How to Feed Carnivorous Plants with Insect Powder
Finally, powdered insects in a jar!
How to feed:
Pitcher Plants (Nepenthes, Sarracenia, Heliamphora, Cephalotus, Darlingtonia)
Carnivorous plants need to eat regularly to maintain health and to grow vigorously. In the wild, they are specialized in capturing their local insects to acquire the essential nutrients for growth that are lacking in the soil. When grown indoors especially (or outdoors with limited insect prey), they need to be fed consistently to survive and grow. I have tested many different foods, and found that insect powder is the best food for Sundews and excellent for Butterworts, Rainbow Plants, Dewy Pines, and Pitcher Plants. While fish food or liquid fertilizers can work, I have found much better digestion and growth from actual insects. Insect powder provides a nutrient rich food with less risk of overfeeding due to the organic nutrients that can directly induce the digestive process.
Sundews (Drosera)
Insect powder is the most effective food for Sundews from over 20 years of growing. I used to grind fish food into a powder to use, but these can be produced with low quality protein, fillers, and added minerals which are not ideal for the plants. Pure insect powder has given me the best results.
Carefully stick dry powder onto the dewy tentacles of the sundew. I typically use a moistened toothpick for smaller species, sticking a tiny amount of powder onto the toothpick to transfer to the leaves.
Only feed dewy leaves (if your leaves are not dewy, you probably need to increase the LIGHT levels). Do not dump powder onto the leaves (if this happens, gently wash it off with distilled or reverse osmosis water). Try to only feed as much as will stick to the leaves. If the plant is overfed, the leaf might die prematurely, but the plant will be fine and may still acquire nutrients from the feeding.
Sundew tentacles will generally respond quickly to feeding, with some species able to curl within 1-2 minutes (some specialized tentacles in a few species can be in seconds or less). When they detect food, the tentacles will curl inwards towards the center of the leaf blade to facilitate digestion. Some Sundews can curl the leaf blade around large amounts of food as well (Drosera capensis, Drosera regia, Drosera finlaysoniana, Drosera serpens, etc). Digestion can take a few days to over a week, and that section of the leaf will not be able to feed again. However, a good meal will stimulate the growth of many new, larger leaves.
Butterworts (Pinguicula)
Many growers use liquid fertilizer to foliar feed their Butterworts. This can work well and keeps the leaves looking clean. However, I have seen explosive growth from feeding insect powder to my Butterworts that exceeds the growth from foliar fertilizer alone.
Carefully sprinkle a bit of insect powder dust onto the sticky parts of the leaves. I use a toothpick coated in powder and gently tap it to drop a fine dust of powder onto the leaves.
Try to avoid piles of dry food as this can be a bit much for the leaves to digest (they are specialized in catching gnats and small flies, not large prey).
Start with light feeding and increase the amount as the plants grow larger and more robust. Tropical Butterworts have thicker leaves and can tolerate heavier feeding than Temperate Butterworts. For the few species with pointed, linear leaves, dry powder can be applied using a toothpick similar to Sundews.
Flytraps (Dionaea)
Flytraps must feed regularly and be in strong light to grow. While live prey is great for them, this is impractical in most cases. A thick slurry of insect powder is loaded with nutrition and is easy to use.
Mix the powder with distilled or reverse osmosis water to make a thick slurry.
Suck up the slurry with a pipette, use the tip of the pipette to trigger the trap (while keeping the tip inside), gently squirt some of the liquid into the closed trap, then remove the pipette so it can fully seal shut. (Reference video).
While many people will say that the trap will not digest inanimate food, this is false. The trap simply needs adequate physical and chemical signaling to induce digestion. With this slurry, my traps almost always stay closed and digest it. Older or weaker traps may reopen but these were not likely to successfully digest a live insect either. It can help to very gently squeeze the trap to further stimulate the trigger hairs which induce digestion.
Pitcher Plants (Nepenthes, Sarracenia, Cephalotus, Darlingtonia, Heliamphora)
Pitcher plants also benefit from regular feeding. Many growers will use liquid fertilizer or fertilizer pellets with success. Insect powder can also be a great food, often with better absorption and less “burn” than mineral fertilizers.
For water-holding pitchers (Nepenthes, Cephalotus, Heliamphora), ensure there is fluid in the pitchers (usually about 1/3 of the way). Mix up the insect powder with distilled or reverse osmosis water into a soupy mixture.
. Use a pipette to feed the soup to the pitchers. I would aim for 5-10% of the total volume of the pitcher to start. Larger pitchers can accept more food.
Excessive feeding can cause early pitcher dieback in less robust plants. This is not a problem as the pitcher has already absorbed a good amount of nutrients and will grow new leaves to replace the older ones. Tiny, juvenile plants are probably easier to feed with a foliar fertilizer since the pitcher mouths are so tiny. For very large plants, it can be more efficient to use a liquid fertilizer.
Rainbow Plants (Byblis)
Rainbow Plants require adequate feeding to rapidly growth and flower (especially for the annual species). Well-nourished plants will grow substantially faster than underfed specimens. Feeding can begin once the plants have a few fully developed leaves and are around 1” tall. These can also be fed with foliar fertilizer and can also absorb some nutrients through the roots.
Carefully stick dry powder onto the dewy tentacles of the Rainbow Plant. I typically use a moistened toothpick for smaller species, sticking a tiny amount of powder onto the toothpick to transfer to the leaves. Feeding the tops of the leaves is more effective since the tentacles deflate and use gravity to pull the food into contact with the leaf surface. These can also be feed with dilute (foliar) fertilizer.
Dewy Pines (Drosophyllum)
Dewy Pines must feed heavily to grow and survive. When grown in full sun and well fed, they are quite resilient plants. Typically, growing them outside in full sun give them enough access to prey so supplementary feeding is unnecessary. If they are not catching enough food though, they can be supplemented with insect powder.
Mix the powder with distilled or reverse osmosis water to make a thick slurry. Use a pipette to apply to the underside of the leaves. Dry powder can also be applied to the underside of the leaves as long as it makes good contact with the leaf.
Additional Info:
Above: Bits of food are placed on the dewy tentacles and within 1-2 minutes the tentacles will curl inward to secure the prey and begin digestion. The digestive process will take roughly 1 week and digestive fluids can be seen secreted by the leaf.
