Hi! I'm also new to this list. I'm currently living in the SF Bay Region
whilst I complete the thesis part of my MSc (based in Durham, UK). Hence
all my plants are being cared for back in England!
I also started off with a Venus FlyTrap, which is doing well. Mine also
grew mis-formed leaves, especially during the winter/spring months.
apparantly this is related to it hibernating. (Panel: How should I look
after during winter?)
I sowed some sundew (capensis) and saracenia (hybrid) seeds before
leaving for SF. I haven't seen them, but they are apparantly doing very
well.
> I live in San Francisco, California where it is hardly sunny, but mostly
> cloudy and cold and windy. I don't have a greenhouse nor will I
> keep the plants outside. They will be in-house. Do you know if the
> Sundew plant and the pitcher plant will grow in these conditions?
SF Cloudy, cold, windy!?!?!?!? Life is relative - SF is hot, perhaps a
bit hazy, and a little windy if you go up the hills!
Seriously, I have seen sundews living in the wild on Skye (Inner
Hebrides). This is about 56Nish. It rains every day. Is cold (even for a
hardened geologist like me) and windy. Well, you get the idea.
People do grow pitcher plants in the outside in England, so hardiness
should not be a problem.
Saracenia hybrids are usually indoor plants in the UK.
As for your more detailed questions, I'll let the panel chew on those -
I'm a beginner too! :-)
I find that the VFT attracts a lot of very small flies. One of my reasons
for getting some sundews was to reduce the numbers of these flies.
Richard