Question
carnivorous plants
I bought some carnivorous plants a year ago (not from you) and as soon as I got them I re-planted them in bigger pots and put them all in a tray with 1" of water.
They were doing fine until late summer, we had a lot of frogs and toads that were spending the nights in the water and also digging holes in the dirt of my plants. They started getting fungus and dying. What can I do about those frogs? I just bought a Venus fly trap, a sarracenia and a sundew from you yesterday and I don't want to have the same happening to my new plants.
I live in south Texas.
AnswerHi Pedro,
Frogs by themselves don't really pose a problem for these plants. At our nursery we actually encourage frogs to inhabit our Sarracenia pools. The tadpoles eat algae and the frogs eat mosquitoes. As far as I know, frogs don't harbor fungus. We haven't seen any problems with frogs among our Sarracenia.
Before we address the issue of frogs, however, we need to address the soil, water and lighting. You mentioned about repotting the plants, but you didn't state the type of soil mix you used. If you used regular garden soil or fertilizers, that might be a factor in your plants dying off.
The water also needs to be very low in minerals. If you were using tap water or well water, that might be a factor. You can use tap water ONLY if you check the mineral levels. Some cities, like Portland, Oregon, are blessed with relatively pure tap water. Other cities are not as blessed. So if your water is high in minerals, this too might be a factor.
Lighting is also a big factor in controlling fungus. Judging from your plants, it looks like they could use more direct sunlight. The Judith Hindle hybrid should be red. I don't see any red in the new leaves, which makes me think that you're growing your plants in shade. Lack of proper light intensity will weaken your plants and make them prone to fungus.
So there might be other factors that we need to address first. If possible, write back with the necessary information so I can assess your growing condition. Right now I don't have enough information.
For general information about growing carnivorous plants, visit the following links:
http://www.cobraplant.com/caresheets
http://www.cobraplant.com/podcast
Good growing!
Jacob Farin
