Carnivorous Plants: Plants equipped with trapped leaves to eat insects
Carnivorous plants are downright fascinating. However, if the idea of a plant that eats insects does not particularly inspire you, you can choose a plant that purifies the air for your home. It is not true that you should avoid plants in the bedroom, it all depends on the type of plant and the action of its leaves. Watch the video and then choose the most suitable plants for the different rooms of your home!
- Carnivorous plants: what are they and how do they behave?
- · Capture systems and characteristics of carnivorous plants
- Carnivorous plants: how can these predatory plants grow?
- Diseases of carnivorous plants and an aspect that should be paid attention to
Carnivorous plants: what are they and how do they behave?
Carnivorous plants are considered real predators within the plant world. They have been the undisputed protagonists in some horror films or science fiction novels and this has contributed to increasing their fascination. When you think of a carnivorous plant, you imagine a plant with real jaws, equipped with teeth, ready to kill whoever it meets. In reality, not all carnivorous plants have teeth, indeed to be precise the only toothed carnivorous plant is Dionaea, which in fact is also the best known of carnivores. These are not of course real teeth, but something that visually resembles teeth. There are also many types of carnivorous plants, and each of these plants has its own method of nourishment and capture of prey. Plants are called carnivores but of course they don't eat meat! Think that carnivores feed on insects and arthropods, usually they kill the insect but do not eat it at all. As a carnivore it is a misleading offspring, even "eating" it is, in reality they do not really feed on the prey but they get nitrogen from it , phosphorus and precious trace elements essential for growth. These are always plant species, and are considered partially heterotrophic plants, that is, they do not feed only with chlorophyll synthesis. Imagine that these plants, in order to find the nutrients they need, over time they evolved, hunting small organisms.
A carnivorous plant, perhaps you have never thought about it, but it could be useful to get rid of mosquitoes: read this article to the end to discover all their secrets!
Capture systems and characteristics of carnivorous plants
Carnivorous plants are excellent predators, we can say that they are brilliant plants because they procure food by themselves. The most famous is the Dionea, hers is a snap trapping system. In practice it has an almost mechanical mechanism, when an insect leans on a leaf it triggers a death trap that imprisons the insect as if it were a trap. Its teeth are defined but they are actually eyelashes that hold the insect and prevent it. to fly. At this point the plant produces enzymes that it needs to digest it, while the insect is still alive. The Dionaea takes about two weeks to eat it! Another well-known carnivorous plant is Sarracenia, imagine big ice cream cones to imagine the its shape, can even reach a meter in height. It has a particular weapon, a kind of pit from which insects can no longer get out. The pit is called ascidium. Once the insect enters the ascidium, it fills with enzyme-rich liquid to digest it. Sometimes the spiders take advantage of this special pit and without falling into it they try to pull away the trapped insects with their paws.
Drosera has a still different prey capture system, like Dionaea but small: it has leaves rich in tentacles covered by a sticky and sticky substance that blocks the prey. There is also Cephalotus follicularis, a carnivorous plant which, like Sarracenia, has a deep ascidus but full of quills to sting even the unfortunate insects.
Carnivorous plants: how can these predatory plants grow?
The carnivorous plant procures food for itself. Over the years it has evolved specifically for this purpose. If you provide it with food, you are doing something with nature and you are not doing your plant any good. The carnivorous plant in fact eats insects only when it feels it has a lack of certain substances. She doesn't have to eat every day or when you decide! If you want to give her love and attention, take care of the position of her pot, make sure she has the right humidity and a soil that is not too rich in nutrients. Generally speaking, predatory plants need some important attention that you absolutely need to know.
For their irrigation, if you have a way, prefer rainwater, the more you do not alter the natural cycle of the plants, the more she will be grateful to you. If you don't have rainwater, choose distilled water, or condensation water from the freezer or dehumidifier. Choose a soil that is not fertile and not with a high pH. A 3: 1 blend of acidic blonde sphagnum peat and horticultural sand is ideal. It must not contain nitrogen, for carnivorous plants it is practically a toxic substance and it is an element that they need at times and that they procure with their prey.
They need a lot of light because the light stimulates the production of pigments and makes them even more beautiful. Some carnivores are exceptions: the nepenthes for example is also good for a lower sun exposure. As for the preferred temperature, we can say that every carnivorous plant has its preferences: make sure you know your needs well!
Carnivorous plant diseases are an aspect that should be paid attention to
Carnivorous plants, as we have seen, feed on small insects but in turn fear parasites, the most dangerous for them is gray mold (Botrytis cinerea), a widespread disease in the plant world. This mold usually develops when the temperature and humidity are high.To combat gray mold and other parasites that can affect these carnivorous plants, it is advisable to use a fungicide product.
If you're reading this, you probably want to bring a carnivorous plant home and learn how to grow it! Let's immediately specify an important aspect, carnivorous plants are not toys, you can grow it safely but you have to give it the care it really needs. For example, if you wish to have a Dionaea, think that she can never live indoors, but only outside even if it is cold. It is satisfied with a vase on a beautiful balcony, it does not expect a huge garden, also because during the winter it goes into a kind of hibernation. Better to keep it away from cats and other pets. Do not trigger his trap without an insect inside. Carnivorous plant traps are delicate mechanisms that trigger the production of enzymes. Think that each leaf has a limited number of failed attempts, then it turns black, dries up and falls off.
