Question
Plants
I just bought a Cobra Lily, a sundew, and a red picther plant from Lowes and I need some edvice. I also bought two bags of Miracle Grow's peat moss, and one bag of Miracle Grow's perlite. I found a old aquarium and went ahead and used that. I repoted the plants in the terrerium with the peat moss, and sprinkled some perlite under the soil. There is one thing im afriad of, on the bag of peat moss it said: "Enriched with Miracle Grow Plant Food", or something like that. I know these plants cant have feriliars, so what should I do?
AnswerHi Trevor,
You're so going to hate what I have to say. I looked at your picture of your terrarium (Thanks for sending the photo; it always helps.), and it reminded me of so many terrariums like this I had as a child. I remember setting up one after another and planting them with plants I bought through mail order (no internet in those days). Each one was carefully watered and attended to, but in each case I watched as the plants slowly declined, then rotting out and die. I kept setting them up this way because that was all the literature of that time said to do, yet it never worked. Let's help make this a successful new hobby for you. It's going to require a little more money investment in the correct materials, but mostly just time and patience.
I going to deal with each plant individually since they have very different growing conditions. Here's why. The Cobra Plant (Darlingtonia californica) is native to the Siskiyou mountains of Southern Oregon and Northern California. Summers are hot, winters are cold, and they grow in cool water springs and seeps. This is the fussiest plant of your group. The Lance-leaf sundew (Drosera adelae) is native to tropical rainforests of Northern Queensland, Australia. Your "Red Pitcher Plant" is actually a pitcher plant hybrid called "Judith Hindle", a type of Sarracenia. Most Sarracenia originate from the Southeastern U.S. where summers are hot and humid and winters are cool with occasional periods of cold weather and even snow as we saw this year. They definitely experience freezing at times in nature. So, as you can see all of these plants have very different needs, and are not appropriate for growing together.
You were correct to be a little leary of the Miracle-gro soil. Most carnivorous plants are sensitive to fertilizer. You'll need to take them out of that right away. For the sundew and the Judith Hindle use a mix 1/2 peat moss to 1/2 perlite, clean sand, or pumice. Unfortunately, you won't be able to use the Miracle-gro brand for this because of the fertilizer. Peat moss needs to be purchased in bales like you see out in the outdoor gardening section of big stores. The other ingredients you just have to shop around to see if you can fine what you need without the fertilizer. If you don't seem to have any choice but the Miracle-gro brand of perlite, wash it really, really well with lots of water. The fertilizer is fairly soluble, so it can be rinsed out. The other option is just to buy some pre-mixed soil from a carnivorous plant specialty dealer on-line. Pot up the Cobra in the peat/perlite mix also, but also add about a third in volume of small orchid bark. They like a really course media.
Pot up the Cobra and Judith Hindle in roughly 5" pots. Place them in sunny windows (west or south) with water trays underneath them. They soil should always be moist, but for the winter don't keep them super wet. It's ok if the Judith Hindle has a little water in the tray, but don't let the Cobra sit in water for long periods. You will see little to no growth for the next month. After that, the plants will start sending up their first new shoots. Be sure they are in the sunniest possible window. When all danger of frost is past, they can go outside, possibly to stay for good depending on where you live in the U.S. Here are some links to more care information: http://cobraplant.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=77 http://cobraplant.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=10
You have two choices with your D. adelae. You can either pot it up and grow it as a windowsill plant also, or it is actually appropriate to be in a terrarium if set-up properly. This plant is a true tropical, so it likes the warm humid conditions, but it's not a requirement. If you do the terrarium with it, use the potting media described above, but you'll need a two-tube fluorescent light unit for the plants. It's too dangerous to try and use natural light since getting the intensity the plant needs often ends up in cooking it in an enclosure. The lights should be on a timer for a 14 hour day. In this environment the sundew will spread and take-over the tank in a few months. If you go for the windowsill, remove all of the leaves except the very fuzzy crown of the plant where new leaves from. I can tell from photo that the leaves are too weak from being in a container for a long time to survive normal conditions. Cutting those off will help the plant to recover and produce new, healthy ones. This plant also should be in a sunny window. More information on Drosera adelae can be found here: http://cobraplant.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=26
Also consider taking a look at our DVDs found on our website. They provide hands-on information that help new growers to avoid many of the common pitfalls and prevailing myths such as you've already discovered.
Good Growing!
Jeff Dallas
Sarracenia Northwest
http://www.cobraplant.com
