The Little Garden of Horrors

I have been growing carnivorous plants in Singapore for more than 10 years. This love affair with CPs started when a family friend presented me with a Nepenthes ampullaria plant, which I promptly killed by planting it in garden soil. The CP community in Singapore was minute then, with only a handful of serious collectors. Nonetheless, they have been invaluable in imparting knowledge and skills and the emergence of the internet just made it even better. My own collection has increased from a single tray of assorted CPs to a dedicated garden for them, and even now I am still finding myself running out of space for the plants.

I try to grow as many representative genera of CPs as I can, but the main focus of my collection is in the cultivation of Sarracenia species and hybrids, aquatic Utricularia and various Drosera. Even though lowland and intermediate Nepenthes are easy to grow here, I have never been enamored with them. Perhaps it's due to their relatively messy growth habits, or that many of the more spectacular hybrids have been overhyped. My current collection is divided into 3 areas - a rack area exposed to full sun, a Nepenthes area with 50% shade cloth, and a balcony nursery which has both exposed and shaded areas, mainly for seedlings and young plants that need to be protected from the rain, and also tanks of aquatic Utricularia.

	Nepenthes area, with 50% shade cloth. For efficient watering, the area is installed with 20 misting nozzles that come on for 3 minutes, 3 times a day. The Nepenthes area also doubles up as an outdoors breakfast area when the weather is good. =)
	A series of customised Chennai wood (weather resistant wood) racks with a holding capacity of 6 of these large black water trays. Currently it holds only 4 trays as the top shelf is constantly being usurped by other garden plants and bonsai.

In Nov 2010 I will be moving to a new house that has a slightly larger garden, and the bulk of my temperate CPs will be housed on a south-facing balcony for the maximum amount of sunlight. I'm also in the midst of planning for a 3m x 2.5m indoors walk-in terrarium area with the eventual hope of converting it into a highland growth chamber.

Outside of CPs I work as a medical doctor, undergoing specialist training in Psychiatry with a special interest in geriatric psychiatry.