(Part 3) Top products from r/SavageGarden

Sorry about the length of the post but this is information I wish someone had given me when I was starting. Hopefully it's not too basic.

I am by no means an expert but I can walk you through my trial and error period (which I am certainly not finished with) for terrariums. I don't know that I'll be able to help with the nepenthes though discussion in this thread indicates that humidity is key for those plants. I am seriously limited on space where I currently live so I've developed a setup that seems to work for my plants, though it's not ideal for all of them.

Initially I had been growing my plants on a windowsill but this summer I moved to a location that has proper shading over the windows (great for people, terrible for plants) so I needed to migrate to a terrarium. I started caring for plants in May so I didn't really know what I was doing. If you haven't already, I recommend purchasing The Savage Garden: Cultivation Carnivorous Plants by Peter D'Amato. It's a great introductory book with lots of useful information about growing and indoor/outdoor setups. You can find it on Amazon for a moderate price.

I ended up purchasing a 10 gallon aquarium from PetSmart or PetCo for something like 30 dollars. The box was damaged so I got it for cheaper than whatever it was listed for. Those come with a water heater for fish which you can place in a bottle of water inside the aquarium to increase humidity if needed. I then bought some Plexiglas and melted holes in it with a soldering iron for ventilation. I used that instead of the lid the aquarium came with so I could use more lights if I needed to. I mostly have sundews so I opted for a 2' t5 light set up which can get pretty toasty, but my sundews loved it and it got very humid inside. I use four of these lights for ~5000 lumen output. You would probably want to go with t8 lights as they operate at a lower temperature. Do not purchase lights branded as "growlights" as they are almost always more expensive than similar lights and will not last as long as something from Phillips or GE. Like UseUrLogic said, use lights with a color temperature of 6500 K or higher. I find that 6500 K is the easiest to find and work fine.

I do have two flytraps and they were not happy in the aquarium, but they were still growing. I imagine one of them would have died had I left them in such a humid environment for any longer. I then moved again and needed a new setup, since I didn't want to kill the traps. I'm now doing something like this but much more jerry-rigged. My plants seem to like it though. You might consider something like this as my flytraps love it too. I'm going to try taking them outside soon in an attempt to have them go through natural dormancy. I may just give in and try fridge dormancy though I have heard mixed results.

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I was bored so I looked up some information that may be useful to you when deciding what to do with your plants. Most of the is from The Savage Garden.

It behooves you to find out what your pings are, as different species can have radically different growth requirements. Consider posting images here or on the ICP forums if you can't ID them yourself. Here is what Peter says about pings in terrariums: "Forget temperate varieties here. some warm temperates do nicely, sich as P. lusitanica, P.caerulea, and P. primuliflora, but do best with cooler winters. Most of the Mexican species thrive under grow-lights, in a tank or not, at room temperature. Use the pot-and-saucer method to allow for drier winter conditions."

For the cephalotus he says "Excellent as a potted specimen year round in the unheated greenhouse-style terrarium. Colorful and vigorous under grow-lights." He also says it should be fine on a partly sunny windowsill in relatively high humidity and that you should mist it often.

The Nepenthes maxima (Highland Nep.) is apparently a good terrarium plant and easy to grow, though it likes good air circulation and misting at night. The truncata is a lowland variety and apparently will do well in a steamy terrarium. Both of these varieties will eventually outgrow all but very large terrariums.

The only plant you own that I have personal experience with, other than the flytraps, is D. Aliciae. Unfortunately I overfed mine shortly after getting it an it died back to the root. It's coming back now but it won't be as big as it was before for a least another two months. I've found that it's a pretty hardy little plant. It can handle temperatures of up to 95°F and down to ~40°F (though that's pushing it). I currently grow mine at ~85°F. It doesn't need much humidity at all (I was growing it in 50% and it's now doing quite well in about 35-40% rh) but growsundews.com recommends humidity over 60%.

Good luck with the plants!

TL;DR "UseUrLogic" is correct in that you will not be able to keep them all in the same terrarium. You may be able to start with all but the flytraps in but then I recommend migrating the pitchers to windowsills and misting often. Try to find out what the pings are. Maybe consider a setup similar to Bisnick's as it will accommodate your pitchers even when they are larger, though it will require a larger light setup.

EDIT: Units were incorrect.

Ha, the wonders of Reddit!

I haven't ever dealt with spider mites on my CPs but there's a palm in my office that's loaded with them.

Neem oil is generally CP safe even if you get it on the soil. In case it does get in the soil, though, I'd recommend mixing the solution using the same water you use to water your plants, just in case.

Monterey LG6140 should be acceptable for your purposes if you mix it according to the instructions on the bottle. You'll want to make sure you get it on the underside of the leaves, too, as the neem has to make contact with the buggers to do its thing. For this, I recommend getting a handheld pump sprayer as it'll put out a nice fine mist.

One thing to note is that neem isn't a one-and-done solution. You'll need to follow up with reapplications every week or two until you notice the problem subside.

More info on this site, which I've used as my bible for a lot of my CP-growing activities: http://www.growsundews.com/neem_oil.html

Here's what I posted previously, hopefully this helps! Once I situated them, I've pretty much ignored them except for watering.

I'm using Hoffman Horticultural Perlite, without the miracle grow: found here and Better-Gro Premium Grade Orchid Moss: found here for my mixture. I got them local, but found the links to the specific items on Amazon. Neither has any plant food additives and are nutrientless for the VFT. This is my second time having some. I let the moss soak in distilled water before I mixed portions in a bowl until I felt there was enough perlite in it. They sit in a decorative glass jar inside a medium size open top terrarium next to a window. However, because my other plants weren't doing well at the window, I bought and installed this LED Plant Grow Light for Hydroponic Gardening: found here, but from what I understand I could also use my flex strip LED lights on blue and violet to give my VFT the right amount of light.

I have the light scheduled to turn on at 8 am, shut off at 6 pm through my Alexa devices.

Tips: I've found they grow better in a container that is deeper than it wide. Mine are watered gently from the top along the edges with distilled water, just enough to keep the moss wet. Since May the dead moss apparently has new growth from seeds or whatnot in the mix, so those are growing in there with the VFT too. :)

As others have said your plant is living but not thriving. They CAN be house plants with a little help. I reccomend setting it in a container of water that pretty much stays water logged. I'd wait until the container empties and then fill it up again. The roots do appreciate oxygen. I would also reccomend a little supplemental lighting. Something like this https://www.amazon.com/Hydrofarm-FLF27D-Desktop-Plant-27-Watt/dp/B008UZJQMA/ref=mp_s_a_1_9?adgrpid=55268324319&hvadid=274697981880&hvdev=m&hvlocphy=9012307&hvnetw=g&hvpos=1t2&hvqmt=e&hvrand=3528631283533194238&hvtargid=kwd-302644940824&keywords=desk+plant+light&qid=1554253221&s=gateway&sr=8-9 on a timer. During the colder months set it outside for 3 or so months and then bring it back in. Your plant will not stay healthy without dormancy.

I got it from an Amazon seller with good reviews. Hirt's Gardens

Asian Pitcher Plant - Nepenthes - Carnivorous - Exotic - 6" Hanging Basket https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000N1AJ2A/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_vF73yb8MWTWFB

I was actually hoping somebody here could help me identify the actual species.

I use this. It works great and cheap. Easy to set up. 0 TDS coming out of it.

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00204CQF6/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Cool! I was looking at the 2' version of those, any recommendations for electrical timers? (Does the brand usually matter?) I was also looking at a smaller bulb that was 24 watt, more like a basking light for a reptile as I have some extra like this one

I've used this one
http://www.amazon.com/Vicks-Warm-Mist-Humidifier-Shut-Off/dp/B001FWXKTA/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1453472997&sr=8-3&keywords=vaporizer

and this one
http://www.amazon.com/Honeywell-HWM705B-Filter-Moisture-Humidifier/dp/B00JP6HQBG/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&qid=1453472997&sr=8-14&keywords=vaporizer

Any of that type will work, I just grab what ever is cheapest when I'm buying them. Pretty sure they all come out of the same factory somewhere. ;p

I use a full spectrum CFL! This one to be exact. I'm happy with it so far, so fingers crossed.

these work really good also when you need to move water with less effort.

I bought sundew seeds from this seller and now I have over hundred tiny sundews :)

https://www.amazon.de/TROPICA-Sonnentau-capensis-inklusive-Kultursubstrat/dp/B00200OG9E/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?__mk_de_DE=ÅMÅZÕÑ&qid=1550312642&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=tropica+sonnentau&dpPl=1&dpID=51uheOVD0IL&ref=plSrch

https://www.amazon.com/Large-Composting-Tumbler-Rotating-Composter/dp/B07XDF2PGV/ref=mp_s_a_1_1_sspa?adgrpid=58678071320&gclid=Cj0KCQjwoKzsBRC5ARIsAITcwXFwJLhp_rSnQDwI72oFoOdI1dr7t87y8UVmC15eBDDrRZq1NCiY0ZcaAvpoEALw_wcB&hvadid=274811034632&hvdev=m&hvlocphy=9013118&hvnetw=g&hvpos=1t1&hvqmt=e&hvrand=1834228954907132894&hvtargid=kwd-301078584894&hydadcr=14887_10218909&keywords=composters+tumblers&qid=1569419753&s=home-garden&sr=1-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUE4NUdITUVENjlUQzAmZW5jcnlwdGVkSWQ9QTA4NzM5MDk0TkxJV01MMDFDMFEmZW5jcnlwdGVkQWRJZD1BMDk3NDY5NzIxR1RLN1EyMFZFWVcmd2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9waG9uZV9zZWFyY2hfYXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==
Something like this?

There is a product by a company called zoomed. They make products for reptiles. They have a thermostat that has a photo sensor. This allows you to have a different temperature set for day vs night. It also will control a humidifier of you want that functionality.

Here is a link on Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-HygroTherm-Temperature-Controller/dp/B0019IHK9Q

I use these for my planted aquariums.

Cheap and easy, and very reliable. The only time they've ever messed up is when my cat walked across it and pushed some of the pegs down.

Also they're analog so if the power ever goes out I know for how long it was out for by how far off the timers are.

I see, my apartment is similar in that regard however I have my big planter hanging on the outside of a window with something like this. I also grabbed one of these that I use to set everything else on my small porch.

I got a slightly fancier version. It's totally worth it for me since my tap water tastes terrible.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B003XELTTG?pc_redir=1412571038&robot_redir=1

Sorry for mobile link. I highly recommend RO systems for serious growers. (Or in my case, serious beer brewers)

I did a bunch of research and decided for the least hassle in terms of fungicide, miticide, and insecticide, the Bayer 3-in-1 would be effective, both for treating current problems and providing preventative measures. You might need to do some research on how to apply it to sundews though

I used them probably one week after I got my two starter flytraps, It's been about 10 days since I sprayed them, no issues!

https://www.amazon.com/Bayer-Advanced-Disease-Control-32-Ounce/dp/B000WEMIS6/

Overnight CO2 bag.

Aphids breath oxygen (O2) and with suffocate in carbon-dioxide (CO2). Plants however, are the opposite and will not be harmed.

• Put your plants and one of these in a small container like a bin you can seal or even a fish tank.
  
• Make sure it's airtight bar one small hole at the top.
  
• Open the valve on the CO2 so it slowly fills the container. The release speed should almost be able to blow out a lighter but not quite. CO2 is heaver than O2 so the oxygen will be pushed out the top and the carbon-dioxide will fill the container from the bottom up so point the airflow sideways.
  
• When the CO2 canister is empty, plug vent hole and go to bed.
  
• Pack up in the morning as everything but the plants should be dead.
  
  This has never failed for me with other plants.

Those are terrible (they run very hot and have poor spectrum) -- get something like this: https://smile.amazon.com/GLW-Waterproof-Daylight-Security-Equivalent/dp/B008XZAPV8/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1549495351&sr=8-5

I usually keep the humidity high enough that they tiniest pitchers even have fluid, and feed the the pellets whole, as I think that they will drop to the bottom of the trap. If I crushed them they might stick to the sides and mold. I usually use a single led diode on a battery to see though the pitcher walls, and if there is any fluid. It wouldn't be a bad idea to add a few drops of water to a Sarracenia seeding's pitchers, a lot of people use these things to add water/feed fertilizer to many pitcher-type carnivores: https://www.amazon.com/Ezy-Care-Dental-Irrigating-Syringe/dp/B000FQ5N1A/ref=pd_lpo_194_lp_t_4?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=17D2K13N49DH57PD4M38