Carnivorous plants

[sTs9JaMs]

How about a thread of some cool looking, meat eating plants?
Here's a good old venus fly trap.

 

[ACSAPA]

Awesome. What a great thread idea. I think carnivorous plants are cool and interesting. I imagine owning one would be like having a combination of a pet and a plant. I wonder if they're hard to take care of. Anyway, here's a lovely photo I found on Pinterest of a grouping of various carnivorous plants.

 

[ACSAPA]

How gorgeous are these carnivorous pitcher plants?

This pitcher plant almost looks fleshy, like an organ of the body or something. I saw some photos of a Venus flytrap eating a frog, but I didn't post them because other reptile and amphibian fans like me might find them sad.

 

[claudine]

I think they're scary. They look very exotic and they're often colorful but I wouldn't like to grow them. I feel so sorry for these poor insects, I couldn't watch them being killed. Carnivorous plants creep me out.

 

[Tmann]

Addy who is a member on here has a carnvorous bog she put in several years ago.

Here is a link to a thread on carnivorous plants
https://www.gardening-forums.com/threads/carnivorous-bog-plants.57/

 

[Mela]

I agree with Claudine. I think they look magnificent, but I wouldn't grow them. I like the idea of creating and nurturing life, not killing.

 

[Rzashida]

I agree with Claudine. I think they look magnificent, but I wouldn't grow them. I like the idea of creating and nurturing life, not killing.

You're so sweet, I've grown a pitcher plant, sundew and Venus fly trap. I purposely put a caterpillar that was eating my greens into the pitcher plant, and it chew right thew it and escaped. Lesson learned , I love nature but I have no tolerance for Mosquitos, ticks, flies or maggots.

 

[Scerakor]

I was meandering in the nursery this weekend and came across, for the first time, a venus flytrap plant being sold for only $6.99. I ended up not buying it since I had no idea what I'd be able to do with it or how to take care of it! I stood there mesmerized for several minutes trying to convince myself to go ahead and buy it. Too bad. What have your guys' experiences been owning a carnivorous plant and has it been noticeably different for you than with any other kind of plant?

 

[orclev]

I would love to have some carnivorous plants! I've always thought they were amazing to look at. I had a few Venus fly traps when I was a kid, but I always managed to kill them. They seem to be a bit tricky to take care of, since they come from tropical environments and need more heat and humidity than maybe most people have where they live, but I'm sure there are ways around that.

 

[Lilley1]

Carnivorous plants are quite extraordinary in more ways than we can imagine. I admit that it is sad for they kill innocent insects but I feel its better than using insecticides or a light that zaps them.

Venus Fly traps are used for treating cancer. Even though it may cure your cancer or be used as a substiture for radiation and chemo, it may also have some serious side effects. I've posted the like (below) in case anyone is interested in reading more about the way the Venus Fly Trap is used for cancer.

http://www.cancer.org/treatment/tre...itaminsandminerals/venus-flytrap?sitearea=ETO

I recently bought a Venus Fly Trap. I haven't seen it eat a fly yet and I'm not entirely sure how it works. Here is a picture of my little guy....

 

[Trellum]

Just awesome! I'd love to have a venus fly trap plant! Where do you guys think I could get it?? It'd be awesome to see it in action eating a couple of flies here and there To be honest, I thought that kind of plants didn't even exist, I thought they were just a cartoon thing.

 

[Gina145]

I've seen venus fly traps for sale and have been tempted, but I haven't bought one yet as I've already got more plants than I can cope with. Maybe one day.

I agree with Claudine. I think they look magnificent, but I wouldn't grow them. I like the idea of creating and nurturing life, not killing.

Carnivorous plants are part of nature's plan, so this doesn't bother me. I just wish they'd eat the real garden pests instead of insects that are harmless.

 

[ChanellG]

I've seen venus fly traps for sale and have been tempted, but I haven't bought one yet as I've already got more plants than I can cope with. Maybe one day.

Carnivorous plants are part of nature's plan, so this doesn't bother me. I just wish they'd eat the real garden pests instead of insects that are harmless.

I have only ever seen growing kits. I would love to get a one of these to keep near my door. I would hope it didn't get any beneficial bugs, but if I could think of a way to attract mosquitoes to it, I'd plant an entire row of them along side my house. My only concern would be proper care for the plant.

 

[Steve Denning]

Interestingly, the ancient forms of Broccoli, Cauliflower and cabbage were all carniverous in some form or other. Broccoli and cauliflower would trap insects in their flowers, while cabbages worked like a venus fly-trap and snapped shut on insects. Brussel Sprouts also used to trap insects. In the wild it was reported that they grew up to 6 feet in height, which meant they needed a lot more nutrients than they could get from the land alone. It seems that as we started to breed these plants (before the Roman and Greek eras) these tendencies either died out or were bred out in favour of the plants we see today.

I have a picture in my head now of stone-age cabbages stalking the land and eating unwary dinosaurs! Check this link for more information.

 

[ChanellG]

Interestingly, the ancient forms of Broccoli, Cauliflower and cabbage were all carniverous in some form or other.

Now there's a scary thought, lol! This is news to me, but then I am no expert in cruciferous vegetables. It seems a bit unlikely though; How would a plant "evolve" from eating something to merely absorbing nutrients? And if science/history doesn't know when the change occurred, how would it know that it happened?