Watering a Carnivorous Plant

I have been growing carnivorous plants for a few years now. Not a large collection, but a few Sarracenia, a Nepenthes, a Genlisea, a trigger plant, a Big Red Sundew, a slew of common sundews, and a Venus Flytrap. My grandson and I really enjoy them. Every visit he says: “Let’s see what the CPs got”.

Because they grow mostly in bogs where there are little to no minerals in their soil, they get minerals from their "victims." You should not fertilize them or water them with regular water that has minerals in it. Doing so will give them that overfertilized, fried look. I use reverse osmosis water from a water machine at the local supermarket. Not all water dispensing machines use the RO method, but I got lucky and found one close by. I have five-gallon bottles that I fill, and I have an old water cooler in the garage for dispensing. Both were flea market purchases. This lets me avoid multiple trips to the store. I also use the water for certain finicky orchids. Another tip I was given is that the air conditioner condensation line is a great place to get mineral-free water. I’ve been using it this summer and it is working well. It is amazing how much water comes out of that thing when it is rigged up as an inverted “U” out of PVC pipe to allow a bucket under the drain pipe. It is only about 2 inches from the ground. Our AC unit is on the second floor, so I don’t have to worry about backing water up into the unit, but if you’re going to try this, be sure to be careful. Maybe if I end up with more CPs, I'll invest in one of those under-the-sink RO units. Until then, this is my favorite method.