# Can I create a cannibalistic plant?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-create-a-cannibalistic-plant/230459>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [February 22, 2004, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-create-a-cannibalistic-plant/230459 "2004-02-22T02:49:15Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Stainless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Stainless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stainless)\
**Post date:** [February 22, 2004, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-create-a-cannibalistic-plant/230459/1 "2004-02-22T02:49:15Z")

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With a diabolical subject like that, you’re **sure** to be disappointed with the actual question. But, I made you look!

Anyway, I eat a ton of oranges. I just really like them, but I hate throwing away the vitamin rich skins that have just **got** to be good for something. I’m also growing a lemon tree, which is about three feet tall. So, in a flash of brilliance, I put some orange peels in a food processor and prepared to feed the resulting coarse gruel to my tree.

It was then that I thought, “Isn’t this really acidic?” and paused to ask the dopers before I kill what I have grown from a seed over the last few years.

Thus, my question: are ground-up orange skins too acidic to use as lemon-tree food? I also have a sprawling basil plant, how about for that one?

Thanks for any advice.

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**Author:** ![blasphmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6de8d8/32.png) [@blasphmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blasphmer)\
**Post date:** [February 22, 2004, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-create-a-cannibalistic-plant/230459/2 "2004-02-22T04:36:26Z")

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Well it’d be quite unordinary and probably require gene splicing but I believe that a pitcher plant or fly-trap plant could be gnetically induced to grow to larger proportions that it would need small mamalian type animals for protein intake. However don’t expect anything like \* Little shop of Rocky Horror\* without some major gene splicing. And overall I’d say not worth it.

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**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\
**Post date:** [February 22, 2004, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-create-a-cannibalistic-plant/230459/3 "2004-02-22T23:42:12Z")

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I would reccomend posting your actual question in GQ with a descriptive title, since this seems as if it would have a concrete answer.