>Could anybody please tell me how to keep a Venus Fly Trap and a Nepenthes
>during the (European) winter? What temperatures do you recommend? What's
>about feeding?
I will mention how I keep these plants during a North American
winter.
Venus fly traps are North American plants and so are used to a
cold winter during which they go dormant. When the weather gets
cooler, my plants produce fewer and smaller traps and leaves.
I take each potted Venus fly trap, put it in a plastic bag,
and bury it in my garden. The plastic bag keeps the garden
soil away from the plant (which is potted in a different soil
altogether). I don't bury the plants very deep in the ground,
just so that the top of the pot is one or two cm below ground
level. I then put a marker stick nearby, and cover the place
with a layer of mulch. Last winter was a dreadfully cold one
here with record low temperatures. Nevertheless, my plants
survived quite nicely.
Most Nepenthes, on the other hand, cannot take a hard freeze
and usually won't thrive in low humidity (although I've heard
of exceptions). You should take your Nepenthes indoors
during the winter. If you have low humidity in the winter
then the Nepenthes can be put inside a plastic bag. In
fact, if you have a sunny window, the plant will do nicely
if you put it in a translucent white plastic bag and hang
it in the window. A clear bag will let too much light in
and the plant will cook because of the heat build-up. If
you don't have a sunny window, then you can put the plant
in a clear plastic bag under fluorescent lights. That's
what I do, and I get some of my best Nepenthes growth
during the winter under these conditions.
Good luck!
Perry Malouf