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Venus Fly Traps!

14 years ago

Hi! I'm Kaylee, and I have five lovely plants; a chinese jade, an anthurium, two peace lilies, and have just acquired a venus fly trap!

VFT

Problem is, I keep my VFT inside at the moment because it's still a bit cold outside (rain, wind and morning frost), and I hear it's do-able, as long as I keep it fed myself...but does anyone know exactly what kind of bugs it will like? If I just pick an ant off the path outside, will it eat it?

PL

On a totaly different plant, (I don't know if this is a problem yet), but I repotted my peace lily a few weeks ago because it was BURSTING out of its old pot. It had all these little leaves on the bottom but since repotting, they've all turned brown and died :( The unfurled leaves have mostly unfurled since, but I havent actually seen ANY new growth for the last couple of weeks. It's spring where I am and all my other plants seem to be going mad growing leaves and flowers, so I'm getting a little worried!

Thanks for any help!

Kay

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Comments (5)

taz6122
14 years ago
Hi Kay

Only water you VFT with rain, distilled or RO water. You need very bright lights to keep one inside but this is not the right time of the year to try. Vfts must have a winter dormancy and they should be kept outside now so that they can go dormant. When it looks like the leaves are dead, sprinkle with some kind of fungicide, put pot and all in a ziplock bag and put it in the frige until spring. Check it every week or two for mold and pour any excess water out. It might do ok outside but I don't know where you are. Any live bug small enough to fit in a trap will work for food (except caterpillars)and they don't need many. One bug a month will do. The most important things are water and light. VFTs grow much better outside in full sun. The Carnivorous plant forum on GW has lots of useful information on VFTs and other carnivorous plants. I have a few including 11 VFTs.
venustrapgirl
Original Author
14 years ago
Thank you taz - I am actually in New Zealand so tis getting to spring now, sorry should have made that clear!
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It also looks saveable to me. My advice would be to repot. I keep my Venus fly traps in pure sphagnum. Home Depot carries a bag for$5. For aesthetic reasons, and practicality, I like to keep my carnivorous plants in clear glass containers. I've found that those small clear $4 fish bowls from Michaels make great containers. It allows me to check the moisture levels at all times at a glance. But it's not needed. I personally use RODI water from a local fish store. but whatever you use make sure it's pure. I water when the moss is damp but not dry. Every month I drop about 3 pillbugs in each container and let them crawl into a random trap. Lastly is light. Fly traps like a lot of light. I keep mine in full sun outside. They get 8 hours of direct sun. So put them in the brightest spot available, and get a light. I personally use the Jansjo desk reading lamp from Ikea. it costs $8 and has worked for a variety of my growing needs. a desk lamp with the right bulb works just as well. anything else.... hmm... brightest spot, media, watering... Ooh. And I'm sure you know but they need a winter rest.
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The advice of not letting your VFT flower is always suggested because most people are not experienced or are new in growing CP, so these people barely have their VFT thriving. Flowering takes a lot of energy and if your plant is week, it can die. But if you have your plant growing very vigorously, theres no problem. I always let them flower, never had problems. When I was a beginner, of course I lost my pants until I was told to cut them off. Now I have no worries letting them flower. I had one VFT grow a flower stalk this late of the year but once I started to induce dormancy, the stalk aborted and died. That VFT is now dormant. To induce dormancy, just place it in a cool part of your house and give it less light. Now, most summer leaves will die and stop functioning, also your VFT will start to produce some smaller traps with sluggish movement if you trigger them. Those are winter leaves. Once the plant is dormant, cut down on the amount of water, just keeps its media moist to keep the bulb from drying out. I keep my dormant bulbs in a pot and simply place it in the coolest room next to a window. They will receive some sunlight but its not enough photoperiod to break their winter dormancy. I always let my VFT grow on the same media for 2 years before transplanting them on a fresh media. Or you can dig out your bulbs after it has become dormant, cut the old leaves to avoid rot, wrap it with moist LFS moss to keep the bulbs from drying out, place it in a Ziploc bag, and then put it in the fridge (not the icebox!). Always check now and then to make sure you keep the LFS moss moist but not wet and you can check on the condition of your bulb. The bulb should be white and crispy. Come spring you can plant them on fresh media to begin its new growth season. Good luck!
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taz6122
14 years ago
Well I shouldn't have taken for granted you were in the US either. The best and brightest compact lights are T5 fluorescent. You can also use T8 or T12 fluorescent. To get good color from the plant you need to have it as close to the lights as you can get w/o touching them but like I said earlier, best to grow if full sun. Introduce it slowly to the sun or it will burn.
venustrapgirl
Original Author
14 years ago
No thank you for the advice taz - I think I will take your advice and acclimatise it slowly to sun, it IS starting to get warmer here, just the early morning still a bit frosty and cold. I put it out in the sun this morning and it's already caught something! (At least I hope it has - one of its traps are closed!) :):)
taz6122
14 years ago
If it did catch the first meal of the spring, that is a good sign. A fast functioning trap means a healthy plant. You should be able to see the silhouette of the insect by holding it up in the light. Keep your plant in a tray of water(a cm or two) and never let it dry out completely. Start with a couple hours and increase sun by an hour every couple of days.

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