As you probably already know, carnivorous plants require some attention if you’re to grow them successfully. But why wouldn’t you want to pay attention to them? They’re amazing plants! While there are quite a few supplies that can make carnivorous plant care easier, we came up with a list of our favorites.

 

 

#5 – Square Pots

Square Pots

Square pots utilize space more efficiently compared to round pots which can be important for larger collections.

Round Pots - Wasted Space

Red areas = wasted space

Square Pots - No Wasted Space

Almost no wasted space

From the pictures you can see how much valuable real estate is lost in the gaps between round pots. Square pots fill in these gaps, which not only creates a larger planting area, but also gives plant roots more room to spread out.

 

 

#4 – Standard 1020 Nursery Flats

Seed TrayWe’re not talking about the nursery flats you find at your local garden center or grocery store though. Those flats tend to be thin and brittle which can be problematic, especially if you’re using said trays to hold standing water for bog plants. *Walks into room to find flat mysteriously developed pinhole overnight, all contents drained on floor.*

 

You’ll be much better off with sturdier nursery flats like these. They’re thicker than the store-bought flats and can withstand multiple uses over a longer period of time.

 

 

#3 – Jeweler’s Loupe

Jeweler's Loupe

This little magnifying glass is so handy! It helps immensely in detecting several types of plant pests. With a jewelers loupe you can regularly check plants for thrips, mites and other minute creatures rather than waiting for the damage they cause instead.

Magnified Spider Mite

Magnified image of a spider mite crawling across a leaf

It also allows you to photograph your carnivorous plants up close in all of their spectacular detail. By simply holding the loupe up to your camera phone, the loupe adjusts the focal distance of the camera for instant macro shots.

Drosera ordensis magnified

For only a few bucks, it’s a great way to impress all your photography friends ;)

 

 

#2 – Humidity & Temperature Gauge

A humidity and temperature gauge is a must if you live in an area where carnivorous plants aren’t native. The top issues we see when a carnivorous plant is struggling are low humidity, high temperatures from too much direct sun, or a combination of the two. A gauge like this one will help you monitor your plants conditions and adjust them as needed. It’s measures humidity within 2-3% accuracy as well as temperature plus or minus 1° Fahrenheit so you can trust your plants are living within the ranges they need for healthy growth.ThermoPro Hydrometer and Thermometer

 

 

#1 – Pointed Tweezers

Tweezers

Hands down, tweezers are our number one carnivorous plant care essential. They are useful for a range of things like cleaning dead leaves away from delicate butterworts and collecting tiny seeds, to feeding pitchers and flytraps bugs or fish food.

Cleaning up a butterwort

Feeding Venus Flytrap with Tweezers

Feeding a venus flytrap

They are really handy for planting or transplanting bare root plants as well:

 

 

Well there you have it, our top 5 essentials. If you grow carnivorous plants, consider picking some of these things up if you don’t have them already. They can make carnivorous plant care much easier, which translates in many cases to happier plants.

Do you have some favorite care essentials for you carnivorous plants that aren’t on this list? What are they? Please tell us in the comments!