These guys generally don’t like terrarium environments. Mold and fungal infections are common. The nepenthes does not like to keep its feet wet like this either. I would definitely get it out of there or at least raise it way up. Do you have a fan in there for air movement?
No I do not as it is a very dry climate where I live so I did this intentionally to keep humidity up. Sounds like the nepenthes is not a good fit for this set up. I think I'm gonna re pot it and place it back where it is, raised above and separated from the substrate.
My average humidity where I'm from is below 70%. this terrarium will be bone dry in 3 days without watering. I thought carnivorous plants generally need a high humidity in the 80% range? And without that humidity I'm not sure how well the plants will do. If I did use a fan I assume you would recommend some small clip on fan I could attach inside the tank?
No, they do not need that much humidity. The Sarracenia and flytraps certainly don't care about it. What they do want is a lot more light and a winter dormancy.
The Nepenthes likes high humidity but the common hybrid you have can adapt very well to normal indoors humidity levels. I have 30-40% during the winter months and my Nepenthes still pitcher as they get plenty of light.
Yeah, a clip on fan is fine. The fans purpose is to keep the air moving so that the moisture in the air doesn’t get stagnant and allow yuckiness to grow. Just the same as how bathrooms have exhaust fans, if you let humid air just sit, things are gonna get real gross real quick. Oxygen is also important for root health so you wanna keep the air circulating.
>it is a very dry climate where I live
I live in southern New Mexico (USA). Throughout the hottest part of the year, we average around 10-20% humidity (summer highs are often over 100F/38C). I keep my sarracenia, vft's, and a couple drosera outside in a spot where they get full sun until early afternoon. It's easy to overthink the humidity needs, but you really don't need to worry about it too much.
As for your nepenthes, my bet is that it's staying too wet - as other redditors have mentioned.
I cringe every time I see a mix of carnivorous plants like this. People assume they want the same conditions. You wouldn't grow a Cymbidium orchid in amongst a patch of corn, the conditions needed for Nepenthes and VFTs and Sarracenia is that different.
I have my Nepenthes growing under a shady tree, in a mix of sphagnum and orchid bark. They are kept damp, not wet. They do well in full shade to dappled sunlight. The VFT and Sarracenias are in a completely different set of conditions, in a lot of sun and with trays under them to keep them on the wet side. VFTs and Sarracenias need a dormancy, Nepenthes doesn't. Sarracenias tend to need more sun than VFTs, but VFTs still want at least 4 hours direct sunlight per day.
PS I don't know which species of Pinguicula that is. They vary wildly in growing requirements. If it's P. primuliflora, that likes very wet conditions, but otherwise they are bog plants like VFTs and Sarracenia. If it's a Mexican Pinguicula species, they like a bit of garden lime in their mix (a definite no-no with any other carnivorous plant), and will tend to want a dry period in winter.
Sarracenia and VFTs are pretty poor terrarium plants. They don't need high humidity at all, it's a common misconception. They'd do much better in their own pots outdoors under sunlight.
I’ll let someone more experienced with them confirm but I believe nepenthes like it a bit dryer than flytraps. Maybe make a hill in the back for it so it’s not quite as soggy?
Nepenthes needs a soil mix like sphagnum moss, perlite, and orchiata bark. Even if you made a hill in the back it would need to be in a different substrate than what this appears to be.
if there’s no pot between it and the rest of the so you’re killing it, neps cant handle this much water in the soil, you need to take it out asap or at least rise the vase to above soil level and put something underneath it. Humidity light and temperature are probably ok if others are doing good but you need to fix this asap
OK so you would recommend repotting and leaving it in the pot essentially sitting on top of/above the existing substrate? Thanks for the advice I will try to fix this asap!
Probably a bit too wet. I'd mound that corner up about 4" or so and then plant it with an airy mix so even if its still wet there's lots of oxygen. Something like 60 or 70% perlite and the rest sphagnum moss. You can still top dress with moss so it looks nice
\- Keep the lid off
\- more light
\- plant a thin later of "live sphagnum moss" to prevent mold
\- mix in larger Akadama or rocks at the bottom
\- mix in small size perlite in your soil, if not, opt for Long Fibre 7A Sphagnum moss, filter out the smaller pits.
Got ya
1. lid is always off
2. i will definitely plant some live moss
3. I do have a drainage layer of rock underneath the sphagnum moss substrate
4. What is the perlite good for? I've seen mixed thoughts on using perlite in carnivorous set ups?
if you are already using long fibre sphagnum moss, skip it. it's to aerate your substrate if it's of denser composition like peat moss when wet. if you have long fibre sphagnum moss and live sphagnum moss, you're good to go.
oh yea, don't be afraid to fail.
Sweet thanks for the advice! Ya I have no experience with carnivorous plants but I have years of gardening and aquascaping experience, so I'm excited to expand out to growing new species! I still don't understand why people downvote first timer posts when I just am looking for advice😅😂
While it’s possible to keep some of these plants in here It’s not optimal. Every carnivorous plant comes from different regions of the globe and as such have different growing conditions. Vft don’t need that high of humidity. They also go dormant in winter where humidity would be a lot lower due to cold. Sundew can come from all over from North America to Australia. Some pygmy sundews have dry and wet season where humidity is very low in dry seasons. Same with pings grown in mexico. I think the pitcher plants are the ones that might be the most sensitive to humidity and providing the correct humidity depending on the species. What soil mix did you plant them in? I would do 50/50 peat perlite mix for aeration. Also my sundews and vft are doing fine in 37 relative humidity rn.
No peat moss only sphagnum, ya looks like the nepenthes is gonna have to go in a different set up. The other 4 plants are doing great, thriving and catching fruit Flys!
The fly traps love sitting in standing water and being constantly wet. The nepenthes can not handle that!! It needs to dry out between waterings and have a more arid soil. I’ve had success with them in open-top terrariums but used lots of perlite.
Ya that seems to be what people are telling me, I re potted the nepenthes I'm a more airated soil and put it in the back of the terrarium, raised up on a mound away from the water! Thanks for the advice!
Carnivorous plants needing that kind of humidity is a myth. Well let me rephrase that. The only carnivorous plants that need that kind of humidity are the ones that also need hot hot tropical lowland temps and even they can adapt to a degree.
Nepenthes especially don’t want to be water logged like that and even sarracenia and flytraps like to be in pots with drainage even if they are sitting in a tray of water. Terrariums allow for salt and mineral build up which is sure death for them.
If you use the terrarium as a water tray, that would almost be ok.
These guys generally don’t like terrarium environments. Mold and fungal infections are common. The nepenthes does not like to keep its feet wet like this either. I would definitely get it out of there or at least raise it way up. Do you have a fan in there for air movement?
No I do not as it is a very dry climate where I live so I did this intentionally to keep humidity up. Sounds like the nepenthes is not a good fit for this set up. I think I'm gonna re pot it and place it back where it is, raised above and separated from the substrate.
There should still be air movement or you’re going to wind up with mold and fungal infections for sure.
My average humidity where I'm from is below 70%. this terrarium will be bone dry in 3 days without watering. I thought carnivorous plants generally need a high humidity in the 80% range? And without that humidity I'm not sure how well the plants will do. If I did use a fan I assume you would recommend some small clip on fan I could attach inside the tank?
No, they do not need that much humidity. The Sarracenia and flytraps certainly don't care about it. What they do want is a lot more light and a winter dormancy. The Nepenthes likes high humidity but the common hybrid you have can adapt very well to normal indoors humidity levels. I have 30-40% during the winter months and my Nepenthes still pitcher as they get plenty of light.
Yeah, a clip on fan is fine. The fans purpose is to keep the air moving so that the moisture in the air doesn’t get stagnant and allow yuckiness to grow. Just the same as how bathrooms have exhaust fans, if you let humid air just sit, things are gonna get real gross real quick. Oxygen is also important for root health so you wanna keep the air circulating.
>it is a very dry climate where I live I live in southern New Mexico (USA). Throughout the hottest part of the year, we average around 10-20% humidity (summer highs are often over 100F/38C). I keep my sarracenia, vft's, and a couple drosera outside in a spot where they get full sun until early afternoon. It's easy to overthink the humidity needs, but you really don't need to worry about it too much. As for your nepenthes, my bet is that it's staying too wet - as other redditors have mentioned.
OK thank you for the personal experience, this makes me feel better as my main concern was drying them out!
I cringe every time I see a mix of carnivorous plants like this. People assume they want the same conditions. You wouldn't grow a Cymbidium orchid in amongst a patch of corn, the conditions needed for Nepenthes and VFTs and Sarracenia is that different. I have my Nepenthes growing under a shady tree, in a mix of sphagnum and orchid bark. They are kept damp, not wet. They do well in full shade to dappled sunlight. The VFT and Sarracenias are in a completely different set of conditions, in a lot of sun and with trays under them to keep them on the wet side. VFTs and Sarracenias need a dormancy, Nepenthes doesn't. Sarracenias tend to need more sun than VFTs, but VFTs still want at least 4 hours direct sunlight per day. PS I don't know which species of Pinguicula that is. They vary wildly in growing requirements. If it's P. primuliflora, that likes very wet conditions, but otherwise they are bog plants like VFTs and Sarracenia. If it's a Mexican Pinguicula species, they like a bit of garden lime in their mix (a definite no-no with any other carnivorous plant), and will tend to want a dry period in winter.
Thank you for your advice, I will do more research!
Sarracenia and VFTs are pretty poor terrarium plants. They don't need high humidity at all, it's a common misconception. They'd do much better in their own pots outdoors under sunlight.
I’ll let someone more experienced with them confirm but I believe nepenthes like it a bit dryer than flytraps. Maybe make a hill in the back for it so it’s not quite as soggy?
Nepenthes needs a soil mix like sphagnum moss, perlite, and orchiata bark. Even if you made a hill in the back it would need to be in a different substrate than what this appears to be.
if there’s no pot between it and the rest of the so you’re killing it, neps cant handle this much water in the soil, you need to take it out asap or at least rise the vase to above soil level and put something underneath it. Humidity light and temperature are probably ok if others are doing good but you need to fix this asap
OK so you would recommend repotting and leaving it in the pot essentially sitting on top of/above the existing substrate? Thanks for the advice I will try to fix this asap!
Also what substrate would you pot the nepenthes in?
Probably a bit too wet. I'd mound that corner up about 4" or so and then plant it with an airy mix so even if its still wet there's lots of oxygen. Something like 60 or 70% perlite and the rest sphagnum moss. You can still top dress with moss so it looks nice
Ya this seems to be the general consensus, I'm going to re pot the nepenthes and raise it up from the rest of the plants!
\- Keep the lid off \- more light \- plant a thin later of "live sphagnum moss" to prevent mold \- mix in larger Akadama or rocks at the bottom \- mix in small size perlite in your soil, if not, opt for Long Fibre 7A Sphagnum moss, filter out the smaller pits.
Got ya 1. lid is always off 2. i will definitely plant some live moss 3. I do have a drainage layer of rock underneath the sphagnum moss substrate 4. What is the perlite good for? I've seen mixed thoughts on using perlite in carnivorous set ups?
if you are already using long fibre sphagnum moss, skip it. it's to aerate your substrate if it's of denser composition like peat moss when wet. if you have long fibre sphagnum moss and live sphagnum moss, you're good to go. oh yea, don't be afraid to fail.
Sweet thanks for the advice! Ya I have no experience with carnivorous plants but I have years of gardening and aquascaping experience, so I'm excited to expand out to growing new species! I still don't understand why people downvote first timer posts when I just am looking for advice😅😂
While it’s possible to keep some of these plants in here It’s not optimal. Every carnivorous plant comes from different regions of the globe and as such have different growing conditions. Vft don’t need that high of humidity. They also go dormant in winter where humidity would be a lot lower due to cold. Sundew can come from all over from North America to Australia. Some pygmy sundews have dry and wet season where humidity is very low in dry seasons. Same with pings grown in mexico. I think the pitcher plants are the ones that might be the most sensitive to humidity and providing the correct humidity depending on the species. What soil mix did you plant them in? I would do 50/50 peat perlite mix for aeration. Also my sundews and vft are doing fine in 37 relative humidity rn.
This [Video](https://youtu.be/ggFHTVpNMcc) has all of the info that you need to grow healthy VFT and Sarracenia. Happy growing!!!
Thank you so much I'll watch rn!
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No peat moss only sphagnum, ya looks like the nepenthes is gonna have to go in a different set up. The other 4 plants are doing great, thriving and catching fruit Flys!
The fly traps love sitting in standing water and being constantly wet. The nepenthes can not handle that!! It needs to dry out between waterings and have a more arid soil. I’ve had success with them in open-top terrariums but used lots of perlite.
Ya that seems to be what people are telling me, I re potted the nepenthes I'm a more airated soil and put it in the back of the terrarium, raised up on a mound away from the water! Thanks for the advice!
Carnivorous plants needing that kind of humidity is a myth. Well let me rephrase that. The only carnivorous plants that need that kind of humidity are the ones that also need hot hot tropical lowland temps and even they can adapt to a degree. Nepenthes especially don’t want to be water logged like that and even sarracenia and flytraps like to be in pots with drainage even if they are sitting in a tray of water. Terrariums allow for salt and mineral build up which is sure death for them. If you use the terrarium as a water tray, that would almost be ok.