New Venus Flytrap!A lot of questions...

Hello!
Ok so, I just bought a little Venus Flytrap at Lowes for about 5 Dollars. Her name is Audrey2 and she's in a little plasticbox with a lid on in. I guess it works like a greenhouse or something. So what do I do now with her? She's still very small maybe 2 inches tall or something. I already know not to give her tap water. How often do I give her water? Is it okay to just take tap water and let it stay in a glass for a couple of days so that the chlorine disapears? Is it true that they need a LOT of water? I read a lot of different things about that. I already fed it a little spider I hope that was ok? What about that dormancy? It's january now so how do I do that with her now? Oh, and do I take the lid off of the box or leave it on there? I'm sorry those are a lot of questions but I really want to do this right and not let little Audrey2 die...I'm looking forward to your answers!

 

Native to low fertility soils in wetlands where it is very bright and humid. The "carnivorous" habit was evolved to overcome the deficiency of the soil in its habitat. Indoors the enemies will be low light and humidity levels. You need really strong light to get compact growth with large colorful traps.

 

The little plastic 'greenhouse' cup the venus fly trap is in, acts like a terrarium. Water only when humidity is not visible on sides of plastic top. If it dries out once, it's dead. Watering with distilled is best, letting tap water set for several days to get rid of chlorine is second best. However, depending on your water source, you may have other heavy metals etc in the water that may be harmful. Leaving the lid on the cup, means you will only need to water rarely. Once or twice a season is my bet...Place in as bright a light as possible without burning it to death. Yes, normally they go dormant, but that is only if grown outdoors. Feeding your plant insects is not necessary, but fun to show children. Typically those cups of carnivorous plants are sold as a novelty item. Fertilize it once a season with 1/2 strength liquid fertilizer. If it happens to live till summer, and you have a bog garden, you can plant it outdoors once warm enough. You'll have to bring it indoors in fall if colder than zone 6-7ish. I know people using protection have success overwintering fly traps in zone 5. Good luck.

 

You probably know this already but just in case.....you MUST NOT spring the traps without anything inside them as it takes the plant a lot of energy to close them and if there's nothing there for it to eat, it'll die (if you do this over a prolonged period).

Good luck with Audrey, venus fly traps are notoriously difficult to look after. Having said that I am quite tempted to get one just to see if I can keep it alive.

 

Okay so thanks for your answers! I still have some more questions though. Wenn I put Audrey2 on the window sill she'll get Light but it's very cold. Will the cold kill her? What is more important, the light or the warmth? And so she's in my room so she doesn't have whole lot of flyes or anything. Actually non, should I kill a fly or spider or something like that about 2 times a month and and give it to her then or does she not need food necissarily or something?

 

According to Houseplant expert Audrey2 will be fine as long as your windowsill doesn't get colder than 10 degrees Celsius (50F), if it does she may struggle....I'm not an expert but I'd have thought keeping her warm would be more important and you can always buy a lamp to give her good light if you want to move her somewhere warmer.

I'd only feed her once every month, she doesn't need flies to survive but they will be a good supplement to the nutrients she gets from her soil.

 

yes use a lamp that is what I did with mine + it keps the plant warm. you could buy some (5) or soe small crickets but you don't have to. currently I have a purple pitcher plant. :)

 

Blake,

Do you have a photo of your pitcher plant? I really like the looks of that plant, but they look difficult...

 

heres a (my onley photo) It looks like it is doing bad rite now but that picture was taken a few weeks ago.......... it is doing better now, it is currently in it's small greenhouse (made it from a pretsil box) :)

 

rite now it has 17 pitchers (see the babby pitcher in the middle?). For some strange reason it has not turned purple yet. I have had it for 2 years. I cover the top with cling rap and have a (I think it is a 60 what bulb) and I let it get some humidity + I mist it. it has ben repotted 2 times so far. It was very hard to repot it! I will occasieonley feed it some crickets ( I get the crickets from pets mart) (the main reason I feed it crickets is because I have a lizerd) When we have froot flys it eats them :) thats why it isn't coverd up. During the winter I tarp it.( cover it up with cling rap) and keep it warm i will occasieonley open it to let freash air in.

 

That's a cool looking plant!

 

I'm not sure where to go for expert advice on growing flytraps. Their native habitat is sand soils with a fair amount of organic matter and very low nutrient levels. They will grow happily on road edges, and in fact an introduced population south of Tallahassee, Florida is living on a road right of way (unless they've been exterminated to discourage them from spreading--I haven't checked on the situation for a decade or so).

In nature, they do go dormant in the winter and will put up with substantial cold.

The Atlanta Botanical Garden and the North Carolina Botanical Garden have been quite successful at creating mini-bogs for flytraps and pitcher plants.

 

I'm not sure if someone has said this yet or not, but be careful if you do feed it a live insect. Don't feed anything large, as it will cause the plant to die :(

You can buy fruit fly cultures from petstores and online, and those are nice small prey items if you are set on feeding it live prey.

 

I did not know that.......

 

It's because most insects have living bacteria on/in them. If the prey item is too big, then the plant can't digest it fast enough, and then bacteria will grow. Also, it will cause a lot of stress on the little plant trying its hardest to digest such a large food item.

Unless you were talking about the fruit fly cultures being bought online....I know that because I keep tarantulas and scorpions, and what would baby tarantulas, and scorpions eat....teeny tiny flies!

 

I've had my VFT for three months and it's thriving by my bedside window (facing southwest.) The stems are long and strong but some of the heads are small. Right now there are a few stems with clusters of balls at the head. Is this okay. I was hoping for larger heads to effectively catch larger flies than fruit flies.

It's sitting open in a cup of distilled water. There are many new growth but it looks like the heads will not grow as large as when I first bought it.

 

Here you go Audrey2 http://cobraplant.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=8 most people have the misconception that fly traps live in jungles lol, i grow mine on my patio (which, in truth i live 100 miles from their natural habitat)

Blake i am AMAZED you can keep the sarracenia alive indoors! it's extremely difficult... but if i may advise you: the reason theres no purple coloration yet is because in nature the sarracenia grows in full sunlight. here is a care sheet for you in case you need any advice http://cobraplant.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=10

Good luck with your VFT Audrey2 :-)

 

that was in the winter, in the summer I grow it out in openlee like any other plant. almost every pitcher has some purple to it and others are full purple. It also over the winter made a seperate plant, and of corse I seperated them Ill take a picture of it lader...

 

heres the new plant that it made.

 

Audrey2 - any update on your Venus Flytrap? I just saw this thread. Carnivorous plants in general cannot tolerate tap water. Pure water, either rain water, R/O or distilled is best. The plants that you get at the big box stores that come with the 'domes' are usually tissue cultured by the millions, and they are not sold according to their life cycle (they should be dormant in January). Those domes should be removed, to let the plant grow properly. It's just there to keep them from drying out before being sold. Keep your plant in high light, moderate temperatures, and sit in a tray of pure water. Humidity is not an issue. Keep it outside for the summer, and it will feed itself! No need for you to give it food. In the winter, keep it near a cool window, and it 'should' go dormant on it's own. Give it less water, but still never let it dry out. I have grown these for many years, and this has worked for me.

 

Yeah I'm interested too......I just got my own today, reduced at homebase, we'll see if it was a good idea or not shortly!

 

I've had 3 VFT's for about a year now and they've just gone into dormancy. Is that normal in August?
I've used either rain water or the water from my fish tank when I've done a water change, to water them. Fish tank water is high in nitrates and the chlorine disperses pretty quick after putting it in the tank.
The plants seem to have loved it. I've never given them any additional food. I've got a whole bunch of plants in my bedroom and the VFT's do a real good job of controlling small flies!

 

I'd have thought that might be a touch early, but if you've kept them alive for a year already its probably fine. Maybe they've just convinced themselves its autumn with all the silly weather we've been having!

Cunning plan, i'd never have thought of that, we've only just set our fish tank up however and the water pH is about 8 so it might be too alkaline for my VFT?

Well I've managed to keep mine alive a week and it seems to be shooting out new traps like nobody's business so I doubt mine will be going dormant anytime soon....

Do let us know when you get your VFT HBL, we can exchange tips!

 

I just bought one of these Venus fly traps. They are so cool. I touched on of the traps, and it closed. Too bad because that is not good for them. I potted it with the moss it came in and have a dish of water beneath it to keep it moist.
I took a quick pic too.

 

Traps can handle about 3 'closures' before they die. If a trap closes without any prey in it, it has used enery for nothing, and, therefore, is not very good for the plant. Try not to do that too many times. Wait until spring, then put your plant outside - it will feed itself!

I noticed that you had your plant in a clay pot - is it potted directly in this, or do you have a pastic pot inside? Is it a glazed pot? I ask, because clay will dry out quickly, and it is quite a large pot for the plant size. You have it sitting in water, which is good, but make sure you keep it wet. Also, there might be 'impurities' in the clay that can leach out into the media, and that's not good for carnivorous plants. As pure water as possible. If you want clay, go for a glazed pot with NO drainage hole - this will keep it from drying out.