My name is Steve Klitzing and I'm a new subscriber to the
carnivorous plants group. I currently do not have any
carnivorous plants, but, once I get my greenhouse built this
summer, I'm going to start growing them again.
I think carnivorous plants are cool. About 12 years ago, I used
to grow them on my windowsill. I had a Cephalotus Follicularis
plant that grew a beautiful rosette of sharp-toothed pitcher
traps. I didn't have a greenhouse, so to increase the humidity,
I grew it inside a giant plastic Pepsi bottle. It was a great
environment.
I also grew Venus Flytraps and got them to flower.
And, I grew my favorite carnivorous plant...Nepenthes.
I bought several baby Nepenthes Khasiana from Peter Paul's
Nursery in N.Y. They thrived. I used to feed them ants.
However, I fed one plant flies, and I ended up with some
crawly worm that starting eating the pitchers.
And, I even started some Nepenthes Khasiana from seed. I got
the seed from Park's Seed and Nursery. Very few germinated,
but the ones that did apparently fell down the side of a
clear plastic pot (the non-sunny side), and germinated just
fine. It was amazing watching these plants grow from
the sprout stage, to tiny leaf stage, and then watch them form
their first pinhead sized pitchers.
I also grew a couple Droseras. I tried Cobra Lily's (Darlingtonia
Californica) but couldn't keep them alive for more than a few
months. And I had one purple pitcher plant, a Sarracenia.
Well, that was a long time ago. Now that I finally have a back
yard, and soon a greenhouse, I'm going to start collecting them
again...especially Nepenthes. I'm a fanatic for carnivorous
plants! What I need most is to find sources for these plants.
I get a kick out of growing them from seed, and from seedling
plants. Is there a society I can join? Are there any groups
that exchange seed, cuttings, seedlings?
---Steve