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piranha338

Venus fly traps

18 years ago

Hi everybody, I just recently bought a venus fly trap at a local nursery. I used to have them before, but they constantly died(i was young, I'm 19 now). I am now a "good" gardener...I think. Do you have any tips on growing healthy plants?

Is it possible to over-feed a fly trap by giving it too many bugs? I have TONS of bugs and creepy crawlies at my house, so I was thinking to feed it lots of various bugs.

Are there any "bad" bugs?

Is there much trade-off to make the plant go dormant over winter, or to keep growing it? I think my plant is in a 2 or 3 inch pot. Thanks for the tips!

Brian

Comment (1)

  • 18 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    You may be a "good gardener" but that doesn't count for much at all for Venus flytraps that require a different care. If you have read the previous posts, VFT must have dormancy or they will become weak and die.

    Most of the answers of how to take care VFT have been answered in previous post but here it is.

    The growing media for VFT is one part sphagnum peat moss and one part perlite. Make sure the ingredients have no additives like fertilizer or wetting agents. Chemicals will kill your VFT, the media must be chemical free. Make sure it is sphagnum peat moss and not mulch peat or some other form of decorative moss. Don't buy premixed potting soil either, even if it contains sphagnum peat moss and perlite as one of its ingredients. Premixed potting soil contains additives that will kill your VFT.

    Do not use tap water or drinking water; both will contain mineral or salts. Using distilled water is best choice, followed by Reverse Osmosis water, and finally rainwater. Be careful with rainwater, as it can become contaminated from particles in the air. Keep the media wet but not too water log, that is easily done by placing it on a water dish.

    This are sun loving plants so make sure to put it in a protected but bright spot in your house. Don't worry about humidity, they will adapt quickly and as long as you keep their media moist, they will do just fine. But your plant may have been growing covered by a cup so you have to harden it first. For that, lift a corner of the cup a bit. Keep an eye for wilting. In a few days, lift the lid a bit more; it should be hardened in about a couple of weeks.

    Don't feed your VFT! Since it will be too weak to digest prey, normally most stores or wholesale nurseries don't take good care of them, unless it is a dedicated nursery that specializes in selling CPs. It takes a lot of energy for a VFT to move and digest a prey and that will cause sudden death to VFT. It will take a month for it to recover and it is better to let it go dormant once it does. The dropping photoperiod and cooling temperature will naturally trigger it into dormancy. The plant will slow down its growth and produce smaller sluggish closing traps. Cut down the water and only keep the soil moist just enough to keep the bulb from drying out. I personally put the dormant plant in a dark cool place for about 4 months. By spring, placing it in a warm bright spot will awaken your plant.

    You can feed VFT once it recovers to observe its trapping mechanism but make sure you give only insects smaller then the trap. Over feeding it will kill the leaf, too large a prey that doesn't allow it to seal the trap will cause rot and kill the trap. Teasing the leaf to close without prey will weaken the plant in time and cause sudden death. It has to restore the energy it expands closing the leaf. Don't feed beef to it because the oil on the meat will cause rot and kill the trap. It is better to let the plant capture its prey naturally.

    But like I said, it is better to let your VFT go dormant and wait for next year.

    Good luck!

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