Episode: 8
Title: Carnivorous Plants
Broadcast: 11 October
Presenter: Trevor

If you happen to be in Perth in the last week of September there is an event that 30% of West Australians attend and for garden lovers it's a great chance to get some down to earth gardening advice from an exhibition with a difference. If you’ve always been fascinated by carnivorous plants then this is a garden for you.

• The first thing you need to know is these plants are not likely to evolve to eat humans, they do however eat insects by dissolving them in an acid bath usually in a trap.
• The reason is usually because they live in very poor quality soils… these soils lack certain nutrients they can only get from an external source. From fly’s, insects, frogs, mice and even sometimes small monkeys in the rainforests some of them come from.
• The best environment to grow these plants in is one that's protected from drying winds, they all enjoy a slightly humid environment…so growing them in these very well priced indoor atrium glasshouses gives them the best result in a home garden environment…
• The venus fly trap behaves like an animal, it reacts on touch to trap insects against the sticky trap which then dissolves the insect then the leaf dies..
• Pitcher Plants are another great carnivorous plant. They come in different colours like purple, yellow and emerald greens. They use sticky leaves to capture insects that will become food.
• For both these plants are more, plant into a good quality peaty soil; they need consistent moisture and the best way to go is to use a high quality peat moss, a sphagnum moss or Coco peat soil base.
• The key is settling the plants into the soil and then watering them in with Seasol, its full of plant hormones to settle them in, it also reduces transplant shock and reduces the need for watering.

We got these great plants from Paradisia Nurseries; http://www.paradisia.com.au