New Hartland Twp. nursery finds niche selling Venus flytraps, carnivorous 'killer' plants
Thousands of Venus flytraps and other carnivorous plants are growing at a new Hartland Township nursery.
Killer Plant Co. started as an online business and opened a new brick-and-mortar store late last month at 3554 Avon St. in the township's historic village district.
The nursery sells plants and growing supplies specific to helping carnivorous plants — which have a reputation of being tricky — survive, thrive and multiply.
Carnivorous plants trap and digest insects, spiders and other creatures as part of their diet. They also produce energy from the sun through photosynthesis like other plants. Some carnivorous plants such as pitchers can consume small mammals and reptiles.
The nursery sells King Henry, red dragon and Flexx Cultivar Venus flytraps.
It also sells pitcher plants, including Nepenthes, purple pitchers and trumpet pitchers.
"We're trying to change the industry by actually educating people how to grow them," said Joey Stinson, the company's founding president.
He said his goal is to provide customers with the knowledge and supplies they need to be successful growing the plants indoors and outdoors.
"They have very strict growing instructions to keep them alive," Stinson, who operates the nursery with his girlfriend Kristin Freshwater, said.
He said in the wild, they grow in boggy areas on peat moss, in conditions with no nitrogen.
He said to grow them in a pot, they should be planted in sphagnum moss in a deep pot and tray watered with distilled or reverse osmosis water.
"If you put them in regular dirt or water them with tap water, they'll die."
They also need 14 or more hours a day of direct sunlight or light from a grow light.
To help people grow them indoors, Killer Plant Co. sells special indoor Venus flytrap terrariums with automatic light timers.
Step-by-step instructions
The nursery offers a build-a-plant process that takes customers through all the steps of caring for carnivorous plants.
"We'll teach them how step by step and sell the products they need one by one so they have everything they need," Stinson said. "When you leave here, it's your responsibility to keep the plant going."
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They also provide instructions on the nursery's website.
Stinson said he wants to do special events, possibly in coordination the Cromaine Library and local schools, and plant swaps.
"We want to do educational events and build a small carnivorous plant community right here," he said. "Nobody has done it like this."
Big dreams
Stinson has other goals, including taking a larger share of the carnivorous plant market.
He said there are very few nurseries that produce and sell carnivorous plants.
"We are selling about 1,000 a month now, but we're trying to steal the market and do 7,000 a month," Stintson said.
He said he hopes to get Killer Plant Co. product displays into large retailers.
"The plan is to have a pop-up display in stores where they will already be potted with the right soil and instructions," he said.
They are working with a tissue culture lab to genetically modify Venus flytraps.
"I want to produce Venus flytraps that produce the largest leaves," Stinson said.
He originally started the company out his home when he lived in Fenton, using the garage and yard as a nursery and selling plants online.
He and Freshwater now live in Howell with their newborn son.
Starting a new nursery and family is not all that is on his plate.
He also works as e-commerce manager at Genoa Township-based CJ Chemicals and chief operating officer at Ecoxall in Brighton. CJ Chemicals Chief Financial Officer Josh Lee is a partner in Killer Plant Co.
As a start-up entrepreneur, Stinson said he saw an opportunity in carnivorous plants.
"I discovered a year ago it's really only two guys," he said. There isn't much competition. And 70,000 people a month search for Venus flytrap."
Contact Livingston Daily reporter Jennifer Timar at jtimar@livingstondaily.com. Follow her on Twitter @jennifer_timar.
This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: New nursery specializes in Venus flytraps, carnivorous "Killer" plants
