Question
Hello, I live in Alabama which has great summer humidity and heat. I have a twenty-five gallon aquarium and a five gallon aquarium. I want to plant each of them with a variety of carnivorous plants--flytraps, sundews, and pitchers.  I want to actually plant them in the medium not leave them in pots. I hope to crate a natural looking beautiful display to enjoy. Can you give me a simple planting layout that has a variety of carnivorous plant species. Plants that can live and grow happily together in a "communal" planting. Also, what type bulb should I purchase for the aquarium hoods.

Answer
Hi Amy,

The carnivorous plants that you're considering planting in an indoor terrarium will not do well in those conditions.  Venus fly traps, most sundews and sarracenia (North American pitcher plants) all require strong light and seasonal changes.  There are some species of carnivorous plants, such as Cephalotus and Pinguicula, which do much better indoors.  But trying to grow most carnivorous plants in a terrarium will result in sickly or dead plants.  They do best when grown outdoors in full sun or in a greenhouse.

For more information and suggestions for plants to put in a terrarium, I recommend joining the FlytrapCare forums and conversing with other terrarium growers there:
http://www.flytrapcare.com/phpBB3/

Good growing!
Matt Miller
FlytrapStore.com