Oh, and one more question. Is it okay to water with R/O water? Instead of distilled or rainwater ? Im sure rainwater would be best... but Oklahoma wheather isnt very predictable! Whats the difference between R/Oed water and Distilled?

R/O is even BETTer than Distilled water!!

Condensation, uhmm bad, get a big pot for cobra lillies water with cool wate every day, Harden it off put the lid back on and put take a bit off each day, not alot just tip a side then the next the next then raise it a half an inch each day after that once its about 5 inches off it can come off, The longer it takes the better.

remove the VFT the sundew (drosera) and the Darlington Californica (Cobra) into their own pots, The sundew is a Tropical, i have it, called a D. adalea the leaves look some what like this only the leaves are more pointy and longer?
(this is a older picture of some runners)
{{gwi:548673}}

Venus flytrap should be feed life prey, and should be placed out this summer, search for dormancy in the later posts, it should be easy to find if not ill hook you up with a link.

But dont worry to much about dormancy, worry about keeping them alive now!

Cheers

Okay I wasn't real clear on what you meant by :

'Harden it off put the lid back on and put take a bit off each day, not alot just tip a side then the next the next then raise it a half an inch each day after that once its about 5 inches off it can come off, The longer it takes the better.'

and I'm not sure if I can seperate the plants. . .they all came together, I'm not sure if I can seperate the roots, but I'll have a look.

Yeah that picture looks sorta like my Sundew. I've also noticed, the 'dewy' looking stuff is gone!! and its not sticky anymore.

I bought one from Lowes last August, when the temps were still hitting the 80's. Since it was kicking around at the store for awhile, I felt it necessary to repot and acclimate. I put into a plastic pot and suspended it on the edge of one of the cube's halves. I then placed it at the lab's front desk, where the temps would be ~70. I watered it so that that it would drain through. When September came and the temps were close enough to that of the lab, I put it outside, for the next two months, where it naturally entered dormancy. For the past 3 months, it has been in our cold attic - resting. It is just now beginning to resume growth. Hey, it's very simple and very successful.

In general, I have learned not to worry about existing growth on a plant. The leaves may die from shock or their number is up. Sundews tend to lose their dew as well. I concentrate on whether I see new growth. If I see that, then I know the plant is acclimating an is okay.

R/O, distilled, rain, and deionized water are all acceptable water for CP's.

You can separate them. What I do for shipped or garden center plants is to saturate and cover them for a couple days and keep away from bright light. Then I open them during the daytime and close by night for another couple days, gradually moving it closer to the light. After that, it is 24/7 open and at the window sill. This acclimates them gradually and safely.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:430450}}

{{gwi:548676}}

See how dry lookin the sundew is..and my cobras are turnin brownish yellow. I think they're dieing!

and see how theyre all in there together. . .thats why Im afraid I may not be able to seperate 'em. Thats the wya they came.

I dunno what to do with em, I dont want em to die though!

The problem is where they came from. they have been kept in a stupid humidity dome, probably given tap water, and kept on a shelf inside. It may not live. Even the most experienced CP growers sometimes can't bring a plant back to health from one of these places. Cobra plants are one of the hardest CPs to keep. They don't take mistakes very easily. The plants need to be outside, but you can't just take the dome off and stick them outside, so that is what the others are meaning by "harden off". You have to gradually acclimitize them to it. You start by just propping up one side of the lid one day, and gradually taking it off more and more for a few days until you have it all the way off. You also give it a good light source inside your house. Then maybe place it in a window. Then they should be ready to go outside. They have to get used to the change first,sort of like when you buy a fish you don't just dump it into your aquarium at home, you put the bag over in the water first to let the temperate adjust. The no dew on the sundew is because of the way it has been treated. There is also no air circulation inside those domes, so fungus is usually present when you buy plants like that. The sundews need lots of sunlight, which they convert to energy, to be able to produce the dew. Read through posts and do a Google search on care sheets for your plants to find out how they should be grown. They are very interesting plants, I love them Don't get discouraged if they die, it is not your fault. There are more reputable places to buy these plants from and they will arrive to you healthy.

That is a d. adalea, You can take cuttings from that for new babys (dont worry about that till you get a good handle on how to grow them first!! then you can get into the cultivation stage). It would be a little tough to seperate them but with a steady hand you should be able to do it, they are tough to.

Cheers

Those places just don't take good care of carnivorous plants. I got two darlingtonia plants from Home depot and some of the pitchers were damaged, and died soon after I got it home. I bet your plant has gotten banged a round a bit, and the damaged leaves will most likely turn brown and die. You should get new leaves in about a month when these plants start coming out of dormancy, so I think if you give it good light and water it will be fine. Mine came back and are doing fine, and I hope yours does too.

Glenn

Well I sure hope they pull through. I put the dome thing back on but not completely on, I guess I'll slowly ease it off and hope they snap out of it.

Also, I plan on trying to pick them apart from the Sundew, and Flytrap. I was going to transplant them into 3 pots that I bought today. I was wondering what substrate do I use. I read something about sphagnum (sp?) and peat moss ?? Will the African Violet Mix work? I mean. . .whats the BEST ?

Not the African Violet mix. If you can find sphagnum moss thats great, but you should be able to find peat moss without problem. Don't let them try to sell you green moss or something else in place of sphagnum. The folllowing is copied out of the carnivorous plant ebook put out by the people at cobraplant.com, which is an excellent informational source, I would recommend it to anyone.

Darn it, it wouldn't let me copy it.

One part peat moss or dried sphagnum mixed with one part perlite, vermiculite, or orchid bark mix.

This will work for most plants. Some, like nepenthes, like a drier soil mix.You can get the perlite or orchid bark and the peat moss just about anywhere.

Okay, so no to the African Violet Mix.

Which combination is best? Peat moss with vermiculite? Sphagnum with perlite? or ..what? I havn't bought anything yet, I just wanna be sure I get whats best for the lil guys! They've apparently had it rough. I didn't make it any easier either because I had just takin their dome off when I got home and didnt give it a second thought before you all told me you had to do that gradually. I hope I didn't kill 'em.

VFT
1/1 peat/sand or peat/perlite

D.californica the Saage Garden says 1 part LFS to one part perlite or 2 parts perlite 1 part lava rock. I think 3 parts LFS 1 part peat wouild work personaly.

You will want a Large Pot for stalon growth.... (the darlington)

the sundew can be grown in strait Peat
Chop up the Sphagnum not to fine you want it to hold water.

Cheers

well, my seedling cobra plants are just in straight sphagnum moss right now. But I generally use a mixture of one part peat with one part of either the orchid bark or the perlite.

Just to add to the confusion.... In general CP's do well with a mix of sand and peat, topdressed with LFS. Some CP's need more drainage than others and some need more water retaining qualities. Sand, orchid bark, and perlite tend to be used for CP's that prefer more drainage - like Neps. Peat is great for water retention. Everybody also has their own preferences. Live LFS has antisceptic qualites.

I just bought a big bag of sphagnum peat at a local nysery, but H.D. and Lowes also carry them. There are different brands - Nirom, schlutz,.. Sand can be purchased at a local pool filter place for like $4/50lb. bag. LFS (dried) is $3-5 a bag at H.D. or Lowes. The live can be purchased at online places or from forum people. (I happen to have some) Orchid bark should be at H.D or Lowes.

If you can Get the Compacted Cards of sphagnum moss, they have it so it can grow, if you can see a hint of pigment in the Sphagnum it will grow after being moist for a short time... If not it will get algae growth off the wall!!

Cheers

akheadbanger,

Where can you get the compacted cards of sphagnum moss? Is it something you order off the internet? Do you have a name brand? I just did a google search for 'compacted cards of sphagnum moss' and didn't see anything resembling what I'm picturing you saying.

www.flytraps.com

Cheers

Whats LFS stand for? You may have already said and I just over looked it...sorry if thats the case.

LFS stands for Long Fibred Sphagnum moss and you could purchase the bags of the dried material at Home Depot or Lowes for ~$4-5. I'm sure you can also buy it online as well. I just go to the store. The live can be purchsed online as well or people like us on the discussion forum might have some to spare as a starter. If you're interested in the live, I have some to spare.

Speaking of starters, anyone know if there is a site or store where you can order a starter set of CPs? Is there such a thing? I'm starting a terrarium and I'd like to have tropical CPs and I'm having trouble finding much near me other than VFTs.

Yes, go to cobraplant.com and use their "Spike the friendly flytrap". It asks for your growing conditions and then gives you a list of plants suitable to what you are looking for.

Or.... cultivate forum friendships and you can be supplied with some basic plants, like D. spatulata, D. capensis, D. adelae, P. primulifora, D. aliciae, D. binata,... (stuff I have!)I only ask for the $4.05 for Priority postage. That always worked for me!

Its cheeper to trade plants, or people will offer plants to newbies in return to eventualy do it them selfs to another newbie on the fourm.

Cheers

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll see what I may have around and see if I can set up another trade with a CP grower. I'm kinda looking for good sized plants that could help take out a community of little flies that are buzzing around my room now. I bought a small staghorn fern from Walmart and I thought I got a great deal for 1.94 until I realized I brought home these little flies that are now taking up residence in my houseplants and Cacti&Succulents. Maybe I'll get lucky and find some larger plants in a big box store soon.

BTW: I don't know if you all trade in the general seed and plant trade but there is a GW member that I see from time to time offer CP seeds from his/her plants. I have yet to find something to tempt him/her out of seeds...but it may be worth a look for some of you. If anyone of you have a personal site about CP or Terrariums and would like to exchange links feel free to send me an e-mail. I'm looking to add content/links related to gardening to my blog.

Cheers, and thanks for the help.

[quote]Its cheeper to trade plants, or people will offer plants to newbies in return to eventualy do it them selfs to another newbie on the fourm. [/quote]

Amen brother!

[quote]BTW: I don't know if you all trade in the general seed and plant trade but there is a GW member that I see from time to time offer CP seeds from his/her plants. I have yet to find something to tempt him/her out of seeds...but it may be worth a look for some of you. If anyone of you have a personal site about CP or Terrariums and would like to exchange links feel free to send me an e-mail. I'm looking to add content/links related to gardening to my blog.[/quote]

I'm always looking to supplement my collection and trading. So feel free to contact me, just in case we can help each other out.

I would say that ~90% of my collection has come from generous hobbyists, after I tapped out the garden centers. Pretty neat, huh?