I got my flytrap/sundew combo planting from a guy in Beaver OR who had a whole greenhouse full of various carnivorous plants, including one VFT he bought in a tiny two inch container many years before–when I saw it, it was in a gallon pot and it was huge! Probably fifty or sixty trap jaws on it, some of them two inches long–I didn’t walk too close to that one…
Anyway, he emphasized the need for the right planting mix, which was basically a combination of sand and sphagnum moss. The plants need the soil to drain even though they like their feet wet. I was told to let it sit in water all the time and it loved the conditions. It would die back in the winter and I’d put straw mulch over the pot (only time it’s okay to let it go dry at the roots) and it survived several snowstorms outdoors. I had it for several years, it did flower more than once, but it finally just croaked for no real reason. All in all, about the easiest houseplant I’ve ever had, short of lucky bamboo.
Very rewarding plants, overall–definitely give them a try!
Yes, but they’re not happy about it and they won’t grow well and the traps don’t work as well. They like warmer temps, between 75 and 85 F. If you grow them in a terrarium, you can use the heat from your lighting to keep them in this range.
I was answering right and left untill I saw that Levdragon already had.
No fertilizer, pinch back the bloom, don’t feed meat, don’t play with the traps. They have a limited number of closings.
I got some through the Winter in mid Arkansas, Zone 7. I bought some on Ebay raised from seed in my area. The ones from WalMart did just as well when I found the right amount of drainange in the tubs.
Peat moss and sand in buried tubs. They want to have their feet wet, but they don’t want to be in standing water for they will rot in the Spring. They need to go dormant for the Winter.
I also recommend The Savage Garden.
I covered the tub with a plastic lighting grid to keep the !@#$%^& armadillos off.
Various Sarracenia do very well in the tubs. I ignore them except in drought conditions. More peat moss in the Sarrs that the VFTs.
I worked at a greenhouse. The owner was born and raised in a greenhouse. He bought his own business in another town, and bought from his folks, using their operation, 6 acres under glass, for growing and warehousing. His grandfather invented many new flower breeds.
His folks insisted he carry venus fly traps, so he did. But he never sold one. He simply refused to sell the plants to anybody because they were so difficult to keep.
They are the tiny flies that I always find around the drain, most likely because there’s food residue stuck in there somewhere. If I don’t empty the trash for a few days, they congregate there too. They’re attracted to organic matter, and I’ve seen them flitting around my plants. I don’t want to get rid of my plants, and even though I never leave food out and always make sure the sink is clean, they always appear.
If it’s what I’m thinking of, it’s these guys. The only place I’ve ever had them was when I was younger & living in an old house in San Diego. Pesky little buggers but they did mostly hang out around the kitchen sink drain.
I was under the assumption that you weren’t supposed to buy VFT’s because they were being over harvested from their narrow natural range and could disappear from nature. I’m almost certain someone told me that at some point and time.
I got one to do pretty well by planting it in a pot with holes in the bottom and then suspending that pot in a larger one filled with water. I put it close to the window in my room in my fraternity house and made sure there was always water in the larger pot. It took off.
The plant did really well until I moved it to a coffee table and a prospective pledge passed out mid-sentence and did a header through the table. He recovered. The Venus Flytrap did not.
That’s them. They aren’t even competent flies! So slow and bumbling it’s a wonder they evolved at all. They hang out in the guest bathroom, but maybe I should put a terrarium on wheels so it’s mobile. I’ll call the terrarium: Attack Force Delta. Plus, then I could roll it out on the balcony to take on the skeeters.
Do you have a recommendation for a store bought terrarium with the lights and/or heater I’d need? I found a how-to guide on building one, but I don’t trust myself with electrical wiring.
Those are weird flies! I don’t have any flies like that, they look like anime flies!
Yes, you should never buy a Venus Flytrap harvested from the wild. Plants grown from seed or cuttings are fine, though. It goes without saying that should you find yourself in the Great Green Swamp where they’re from, you shouldn’t take one home with you.
Hi, I have been reading posts on this site for a few weeks, and have finaly decided to join (And I will most likley join for the year too).
I always wanted to grow a Venus Flytrap, but it’s just one of the things I never got around to doing. I read through most of the info on www.sarracenia.com about Venus Flytrap’s, but I still have some questions. Am I better off growing them from seeds, bulbs or buying an established plant? Am I really better off buying pre-planted ones, or should I plant them myself? I think I have an old fish aquarium. Would it be a good idea to turn it into a terrarium?
I am sorry for all the questions. And thank you for your time.
VFTs are easy to start from seed, but take years to grow.
They can’t live year round in a terrarium, for they need a dormant period.
Try and find a copy of The Savage Garden.
