How Carnivorous Plants Work

Kevin heads up to the San Diego Botanic Garden to talk to botanist Ari Novy about the world of carnivorous plants - how they work, why they eat bugs, and how to care for them at home.

IN THIS VIDEO

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TIMESTAMPS
00:00 - Intro
00:27 - Ari Novy, President & CEO Of San Diego Botanic Garden
00:49 - Why Would A Plant Become Carnivorous
01:10 - Carnivorous Plant Environments
02:15 - Drosera Capensis Sticky Carnivorous Plant (Sticky Trap Plant)
05:25 - Nepenthes Pitcher Plant (Pitcher Plant)
10:54 - Venus Flytrap Plant
12:45 - Mimosa Pudica (Tickle Me Plant)
13:43 - Back To Venus Flytrap & Conclusion

DISCLAIMER

[joyofgrowing]

These are a favorite of my sons he cares for them every few years just loves to keep them and try to feed them small fruit flys and flys. Best gift ever to enjoy as a kiddo! 1st time he picked one out for himself another customer in line had him completely baffled when he asked him if he knew just how large they can actually grow..and to be careful with that one..lol he was a lil hesitant to purchase it at that point but then also got curious...just like Otto the giant goldfish in a nursery storybook I used to read to him. Good memories always fun to look back on and this informative video gave me that really joyful flashback memory I will always hold on to when he was just a little boy full of wonder. Now he is a teen still full of wonder with nature and all things growing and visiting our families garden. Never wants to harm a single insect careful to not even step on an ant. Just an all around good in harmony with nature guy! Love his caring spirit with gardening. 😊❤ Next off to the nursery to find him a carnivorous plant to cherish and care for again.

[MTB_adventures_with_Sam]

This is amazing! Thank you so much! I live in one of the few places carnivorous plants grow natively. This is so helpful!

[princessdi]

I just bought a Drocera Capences sundew and it's now getting its dew drops back after being shipped. It caught a little fungus gnat yesterday and the sinister glee I had at seeing it with its first bug was so pure 🤣

[sunshinecarnivores]

I love carnivorous plants! They are my favorite plants, it's too bad there is so much bad information about growing them successfully which makes a lot of people believe that they are "impossible" to grow.

[akxdev]

I need to visit this place. Cool exhibits, knowledgeable employees, and a good excuse to get back to San Diego. Thanks for sharing these videos, Kevin.

[burnitdown]

I would love to see maybe a part 2 where you make a terrarium with this guy for all the carnivorous plants or even a plant bog inside a lil plastic kiddie pool that you burry in the ground!

[IanFarquharson]

Great episode. Kevin’s face at the ‘rainwater if you have it’ - yep only 1 million litres.

[MulliganASMR]

Ari seems so nice, passionate and knowledgeable. Very good video showcase.

[NathanShepard]

In the case of the Mimosa, it is a heat response. Go look at one during the middle of the day with relative high temperatures...and all the leaves will be crunched in and 'narrow'. Your fingers are hot compared to the relative air so they collapse. I have found keeping Sarracenia ssp. and SE US Drosera ssp. outdoors year round to be the best way to keep them. Along with fly traps, the SE carnivorous plants thrive with a dormant season.

[Miggeddy]

10:16
Sphagnum moss works very good as soil alternative :) for nepenthes

[katy]

I love all of your videos when you visit the botanical garden. We had a sundew for forever a while ago, and I miss it so much. This is inspiring!

[innominate]

So informative. Hv learnt so much from watching this.

[tahursh]

This is so cool! I love the science (botany) behind all of the plants!!!

[nicknorthcutt]

Those pitcher plants are absolutely fascinating!

[rickthelian]

Beautiful ❤
Being in an inclosed large greenhouse, how do they feed them with insects for the plants?

[ceeemm]

Amazing video!! I just learned so much!! Thanks..

[kat]

I keep my sundews and pinguicula in a pie plate filled with distilled water and use the tray method. I also have it in a slotted orchid pot so the roots get oxygen. It lives next to a humidifier that runs 24/7. I needed it to be open to the air so all of the carnivorous plants in that pot can control fungus gnats, mosquitos, and baby house flies. I have plants that want to me moist at all times and that tends to breed fungus gnats. I haven't had any issues with flying insects since they took off. Drosera/ sundew come in so many different forms and they're fun. All of the sundew plants that I have curl their leaves to envelope the insects.

[jeannamcgregor]

If you live in a frost-free (or rare frost) zone, you can grow Sarracenias outside. They like having their "ankles" always wet, so try nesting a bowl-shaped pot inside a larger bowl with no drain hole. I've kept mine alive for 10 years this way, watering about once a week to keep the water level about half-way up. Oh, and you should dump the whole thing periodically when it's rainy. Look up how to make the growing medium, though, it's kind of special.

[knittinko]

Wow, that was super interesting! Thank you.

[JoseFloresEC]

Crazy how I always assumed venus fly traps were from some rainforest area like southeast asia, and not the east coast of the us