To celebrate Science Month, Fyukinta’s Flants is partnering with Monster Mama PH to bring carnivorous plants into your science classroom! We’ll be giving one lucky class a FREE set of live carnivorous plants with a grow light and care sheets so you can watch them grow and document your learnings as you take care of them.
So you’ve decided to buy your first carnivorous plant! Plants are beautiful, and carnivorous plants aren’t just gorgeous—they can actually eat bugs in a wide variety of ways. You’ve likely seen them on social media, and these interesting bug-eating plants are just the kind of thing you want to try.
What would you need to prepare for your carnivorous plant though? Let’s say you’ve read up on their needs, and you know the basics about their food, their water, and their media. Is there anything else you, the new plant parent, need to make sure they thrive?
That’s what we’re answering in this guide. After reading up on the requirements and nature of carnivorous plants, check this guide to find out how best to prepare for your plant before your carnivorous plant comes home.
We’ll cover each of these points in detail below:
• Find a grow space for your plant once it’s acclimated
• Collect rainwater
• Buy a TDS meter
• Prep a plastic water dish
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Pitcher plants, and carnivorous plants in general, are known to need sunlight to photosynthesize and grow, along with the bugs they catch for food—until N. pudica literally came to light.
However, a newly discovered species of pitcher plant challenges that need by adapting so that it doesn’t need sunlight quite the same way. This is Nepenthes pudica, a tropical pitcher plant in Indonesia that grows traps underground!
N. pudica, the underground pitcher plant
This new species was first found in North Kalimantan, an Indonesian province on the island of Borneo. Most pitcher plants grow their traps from the tips of green, photosynthesizing leaves while suspended in midair. However, N. Pudica grows underground shoots with small, white leaves devoid of chlorophyll. Its reddish pitchers are also much larger than the leaves they grow from.
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Though the Venus flytrap is very popular, it’s not necessarily the easiest plant to explain. That’s why I split the guide into two parts.
In this part, we talk about how to take care of a Venus flytrap and what you need to make sure it grows healthy.
Part 1: Need to knows
• What is a Venus flytrap?
• Propagation
• Dormancy
• Pests
Part 2: Basic care guide (You’re here!)
• Sunlight
• Water
• Planting media
• Feeding
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The Venus flytrap is arguably the most famous carnivorous plant. It’s the classic bug-eating plant Like Audrey II from The Little Shop of Horrors or the Chomper from Plants vs. Zombies, with a “mouth” and “teeth” that snap shut to trap prey. Though this carnivorous plant is popular, it’s not the easiest plant to explain.
Because there’s so much information, I split this guide into two parts:
Part 1: Need-to-knows (You’re here!)
• What is a Venus flytrap?
• Propagation
• Dormancy
• Pests
Part 2: Basic care guide
• Sunlight
• Water
• Planting media
• Feeding
Just like how Byblis is named after a Greek figure of the same name, the Venus flytrap is named after the Roman goddess of love. Its common name is Venus flytrap, and its genus is Dionaea Muscipula.
This is what “D.M.” stands for in flytrap names (for example, D.M. Maroon Monster). Dionaea refers to Aphrodite, and muscipula is Latin for mousetrap or flytrap.
Venus flytraps are small plants that grow from a white, bulb-like rhizome. Each leaf is composed of a heart-shaped petiole, and the actual “trap” at the tip is (sometimes) lined with eyelash-like cilia that cross together when the trap shuts to keep prey inside.
The trigger hairs inside the trap are sensitive enough to sense when a bug walks through but evolved only to shut when their prey moves inside. It takes a lot of energy to close a trap. In fact, a trap only has a limited number of times it can move and “eat” before it dies.
Hi, carnivorous plant enthusiast! I’m Micah, and if you’re looking for a carnivorous plant and how to take care of them in the Philippines, I can help you with my free guides!
I grow carnivorous plants like Venus flytraps (Dionaea Muscipula), sundews (drosera), byblis and more as a hobby. By sharing what I’ve learned and researched, I do my best to guide new enthusiasts who want to try raising carnivorous plants of their own too.
You can also check what carnivorous plants and gardening items I have for sale in the links below!
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Many people ask me questions about Byblis guehoi and other carnivorous plants, and it’s understandable. Carnivorous plants are fascinating and different from most houseplants—so there’s plenty to learn and discover about them. ??
Note also that some of these links lead to the items they indicate if you want to buy them yourself! Some are links to my shop, and some are affiliate links direct to my own suppliers. I only link items that I’ve tried and tested myself, so you’re assured of quality.
You can check my free care guide if you want to learn about how to grow byblis in the Philippines, but if you want to learn even more, like the kinds of byblis and if they’re safe for your pets and family, check out these 8 facts about byblis below!
Is byblis a sundew? Even though they look similar because of their sticky leaves, especially if you compare the Byblis to Drosera Indica, Byblis guehoi and the rest of its varieties are actually not sundews at all. They’re more closely related to Pinguiculas, or butterworts.
If you have trouble seeing the difference between drosera and byblis, check their stems: Byblis stems are covered in sticky mucilage, just like their leaves. Drosera indica only has mucilage on its leaves, and its stem is a plain, non-sticky stalk. Also, drosera leaves actually curl over their prey, byblis does not!
More —
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What’s the deal with Maxsea fertilizer?
Whether you’re in the Philippines or not, if you’ve been researching carnivorous plants then you’ve probably read that you’re not supposed to fertilize them. This is somewhat true.
You’re not supposed to fertilize them because they get their nutrients from the bugs they catch. However, there’s a kind of fertilizer that you can use, just in tiny amounts: Maxsea fertilizer.
It’s like a vitamin for carnivorous plants: you don’t need to use it, but when used correctly, they provide a great boost for any carnivorous plant’s growth.
This guide aims to help you understand what it is, where you can buy Maxsea fertilizer, and how to use it for your carnivorous babies.
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If you’ve tried searching for the right soil, potting mix or planting media for carnivorous plants, you’ll see a wide variety of suggestions. Coco peat, perlite, peat moss, sphagnum moss, and silica sand are just a few of the options in different guides.
However, it can be challenging to find the right planting media if you’re new to the hobby, especially in the Philippines. Many local gardening shops aren’t familiar with carnivorous plants, leading to using the wrong media—which very likely kills your plant.
This guide aims to help you understand the kinds of planting media most local growers use and identify the kinds you shouldn’t ever use. Hopefully this lets you grow your bug-eating plant babies with peace of mind. This guide also has affiliate links to my own suppliers of media on Shopee, since I don’t sell growing media myself anymore.
Please note though: this is not an exhaustive guide on planting media. This is to help newbies understand the basics and allow them to experiment on what works for them, based on my own experience and research. Everyone’s garden is different and many factors are involved when it comes to getting the best growing results, including the kind of plant you’re growing.
Venus flytraps, pinguiculas (butterworts), drosera (sundews) and nepenthes (pitcher plants) all have varying needs, and even different varieties of the same plant can have opposite needs (like Mexican vs. tropical pings). There is no universal “best media for carnivorous plants” or special formula. To really know what the best is, nothing can beat research and your own observation.
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I’m sure you’ve heard of carnivorous plants like the Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula, and I have guides for that too here and here!) or pitcher plant (Nepenthes), but you might not have heard of Byblis, the carnivorous rainbow plant.
Byblis is native to Australia, sometimes called the rainbow plant because of the way its sticky, sparkling mucilage-covered leaves and stem can look in the sun. It attracts mosquitos and fruit flies, which die after getting stuck in shimmery glue. They’re then digested by enzymes for nourishment. Byblis also grow pretty purple flowers that close in the evening and last for a few days. ?
The Latin name “Byblis” itself comes from Greek mythology: Byblis was a woman who fell in love with her twin brother Caunus. There are different versions of her story, but Byblis ultimately gets rejected. Her endless tears lead her to be transformed into a fountain, which sparkles—kind of like the plant’s sparkly goo.
What I raise in particular are called Byblis guehoi, one of the eight recognized kinds of Byblis. Though they look like sundews (drosera), which are another kind of carnivorous plant with similarly sticky leaves, Byblis are unique and more related to butterworts (pinguiculas).
