Tag: carnivorous

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Flowering Part Two.

Most of us have seen plants flower, and it can be quite exciting, especially if you don’t see this very often, or haven’t seen this before. We should think of plants flowering, as both a good thing, and a bad thing. I will explain why this is.

You have many varieties of plants that do flower, and some that don’t. However, when you do see a plant flower, in your home, it often means you are doing something to aid in making the plant reach this goal. In some instances, it can be on purpose, versus, unintentionally. If you have a grow light, which can aid in making plants flower quite easy and fast, you will see this happen very fast. For some plants, like carnivorous plants for example, look at the venus fly trap, when the plant flowers, it will result in something both good and bad.

The good first. What’s good about seeing a VFT flower, is that you will see a different phase that this plant will experience. It takes a bit for the flower stalk to form, and that results in the next section, the bad. The bad, is that when you allow the flower stalk to grow, and depending on how you are growing your VFT, it can grow very tall, or maybe a few inches tall; 2 to 3 inches tall. It doesn’t take much, but allowing the flower stalk to grow, will take away from the traps growing, especially to full size. In some instances, the traps will stop growing, or slow down significantly, until the flower stalk is removed.

Although I did discuss most of this in the previous journal, the emphasis here, is more about the use of grow lights to speed up the process. Under other conditions, natural without such use of grow lights, this will not occur as fast, unless they are by a sunny window sill, or getting enough sun light nearest to whatever window is bringing in that sunlight.
In order to have the VFT grow traps properly, you need to cut the flower stalk, but also remember, if you have a grow light, refrain from using the setting that leads to pushing flowers in plants like these. Now, it’s not to say that you can’t use the flower stalk for propagation, which you can. I haven’t been successful with this – yet, but when I am, I’ll discuss it here.

Can I say this about other carnivorous plants? Maybe. I have sundews that have this same issue, but in a slightly different set of results. The sundews I have that are flowering right now, are of the drosera spatulata variety – the spoon-leaved sundews. These I have separated in several pots, and what I see currently, for these, are most of them pushing flower stalks. Some are continuously growing, while the leaves aren’t developing dew, or are developing dew at a very slow rate. For many of the sundew plants, when the leaves develop dew, the stems holding the dew will change to a reddish color with the dew staying clear looking more like water droplets; not all of them are this way, but I’ll explain what I mean.

There are other types of sundews, like the cape sundews, where they have some that do the same as the others, while there are some species that don’t change from green to red. The dew will be the same where they appear similar to water droplets. I have the white form cape sundew, where its leaves stay green, and the stems holding the dew, stays white. The typical cape sundew, the stems will turn red around the leaves that stay green. Now, I haven’t seen the cape sundews create flowers just yet, but when I do, I’ll discuss it here.

THIS JUST IN: My cape sundews are starting to push flower stalks. It’s curly at first, but it’s likely to stretch out and show something. In its curled state, I’m still seeing some beginnings to a flower developing, so it looks like it’s going to flower on both of my capes.

Point is, the sundews may slow down their dew production, when pushing flower stalks. Some are capable of both, while others, not so much.

We also have this issue more with pitcher plants, but I haven’t seen this for myself; not yet anyway. This does not just affect the growth of pitchers, but also the development of digestive fluid in existing pitchers. When I see this, I’ll discuss what I find here.

Having flowers grow, is often a trade-off of producing dew, or traps, which can be bad on the surface. Removing the stalks can be a quick enough fix, so that we can see the plants grow like they normally would. It’s even better for propagation, if it’s possible. VFT flower stalks are good for propagation, whereas sundew or pitcher plant flower stalks may not be. This isn’t about propagation, so I’ll move on.

For some other types of plants, non-carnivorous, you may not see this problem. I haven’t come across plants other than carnivorous ones that I’ve encountered with this problem. My coleus plants seem to be just fine, and I don’t feed them anything like fertilizer either. I’ve had some tropical plants or those that are in that setting, which is my big terrarium, “the tank”, where this isn’t the case. As stated, this may be an issue with the carnivorous plants making their ability to capture prey, being compromised from producing flowers. Since I haven’t see this with other types of plants, that I know of, it’s not really a trade-off in the same way it would be for carnivorous plants.

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Hacks For (Some) Home Planting.

There are occasionally things that aren’t available all year ’round, especially if you live in an urban area such as NYC. In knowing this, there will be times where you need to be creative, or get some helpful tips from others.

This involves almost everything, especially hobbies like planting.

Oddly enough, one of the best hacks out there for plant enthusiasts, for some applications, is the pet store. I say this, because it helped me out for quite some time in the past, and should things be seen as seasonal once more, it can help you out too.

Although I really don’t like using the word, “hack”, for such instances, it seems appropriate for things like this, so I’ll just run with it.

NOTE: Although most of these can be found in their online equivalents, I’ll be focusing on stores you can walk in and out of physically, for those that still want to do it this way.

So, what are these likely hacks you can implement, should trying to find other things elsewhere become difficult? For starters, look at things like for example, finding sphagnum moss. Often, you’ll see sphagnum moss in hardware stores regularly, until the cold weather comes, and that’s when you have to improvise a bit. I got this hack when looking in a plant shop for this stuff, and they told me they didn’t have it, but before I left, that’s when I got this advice. Makes sense, because pet stores often will have sphagnum moss, but not always in large enough amounts.

What they have in pet stores, often will cost more for a small amount. For example, you may pay somewhere around $15 or so, for a package located where the reptile equipment is. Regular large bulk amounts are really only found online, all year ’round, but if you happened to be out and about, and need this right away, this is where you would go to get it fast.

To add to this, and I found this out from personal experience, this type of sphagnum moss, is more likely to be used to grow live moss, once left moist enough, for a long enough period. This will take patience, but not as long as the bulk versions normally found in hardware stores. Why? Well, another set of plant experts told me that the process is different for the types sold to pet stores, where it’s not treated as much in comparison to the other types found elsewhere. So, the likelihood of growing live moss (eventually) will happen much faster.

Let’s say you want to find certain types of food, if you have carnivorous plants, such as venus fly traps or pitcher plants (of any variety). The pet store is great for stuff like this. You can find everything from live crickets and mealworms, to dried versions of both, and more.

Since they sell lizards, fish, turtles, and so on, it’s quite easy to find something for the occasion. In fact, fish food such as dried bloodworms are perfect for carnivorous plants, but the key to feeding most carnivorous plants like venus fly traps, often come from re-hydrating these somewhat, so it’s not hard for them to consume and digest.

In regards to other carnivorous plants such as pitcher plants, that create their own liquid to digest their prey, you won’t need to re-hydrate the fish food, or other types of dried insects, and worms.

Oddly enough, another, for an odd enough reason (as far as I’m concerned), is also finding certain plants there also. I found one bamboo plant, that I separated to three plants. Only two of the three survived, because of initial placement where one didn’t adapt, but whatever – it happens. The plants seem to be thriving, and doing just fine. They are rooting quite well because of how I chose to place them. Often, these plants aren’t hard to take care of, as long as they sit in some type of clean water, they’ll be just fine. Which leads to another hack.

Finding things like pebbles, gravel, or small stones, you do find in the pet store regularly, and since most are made for being in water, for fish tanks especially, all the more reason to get some from there. It doesn’t have to be fancy, but those do exist, but usually those will be in small amounts, so if those are the kinds you are looking for, hope that they are available, and on sale. These can be useful for growing “lucky” bamboo plants, by keeping them stabilized, regardless of its shape. If you have a container that’s deep enough, and you’ll be able to fill it with pebbles or small stones and clean water, and you’ll see results over time. What results? Leaves coming out of the bamboo stalk for one. This is often a clear indication that it has rooted in that setting, and the leaves growing are often that next step. For some, flowers may come also, but it depends on the environment. (I’m saying this from my experience, but it can vary from person-to-person, if done right.)

You could also say, just look outside and pick up some small rocks. Sure, but for this, you will still have to wash, and make certain they are smooth enough to not cut the plants. With most of the pebbles, gravel, or small stones in the pet store, this is less of an issue, especially if you are using this as your primary medium for planting bamboo plants or similar ones.

Lava rocks are an option to find at pet stores also, but the problem there, is that they aren’t always easy to break apart. I’ve went through some difficulty breaking up some of these, and it’s not always easy. If this is something you want, you can go to a pet store also, but be very discerning of what types you buy. I say this, and it will save you time and money should you go this route. If you buy one type that needs to be broken apart, do so with a small piece that’s sold separately, where the smooth edges are not where you want to start chipping away at it. The under side of the rock, is where you need to chip it away with either a hammer and chisel, or some tools you’ll find in hardware stores, to chip away and get smaller pieces of lava rock. Notice I didn’t mention things like drilling or sawing, because it will lead to accidents and other problems.

Generally, lava rock is best for those that want a creative setting, but they are also good for aiding in drainage, If they are small enough pieces, and for plants rooting in humid environments. This isn’t a must, but it’s an option to look at. By the way, if the lava rock is smooth on all sides, trying to break it apart may be much harder, so hopefully this isn’t what you’ve run into, especially with a large enough stone.

Let’s say you want to maybe use some water sprayers, for large sets of plants, instead of using the typical handheld sprayers, which can take its toll on your fingers after a while, when watering large sets of plants in your home. Pet stores will have some pump sprayers available, and they are often found with other equipment for reptile care, such as terrariums. These will come in handy, especially if you have bushy plant growth in your home.

This may or may not be seen as a hack per se, but I’ll put it here because it worked for me. Fish tanks make for great alternatives to terrariums, because they are strong and hold large amounts of water. Keep them covered, and you have a great little environment for tropical plants especially. Why? It creates a humid environment where tropical plants can grow, root faster, and potentially bloom also. Many carnivorous plants do love these areas, and I know this firsthand. When I had a red dragon, it didn’t take long before seeing flower stalks surface. I’ve had other tropical plants grow fast and comfortable in that setting, and I’ve witnessed a few of them flower, and the rest spread out over time. Also, because these types of plants love humidity, their growth will be fast, and constant, and the likelihood of successful propagation there will occur more frequently as well.

Should you decide to buy a new fish tank, it can be on sale at the pet store. Some places will have a sale price for example, a 10-gallon tank for $15 (plus tax) (that’s what I paid for mine in 2022). This is if you don’t have one already sitting around in your home, and you don’t want to throw it away, or give it to someone else.

What’s also good to get from the pet store, are humidity gauges. These will be needed, especially if you have carnivorous plants and tropical plants, because monitoring humidity is a must. This is optional, but for something like a fish tank or a small terrarium, these would work best; for me they do anyway.

Right now, these are the ones that come to mind, and how they worked for me in planting, so if this helps you, then great. I just know that it saved me a bit of time and frustration, in finding certain items often discussed and/or shown by others that have these items themselves.