Dear Rocket Ken, I have some black bamboo and another large species (yet to be dug) that I will be bringing to the Fall Green Elephant Plant Swap in Redmond. Regards, FireVicar Here is a link that might be useful: Green Elephant Plant Swap

Speaking as a Biology teacher, your teacher is unfortunately incorrect. As has been pointed out, sealed terrs are typically very problematic in large part because of the issue of stagnant air. Few plants (or animals for that matter) do well under such conditions and fungi -- including pathogenic ones -- thrive. Furthermore, vfts are EXTREMELY poor terr candidates for a number of reasons: 1) They are very high light plants ... even up to full sun. In a terr it is difficult to provide that kind of light intensity without raising the temperature to lethal levels. 2) Vft's like to send their roots quite deep. This would require a fairly large terr. 3) Most significantly, vfts REQUIRE a chilly/cold winter's dormancy to maintain health/vigor. Without it, they weaken and die -- though they may survive for two or three (maybe four if you are very lucky) years before finally kicking the bucket. Unless you plan on giving the entire tank a cold dormancy or digging the vfts up to do so, they are better off not setting a root tip in a terr. Now having said this, some cps can be done in a "sealed" terr BUT it will require the inclusion of fans for air circulation and a rather large tank too. I say "sealed" in quotes because while the terrs in question are left closed for periods of time they are by no means left closed permanently. People I know growing Nepenthes, for example, this way, do open up the tank every day or two as they check on the plants and allow an exchange of fresh air. It is far easier to go for a partly sealed tank setup (still using fans) as one can keep humidity levels up while allowing for some air exchange. With such a setup, there are a number of cps -- pinguicula, utricularia, and drosera -- that could be used. With regards to the ant idea ... The concern regarding ants harming the plants is not terribly likely unless you were to obtain species that -- like the leaf cutter ants -- actually use vegetation as a food source. However, the issue of wet, stagnant conditions would prove detrimental to most ant species. Also most ant species are carnivorous or scavengers. So you would have to have present a renewable prey/food source for them. And unless you did have a very well sealed setup, you would in all likelihood have ants touring your room and/or home. (And I suspect your parents might object to that. )

I think those biodomes for the Nepenthes Lady Luck plants are in what is essentially a net pot. They sit in a container with exposed soil/roots that take in the water directly. Supposedly the root ball has the fertilizer or nutritiion the plant needs for up to 1 year, so you just have to keep adding water to the bio-dome for that time period. http://www.borneoexotics.com/bio-domes/faq.html

Fines (1mm or less in size) I typically just toss in with regular potting soil or mix for Sarrs. I generally don't get a lot of the really really small particles. I have used straight turface with pings and a mix of turface and coir for D. capensis, or utrics with no issues. If you have a lot of fines and a spare of one or more plants, I'd say go ahead and experiment. :-)