#carnivourousplant

[maumoraart]

Another older art that I'm still very happy of, Poison Ivy !

[sleepy-bebby]

[carnivorous-plant-propaganda]

I just realized I haven't actually told all of you the wonderful variety that carnivorous plants can have! So many different styles and methods of catching their prey!!!

First, pitcher plants

They can come in all different shapes and sizes, but their goal is mostly all the same; attract insects by one method or another, get them to fall into the pitcher fluid, and extract the nutrients inside.

Sundews

have a lot of variety in the shape of their petioles (the leaf like structures with the sticky droplets on them) but most function essentially the same, attract bug, get bug stuck on the sticky glue on the ends of the many small hairs on the petioles, then excrete digestive fluid to extract the nutrients.

Venus flytrap

are the only species in its genus, so from standard plants there isn't much variety, but there are breeders out there who've made some weird looking plants if you're interested in looking it up.

These beauties have trigger hairs on the inside of each of the lobes of the trap, and if multiple trigger hairs are pressed within a few seconds of each other or the same hair is pressed twice, the trap closes, trapping the bug inside. then, digestive fluids are excreted, nutrients are extracted, and the trap re-opens to allow the insect carcass fall out or fly away in the wind.

There are many more kinds of carnivorous plants I'm excited to talk about one day, but in essence the goal of them all is to

-attract an insect

-capture the insect

-extract the nutrients from the insect

:)

[clovers-carnivores]

its summer!!! and there is so much new growth on the carnivorous plants in my greenhouse (: (ft. one random orchid)

[biologist4ever]

[kelpermoosee]

Some portfolio pieces I’ve been waiting to post! :)

[greenambient]

[eva-soulu]

An illustration I did for Visions of Zumea RPG.

[razzmons]

Meet Mothman & his Curio Cart of Oddities & Peculiars, my entry for our Spooky Candy Cart competition at @klutzcertified . I love him & all his tiny little goodies so much.

Follow him on Instagram at MothmanOddities

[kiabugboy]

Nepenthes campanulata potted vs wild version growing in their natural limestone cliff habitat

[aesthetic--mood]

Morticia Addams Aesthetic

[sempergrower]

Carnivorous plants from space 👽👾🛸

[fixaidea]

Plants for the chronic over-waterer

So you’ll often see guides and rec-lists for plants that require little water and attention, and just generally ‘thrive on neglect’. But what about us anxious, hovering plant people whose most common way of accidentally offing a plant is by over-loving and over-watering them?

(Before we get into it, let me preface this by the usual disclaimer: a plant’s water needs wildly depend on its environment. I live in the continental temperate zone of Europe, the average humidity level inside is 30-40%, so what I write may or may not apply to your conditions. Watch your plants closely - if you’re reading this post I know you would anyway - and proceed accordingly.)

Look no further, here’s a list of plants that are virtually impossible to over-water:

Fittonia sp.

Fittonia are extreme divas in room conditions but perfect angels in a terrarium. They will not tolerate a missed watering day, they’ll immediately start to droop. If you’re lucky and you catch them in time they’ll perk up and go on like nothing happened, but the margin between this and irrevocable crisping is a slim one.

Ferns in general

Of course the details of care depend on the species, but most ferns prefer shade and hate to dry out. I usually water all of mine twice a week, and so far they are doing okay.

Dionaea muscipula - Venus flytrap (and most carnivorous plants)

Plants usually resort to eating animals when they live in bogs, where the soil is acidic and extremely poor in nutrients. What bogs also are, is wet, and so these plants need to literally stand in a pool of water all day, every day and are therefore quite literally impossible to over-water. (At least in the summer. Over-wintering depends on whether the plant is temperate or tropical.)

The only downside is that they are really sensitive to water quality. No minerals (and no fertilizer!) allowed, only rain or distilled water!

Marantha leuconeura

Honestly I’d say the entire Maranthaceae counts, but I only have experience with Marantha, and I’m told the rest (like Calathea) are more difficult. These, once you get the water right (twice a week for me), aren’t that bad. They don’t need a lot of light either.

What you do have to keep in mind, is to give them soft water - like collected rain water. They are sensitive to the minerals in the tap water and since they can’t properly secrete them, they’ll store them away in the tips of their leaves, which will thus crisp up.

Jewel orchids

The one I have (Macodes petola) does well in a shadier spot, in normal room conditions. I mean I do run a humidifier once a day, but it’s not in a terrarium. It’d do well in one though, so if you’re looking to furnish a terrarium, this is a good choice. The only thing you gotta keep in mind if you keep it out in your room is to always keep the soil moist.

Mimosa pudica

This is a fun and interesting plant, what with the cute moving leaves, but it is the divaest of all divas. On a sunny, dry summer day it may have to be watered twice a day, and it’ll go into hysterics, crisp up and throw leaves if you’re late by five minutes. The good news is that as long as you do get around to watering it, it’ll bring new shoots and keep growing, it’ll just litter your room with dead leaves in protest.

It also prefers lots of light.

Spathipyllum sp. - Peace Lily

Like ferns, these do well in shadier spots. If exposed to too much light, they’ll keep bringing small, light green leaves, but they’ll flower regularly. (They feel like their lives are in danger so they hurry to procreate before the end.) In the winter they need to be watered about once a week, in the summer more like every two days.

The nice thing about them is that they are very vocal about their needs but, unlike the Mimosa and the Fittonia, don’t immediately, irrevocably crisp up, they’ll just droop. Water them and they’ll perk right back up.

[carnivorous-plant-propaganda]

No room for a pet? Allergic to fur? Bored of normal plants the just sit there? I have a solution for you!

Carnivorous plants!!!

So, you might be asking yourself, I'm interested. Why should I get a carnivorous plant?

-Once you've got them all set, they're very easy to care for!

-Reduce bug population in your house if you grow them inside

-You can grow then inside or outside depending on your climate

-they're really fascinating

Get one!! they're so cool!

[clovers-carnivores]

Nepenthes X lady pauline (maxima x talangensis)

[biologist4ever]