have RO units in store, or from a company called OASIS, who sell bottled RO3 water. (Click here to find a store closest to you)
Bottled Drinking water is NOT safe for plants, as these usually have salts, sugars and flavourants added to them, which will kill your plants.
Municipal water may also contain minerals and salts that are deadly to your plants. Unless you have a TDS Meter (Total Dissolved Solids Meter) that you can test your water with, try to avoid using Tap Water. (Water with a TDS reading of 50 or below is ideal).
A TDS Meter can be purchased under the Accessories Page.
Filtering water, like through one of those filter jugs, does not remove enough of the minerals and salts and again, over time, will kill your plants.
PURE IS PERFECT!
If you do run out of pure water you can use tap water in an emergency, until you can get pure water again. This is quite safe and plants can tolerate this for short periods of time. But as soon as you get pure water again, flush your pot out from the top until water pours out the bottom. Do this several times over the next few days, as this will flush out whatever nutrients have built up in the soil from the tap water.
We offer FREE WATER TESTING. So if you can, bring us a sample of water and we will happily test it for you!
Various plants require different amounts of light to thrive. There is a difference between the plant GROWING and the plant THRIVING. If your plant is looking spindly and leggy, it’s a sign that it trying to find more Sun.
FULL SUN refers to 100%, unobstructed rays of glorious wholesome sunshine. 8 hours plus a day of direct rays are a minimal requirement when FULL SUN is needed. Leaving your plant on a bright window, that gets LIGHT, is not the same as receiving SUN. Think Suntanning on a tropical beach. This is the kind of sunlight we are referring to.
PART SUN refers to when the plant gets direct morning or late afternoon sun, but is shielded from the direct mid-afternoon rays. This type of light is usually from a window or area that is exposed to the EAST or WEST and gets hit with the bright morning sunlight, or the gentle rays of the setting sun. When the sun passes directly overhead and is at its most fierce, the plant is protected and shaded. Typically the plant will receive 4 to 6 hours of sunlight.
DAPPLED SUN / FILTERED LIGHT refers to sunlight that is broken or filtered. IE the sun passes through the branches of trees or shade cloth. This kind of light is ideal for plants that need sunlight but cannot tolerate the harshness of the direct midday sun. This includes most Nepenthes and Butterworts. Plants that require PART sun can be grown under DAPPLED conditions and Vice Versa.
BRIGHT LIGHT refers to the type of light you would get from a bright windowsill which does not receive any direct sunlight, such as a North or south-facing window. Lots of light is received from the outside sun, but no direct rays ever touch the plant. This is equivalent to growing plants under the eaves on a verandah for example. Usually only Nepenthes can survive with this amount of light. But even they will benefit from some direct sun such as DAPPLED or PART sun, so BRIGHT light is not recommended for carnivorous plants.
As most carnivorous plants are bog-loving and are found in swamp-like conditions in the wild, this next bit will sound weird… But…
Do not grow your plants in too much water or they will “drown” and rot. Remember in the wild, most water sources are from flowing streams or underground water systems. As such, the roots are constantly being exposed to fresh oxygen-enriched, flowing water. When grown in pots at home, this water is stagnant as it sits in trays all day. If the pot is submerged too deeply in this water, the roots do not get exposed to the same oxygen-rich water it will get in nature, and may “drown” from lack of Oxygen.
I always keep my plants sitting in water up to 1 to 2cm deep. Never keep you pots in water deeper than 1/4 (20 to 25%) of the pot height and if possible, drain the trays and replace them with fresh water every few days. The most important part is keeping the soil at the right “wetness” levels. This is why it’s a good practice to let the tray stay dry for a day before filling it with fresh water again, as this gives the roots time to breathe.
Soil “wetness” definitions are referred to as such:
WATERLOGGED: Soil is constantly submerged in water and can be seen in the soil and on the soil surface. Your finger will be wet and water will drip from your fingertip when lifted from the top of the soil. Think of lifting a cloth from a bucket of water. Waterlogged soil has all spaces between the particles filled with water and devoid of air. Roots need air, even those growing in wetland conditions. This air in marshes or bogs is supplied by the constant FLOWING of water over its roots. This condition is achieved when the pot sits in a container of water nearly the entire depth of the pot. WATERLOGGED / SATURATED soil is NOT recommended for your plants.
Picture of Saturated / Waterlogged soil above.
WET / MOIST: Soil is constantly wet to the touch but is not drowning/saturated with water. Pots are sitting in shallow trays of water, so the soil sucks water up when needed, but does not drown the roots. When touched, your finger will show moisture signs, but no water will drip from it. Think of a cloth or a sponge being wrung out after being lifted from a bucket of water. This condition is achieved when pots sit in shallow trays of water appr 1/4 level of the pot height. This type of soil is best for Sarracenias, Sundews, Venus Fly Traps and Bladderworts.
Picture of Wet / Moist Soil Above.
DAMP: Soil retains water, but is not wet. It looks like it is just about to dry out. When you lift your finger from the top of the soil, it will only show signs of slight dampness if at all. The spaces between the soil particles will not have water in them, but there will be a water coating on and within the soil particles. Left for a day by itself, the soil will usually dry out in the top part of the pot. Think of a cloth being taken out of a washing machine after it’s been through a spin cycle. This condition is achieved when the plants are watered overhead daily and do not sit in trays of water. This type of soil is best for Nepenthes, Heliamphora, Mexican Butterworts and Cephalotus as they do not like wet feet, from being kept in trays of water, no matter how shallow.
Picture of Damp Soil Above.
Nursery visits are by arrangement only
I’d love to connect with you
Follow me on social media
Copyright © 2024 Curry's Post Carnivores & Leon Nieuwoudt - All Rights Are Reserved