I finally got brave enough to purchase a small Nepenthes (NOID) and a Sarracenia purpurea venosa. They arrived in good condition but there is no fluid in their pitchers. The Nep has only one tiny pitcher (on the left bottom), the Sarracenia has several. Do I need to add a bit of distilled water to the pitchers and if so, how much?? Would also appreciate any advice..... Thanks :)

No, don't add water to the pitchers. If water (fluid) is needed, the plant will manufacture it. And don't feed it. These plants catch enough insects on their own to take care of all their fertilizer needs.

The Sarracenia needs to be sitting with its feet in water. The water can be deep (but not over the crown of the plant), or shallow but it must always sit in water. Next winter, you will have to find a cold place for it to live - a basement or garage window - still sitting in a saucer of water.

The Nepenthes will be harder as you don't know if its a highland or a lowland variety. You will have to do some experimentation to see what will make it happy. Start by reading the information here that people have written about their experences with this plant.

Good luck and keep us posted!

Congratulations on your first CP's!
I've tried easy nepenthes but I had no luck.
I have sarracenia, drosera (sundew) and Dionaea (VFT's).
They can be addicting.

I have had good luck with both highland and lowland Neps - growing them on a sunny Eastern windowsill. I water them from the top until the saucer underneath has a bit of water standing in it. When the saucer goes dry, I water again - usually every other day in hotter weather.

Indoor temperature is usually 50 - 70 deg F in the winter and 60 - 90+ deg F in the summer and fall. Winter temps are a bit low for the lowland species and the summer temps are a bit high for the highland species - but they have survived for 3+ years OK. They would probably do better if they had proper temperatures year around.

I still have to get around and take pictures of part of my collection so I can post them. There are many hundreds of Sarracenia, Drosera and Dionaea, so some will only appear in group shots - like a shot of one of the pools.

I have tried growing Venus Fly Traps before without success. But this time I bought 3 and have researched what they really want.

I understand the sterile peat and perlite soil and distilled water. But I read conflicting information about sunlight and temperature.

The package instructions say indirect sunlight and 60-80 degree temperatures in the growing season. Some sites say 12 hours sunlight, 4 hours direct sunlight. That's a big difference!

And they grow in NC, which surely gets above 80 degrees much of Summer.

Anyone feel confident in giving me The Truth?

The package instructions are wrong. First, do NOT grow them indoors, even in a sunny window.

They need at least 4 hours of direct sunlight per day - more they get, the better. If you can put them in the middle of your yard where they will get direct sunlight from sunrise to sunset, they will love it.

Temperatures do not matter much, as long at they are kept above about 40 deg F during the growing season. On the high end, occasional days over 100 deg F will not hurt the plants. Think zone 8, which is what they see in their native habitat.

Venus flytraps do not like to be quite as wet as most of the other carnivorous plants. They like thoroughly damp media, but not being soggy wet. I like to grow them in a standard 5" or larger pot. I even have some growing in a tall 10" pot. The larger/taller pots encourage longer root growth.

Flytraps will grow in pure peat moss, but I think there is less risk of fungus/mold if you use a mix of roughly 50:50 peat/perlite or 50:50 peat/horticultural sand. I prefer perlite, since the pots weigh less.

I leave them outdoors sitting in their water tray (kiddy wading pools - with a drain hole 3" up from the bottom) year around. I don't bother to protect them when it gets below freezing, although I should do so when the temperature gets below about 20 deg F. A couple of winters ago, they survived several nights of -5 deg F just fine.

Outstanding! And I just posted my same question elsewhere forgetting I asked here. My bad...

I'm thinking a whole wading pool bog next year.

I figure if I am organic can grow venus fly traps, and have ant-lions all over the yard, I must be doing SOMETHING right.