BEHIND THE CARNIVOROUS GREENHOUSE
Hello and welcome to all my readers!
My name is Megan, also known as carnivorous_plant_girl on Instagram and YouTube. I decided to create this blog to combine my two favourite passions which are carnivorous plants and writing in order to spread the awareness and enjoyment of growing carnivorous plants. So, whether you are an avid collector, beginner or someone who is just fascinated by these plants then my blog will have something for every reader!
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Surprisingly, this didn't put me off. I realised my mistake and decided to try again but this time with a genera that didn't require a dormancy as a better starting point. So for my 14th birthday I brought myself a Drosera capensis and I called it 'dewdrop'. Like the flytrap I placed it in a tray of water and on a sunny windowsill and this one grew so well, I was constantly mesmerised by how it's leaves sparkled in the sun!
I soon realised the capensis' ability to propagate from seed and soon had a whole plant stand of Drosera capensis and some Drosera aliciae which came as hitchhikers with my capensis. This is where I found my love of propagation, it was so cool to get so many plants from just one tiny thing. I was so hooked that I even got myself another flytrap and soon my first Sarracenia.
And that is where it took off, I soon had too many plants to fit on my small plant stand and after years of saving up I brought myself my first greenhouse which I decided was the best for all of my plants. It was the best decision I ever made and that is where my journey really started!
Now
I now have filled my 8x6 greenhouse with various genera and species, branching out into the uncommon and more difficult, determined to grow as many carnivorous plants as I can possibly fit in that greenhouse. I continue to propagate, research and write about these plants. I created my Instagram and my YouTube to make people aware of these stunning plants and what they can do, now continuing with this blog I hope to show the best from these plants!
'Dewdrop' my first Drosera capensis
When I first got my greenhouse and my collection of carnivores!
My Greenhouse a year after getting it. Back benching went in for more space.
My Greenhouse now (2022)
My blog is based on my experiences with growing these plants, the tips I will give are what has worked best for me when growing in my unheated greenhouse in the UK. There are loads of different ways to grow each plant and everyone will have their own preferences and tricks what works best for them and so my best advice I will give is to experiment with the growing conditions you have, we all learn from mistakes and the experimentation of hobbyists is what drives this hobby. The most important thing is to enjoy thee plants for what they are!
Where did it begin?
If you would of told me plants would be my passion 9 years ago I would of simply laughed. When I was 12 I had no interest in plants what so ever. But one day my nan gave me a snippet from an old plant magazine describing two carnivorous plants, a venus flytrap and a tropical pitcher plant and what they can do. I was so interested, it was crazy, there was plants that ate bugs!
I then decided to do some more research into these plants and sure enough I wanted to get one of my own. Using my pocket money, I got a typical venus flytrap from a hardware store which I named 'Venie'.
So, I had the plant, now what?
I placed it in a tray of rainwater on a sunny windowsill as advised by the internet and it grew, not amazingly I realised quickly but it grew. Winter soon came around and my fears over dormancy came around. I was so worried about killing it that....well I killed it. I fussed over it so much trying the fridge method, putting it in and then taking it out and then placing it outside during a frost because I didn't think it was going to go dormant enough so I made it permanently dormant.