Opinions on most showy plants

[cory]

Hey all,

I wanted to get some opinions on the most showy cp's for the terrarium I am setting up at the university. I'm looking for plants with vibrant colors, awesome size, and suitable architecture for a 300 gallon tank.

Happy posting!

~Cory

[Aidan]

Thread moved to Indoor Growing Board

[BarryRice]

Hey Cory,

Well....you're going to have to give us a little more information on your restrictions, because the field is kind of wide open. Nepenthes villosa is dang nice, but unlikely you can grow it unless you have a very specialized situation.

So, what are you envisioning? A "planted terrarium"? If so, you'll want to avoid invasive species like the dreaded D. binata. Separate pots? If so, then you'd want to include the marvelous D. binata!

So tell us more.

Barry

[glider14]

not many things can beat N. truncata or N. raffelsiana. awesome size dosent always mean big either make a pygmy sundew landscape!
Alex

[jm82792]

I am making a pygmy drosera landscape with my gemmae from scorpoides(looking for other gemmae) in a very(1.5 feet across) large bowl if you wanted to do a Australia thing you could do that . Then in another large container a mexican ping container for mexican CPs. You could do several micro habitats.

[Brian Barnes]

Hi Cory. You may want to add some related non-CP bog genera with your terrarium,(just a few)...I've found that it compliments CP nicely in a bog type growing scene. Kind of like your own personal complete living chunk of a natural bog!

[nepenthesfreak]

I could recommend Nepenthes ampuaria. It stays small, likes warm, humid conditions which are easy to provide in a terrarium, and it's very showy. The only problem I see with raff and truncata is that they would outgrow the terrarium in a couple of years. I would stick with the tropicals, because they typically like warmer, humid conditions and you don't have to deal with dormancy. Those pygmies would be a good idea too. I have the same question as Mr. Rice, what kind of terrarium are you envisioning here? If you wanted to make it look like a planted terrarium, you could bury the pots in soil. That way you could still take them out if one became infested or something. Well, that's my shpeal on terrarium growing.
Regards,
Ben

[DroseraBug]

Cory,

I'm pretty new to terrarium growing but I've got some pygmies, D. binata 'multifida', D. spatulata, all D. capensis forms, U. longifolia, U. sandersonii, and plenty of other seeds sprouting. I'm agreeing with others in that pygmies are really neat showy plants and will form a nice clump fast from gemmae. Different D. spatulata forms have been really colorful for me so far too. With good light, warmth, and humidity D. spatulata colors up mixed with red and orange hues.

As far as Nepenthes, I'm doing good with N. sanguinea so far. It seems to have some nice coloration under bright lights as well.

Petiolaris species are my next step and just purchased some D. lanata and keneallyi. I know there are some mixed messages and research needed regarding petiolaris complex cultivation. Meeting their needs can be difficult at times but I like challenges and experimentation. In my opinion these are some of the showiest foliar plants out there. From a distance these things remind me of coral or some other type of marine invertebrate more so than a plant.

I keep my terrarium growers in separate pots and still have D. capensis, and D. spatulata popping up occasionally as a weed but a lovely one. I agree with Mr. Rice and nepenthesfreak who are much more experienced than I in that it all depends on the set up and what you are interested in growing. Mine are in separate pots because it seems that it would be easier maintenance and I like things labelled nicely and orderly. I also use my terrariums for sub/tropical CP seed and keep everything dated and labeled.

Fun growing,

Vic

[vraev]

You surely have to get VFTs. VFTs need to the first for visitors to see. I mean its the world's most reknown CP. You have to wet ppl's appetite with VFT's and then take them over to see the real carnivores. Try getting a huuge truncata from EP or BE. If you find out that you have highland conditions, jump on burbdigae or rajah.

[sarracenialover]

oh yeah, that's what I've got. But be prepared to wait for a long time!