How to Feed Carnivorous plants Plants with MaxSea or Dynagro Plant Food

MaxSea is a mix of different minerals and organic nutrients.

If you grow your pitcher plants or butterworts indoors, they will need to be fed to sustain healthy, rapid growth. MaxSea plant food is a water soluble food that is gentle and effective for carnivorous plants. It is great for all types of Pitcher Plants (Nepenthes, Sarracenia, Heliamphora, Darlingtonia, Cephalotus), Butterworts (Pinguicula), Bladderworts (Utricularia), Corkscrew Plants (Genlisea), and more. I also use Dynagro Foliage Pro at 200-400ppm with success. Because Dynagro is a liquid, it is much easier to mix small quantities for feeding.

1. Dilute 1/4 teaspoon of MaxSea granules into 1 gallon of distilled water (~~200ppm). Shake to mix.

2. Pitcher Plants: Use a small pipette to put 1-10 drops of food into the pitcher, depending on species and size.

3. Use a fine misting bottle (not a large sprayer) to lightly mist leaves of Pinguicula, Utricularia, and Genlisea.

General Info:

• Feed every 2-4 weeks for maximum growth and health.

• Use less food for smaller plants, more food for larger plants.

• Only feed pitchers that have been fully developed for several days to avoid leaf burn. If the pitcher is dry, add some water in the lower third.

• Overfeeding can cause leaf burn, but the plant will be fine and should still absorb the nutrients.

• It’s best to use distilled or reverse osmosis water because tap water contains salts and disinfectants that can eventually harm your carnivorous plants. I will usually mix up one gallon at a time to ensure a consistent ratio of the different granules in MaxSea.

• A TDS meter is very cheap and a good tool for any grower to test water quality and fertilizer concentration.

How much to use?

These are starting recommendations that can be increased over time if you want to maximize feeding (the only risk is some leaf burn which is not a big deal).

• Pitcher Plants (Nepenthes, Heliamphora, Cephalotus, Sarracenia): 2-10+ drops per pitcher (depending on pitcher size).

  • Heliamphora, Sarracenia, and Nepenthes like some soil fertilization too, but this should only be done by experienced growers.

• Butterworts (Pinguicula): Mist the whole plant lightly, don’t soak it in spray.

  • Tropical Butterworts can utilize small amounts of nutrients in the soil as well.

• Bladderworts/Corkscrew Plants (Utricularia/Genlisea): Lightly mist the leaves.

  • They can also absorb some nutrients through the soil.

• Sundews (Drosera): Spray the leaves of the sundew, especially the dewy, carnivorous parts. Amount of spray will vary by species so start light and gauge the response.

  • Some species with thick roots also absorb some nutrients through the roots, but minimize soil nutrients in pygmy sundews and wooly sundews. I still prefer to use fish food for most sundew species, however the most sensitive species are better fed with foliar fertilizer.

Notes:

Liquid fertilizer can be used with other species of carnivorous plants, but I prefer the fish food for flytraps (Dionaea), sundews (Drosera), or dewy pines (Drosophyllum).

I have been using Dynagro Foliage Pro instead of MaxSea recently because it is substantially easier to mix in small quantities. The concentration and application is the same.