Hi! I’m looking for some suggestions for a good beginner carnivorous plants for someone who lives in the colder area of the Midwest. I have a good sunlight in my room and I’m open to getting a grow light if needed (suggestions for a good grow light would be appreciated as well).
I would def recommend sundews as a quite hardy carnivorous plant! I live on the west coast, but I don't have heat in my house so it gets as cold as 45-50 inside during the winter. Sunlight will not be enough. However, I have some cheap clip on grow light that seems to be working just fine, doesn't have to be anything high end. They grow so fast I have to keep separating the babies to leave room in the pot. The thing that helped the most with the health of the plant was nesting the pot in a slightly bigger vessel, and having it just sit in distilled water 24/7, topping off when needed. Good luck!
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assuming your house stays at a reasonable temp, i would suggest a tropical variety, as you dont need to worry about anything related to dormancy! i would def get a grow light - barrina on amazon has some good options. 6 hours is the minimum, but the more the better. as wormgod said, distilled/RO/rainwater is a must - any water with any nutrients or chemicals in it will kill your plant. keep these guys in a few inches of water at all times, and avoid terracotta - it can leech minerals into the water/medium. they will catch the bugs around your house, so i dont worry about feeding them. if i spot a mosquito hanging around, i will grab my sundew and nab the mosquito with the sticky leaves 😁 sarracenia northwest has some great articles on carnivorous plants, and sells them as well, so i would recommend checking them out! good luck!!
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South facing windows with direct light the bulk of the day are ideal. Or the Sansi or barrina make smaller lights. Look for a high output of lumens, at least 5,000k lux, and full color spectrum K. Sarracenia are a nice place to start, most are ideal outdoors, but the purple pitcher is commonly grown indoors.
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I just ventured to carnivorous plants, I ended up with 3 Nepenthes. I ADORE them!! I'm a total beginner with them. They seem pretty hardy and what ever I'm doing is working as they're still producing pitchers in my window...I'm in Vermont!!
