So, you've decided you want to get into carnivorous plants, or possibly you already have but have no idea what to do? I asked on My Instagram for questions you might have, and they ended up being longer than anticipated so I'm doing larger ones on their own.
Carnivorous Plants, what temperatures?
Venus Flytraps/Sarracenia (North American Pitcher Plants):
- During growing season up to 100F is fine, above you may want to give them a shade cloth, so they do not roast.
- During dormancy (winter), they want to be around 20-30F. If you go below this, you may want to bring them inside into like a basement or unheated patio area, so they do not freeze and thaw repeatedly.
Nepenthes/Heliamphora (Tropical / South American Pitcher Plants):
- Lowlands want to be kept around 85-90F daytime, 70F+ nighttime.
- Intermediates want to be kept around 80-85 daytime, 65F+ nighttime
- Highlands want to be kept around 70-75F daytime, 60F nighttime
- Most nepenthes can be grown slightly outside of these parameters, especially the high temps, they can go higher though less than ideal. Being tropical plants, they do not want to get too cold though, no matter what kind they are.
Drosera (Sundews):
- Temperate Drosera, same as Venus Flytraps / Sarracenia.
- Petiolaris Drosera (Wooly Sundews), want to be kept similar to lowland nepenthes, very warm, very humid.
- Tropical/Subtropical Drosera, most want to be kept similar to intermediate heliamphora. There are some forms that are technically highland, but I have found intermediate conditions still work and are much easier to achieve.
- Winter growing drosera, they are basically reversed of tropical. They go dormant during the warmer months, and grow during the cooler months.
Pinguicula (Butterworts):
- All pinguicula, temperate or not prefer warm conditions during growth seasons.
- Temperate pinguicula broken down into Warm and Cold temperate, will survive going much colder (similar to venus flytraps) but go dormant. Mexican pinguicula will die if they reach these colds. Keep them similar to intermediate conditions as they do not have a true dormancy. Some do have a hibernation/dry period though in which they will grow non-carnivorous leaves, but they still do not want to freeze.
Cephalotus:
- Keep similar to intermediate nepenthes for best conditions. They will survive a mild frost but the plants are very sensitive in cultivation. If you can avoid it, do so.