My New Plant

[vanessa]

I bought a Venus Fly Trap plant yesterday. Am researching to learn how to care for it. Do any of you have one? How is it working out for you?

Vanessa

[1joyceh]

I have a little collection of plants. I keep them always in a saucer of water, never feed them, give them bright, indirect light, and, in the case of the flytrap, a live fly once in a while, if it doesn't get one of it's own. In the fall, I cut off the foliage, pop them in a ziplock and on to the fridge for 3 months...take them out put them on a bright windowsill, and they come back to life

[BGGraham1]

That's funny. I just picked two up on Saturday, and the instructions on the box / terrarium were pretty lame.

thanks for posting the question...

[vanessa]

So far so good. There are videos on YouTube that explain how to care for venus fly traps. They also eat other insects. I fed it a small spider the other day.

[BGGraham1]

I don't know if you've noticed, but with mine, I have found a LOT of those little gnats flying around both of the Venus flytraps I got. None of the little "traps" closed on the ones that were just walking around. I wonder if their dead?

How can you tell?

[1joyceh]

there are 3 little "trigger" hairs inside the trap, the gnats are too small to trigger them.
I use butterworts everywhere around the plants for the soil gnats..the leaves are like sticky paper...and give off an attractant that lures then, like the flytrap. The little devil's spawn lands..and it stuck...the plant then absorbs the gnat...getting bigger and making plantlets, which can multiply quickly, depending on how many gnats it absorbs.......

[jpyerry]

Vanessa,

I grow carnivorous plants, CP's were my main botanical interest before I got hooked on orchids. If you are looking for advice, I would like to point you to the following website: The Carnivorous Plant FAQ it is great website that is full of information.

I will admit that I am not the best grower of VFTs, I have killed quite a few. I consider them to be most finicky amongst the more 'common' CPs, except for maybe Cephalotus. Not to scare you off, but I've found that one minor mistake or accident in care will generally lead to a rapid plant demise. By which I mean, I once had to be gone from town for a day longer than I thought. The plants dried and promptly died.

As for the care, water only with distilled water (or RO water, but distilled is preferred), and give them as much light as possible, they prefer full sunlight, but this is not always practical if you are growing indoors. Keep the humidity over 60%. Never fertilize and be very careful of soil that might contain nutrients. The classic mix is 1:1:1:1 sand, peat moss, perlite, and milled sphagnum. I grow mine is long fiber sphagnum moss only.

Good luck,
Justin

[1joyceh]

I used to make "the mix" for mine, but, one day ran out...just used the spagnum, as Justin suggested, and the plant did as well as with the mix, now...a lot easier, especially with the butterworts, as they multipy constantly....

[vanessa]

Originally Posted by jpyerry

Vanessa,

I grow carnivorous plants, CP's were my main botanical interest before I got hooked on orchids. If you are looking for advice, I would like to point you to the following website: The Carnivorous Plant FAQ it is great website that is full of information.

I will admit that I am not the best grower of VFTs, I have killed quite a few. I consider them to be most finicky amongst the more 'common' CPs, except for maybe Cephalotus. Not to scare you off, but I've found that one minor mistake or accident in care will generally lead to a rapid plant demise. By which I mean, I once had to be gone from town for a day longer than I thought. The plants dried and promptly died.

As for the care, water only with distilled water (or RO water, but distilled is preferred), and give them as much light as possible, they prefer full sunlight, but this is not always practical if you are growing indoors. Keep the humidity over 60%. Never fertilize and be very careful of soil that might contain nutrients. The classic mix is 1:1:1:1 sand, peat moss, perlite, and milled sphagnum. I grow mine is long fiber sphagnum moss only.

Good luck,
Justin

Thank you Justin! So far mine is doing well. I have fed it a moth and some spiders. Haven't caught it a fly yet.

Vanessa

[vanessa]

Originally Posted by 1joyceh

I used to make "the mix" for mine, but, one day ran out...just used the spagnum, as Justin suggested, and the plant did as well as with the mix, now...a lot easier, especially with the butterworts, as they multipy constantly....

Thank you Joyce!

Vanessa