Interview with Matze from Green Jaws
Please tell us a little about yourself.
Hey, I’m Matze from Ludwigsburg, Germany. I’m 34 years old and grow carnivorous plants for more than 25 years now. My passion is mostly for Sarracenia, Dionaea and Cephalotus. And luckily my biggest hobby became my passion and I’m running the carnivorous plant nursery Green Jaws now.
What’s your favorite plant and why?
Nepenthes villosa, since I saw this plant on Mount Kinabalu on my first trip in Asia and Borneo in 2010, I was totally fascinated and it always remind me on my good time and most excited trip in Borneo.
What first sparked your interest for carnivores?
When I was 8 years old, it was definitely the Venus flytrap in a garden center.
What’s your best tip for growing carnivores?
I always try to make the cultivation as easy as possible, and the easiest thing is to put them out into the direct sun, that’s what they like most, and why not create a nice mini bog, that’s the easiest way to cultivate carnivorous plants. Also, I’m not a fan of terrarium cultivation and artificial lights
What if you don’t have a green thumb? What’s the hardest carnivorous plant to kill?
I would say a standard Nepenthes is one of the robust plants, as they can survive dryness and overwatering, and always want to survive. But a Drosera capensis is a plant which is very hard to kill, too… Haha
What has been your biggest failure/learning experience in your garden/greenhouse?
You can’t grow everything. Especially as a beginner you always try to grow everything, but carnivorous plants are growing all over the world, with different climate and sometimes very specific conditions. It’s very hard to get this all into one place. Better is to focus on the plants which can grow perfect in your conditions and get some experience on them first. Then you can try new plants.
What challenges do you face in your specific area/country/climate? And have you found a “solution” or a way to work around or with those challenges?
Well, for Sarracenia, Flytraps and a lot of Drosera we have some great conditions in Germany, and they can be grown very easy in a mini bog. But one of the most challenging plants for me is Darlingtonia, as it is too hot in summers, and they not really like the warmer temperatures. So I always try something new with them to get a stable cultivation. The latest was the change of the soil to a mineral mix and now I have some very good results with it.
What is your favourite task in the garden/greenhouse?
Repotting and propagation 🙂
What is your least favourite task in the garden/greenhouse?
Cut out the old leafs in winter, because that means the season is over 🙁
Who or what inspires you?
I’m inspired by nature! I love to see carnivorous plants in the wild and try to grow them as good as there. And when I see the environmental destruction, destruction of habitats and at least poaching, that makes me very sad. So I try to grow a very high genetic potential and doing some conservation for these fantastic plants.
How many plants do you have approximately?
Hmm… too many to count, but I guess something about 40.000 plants…
Thanks for the interview Matze!
Check out his Instagram page.
