Help keep my Venus Fly Trap alive

Just got one, read a bit on the internet about it, but I need to know the specifics:

  1. Can I keep the soil damp with tap water?
  2. What am I supposed to do in the “dormant” phase?
  3. Can I keep my VFT on a window-sill?
  4. How tolerant is my VFT of hot/cold temperatures?

Thanks for your answers!

Don’t overfeed it! - each of the traps can only digest a few flies before they wither and die - if you fill them all up, all the time, they will all die off at once and this could kill the plant.

1st let me say:

I DON’T KNOW

With that out of the way it would seem from my limited experence with the meat eater plant (well insect eating) that it has to be kept warm and damp. Also, even though tempting, don’t triger false alarms.

I haven’t had a VFT for a while, but my top Fly Trap tips are thus:

DO NOT use tap water. Rain water is the way to go - they like ACID conditions. Most tap water contains plenty of calcium, which is bad news.

Ideally, your VFT came in a pot of sphagnum moss, rather than standard compost. Keep it nice and wet, but don’t actually stand it in water constantly.

Don’t keep toying with the traps. It’s fun, but they’ll wear out and die.

Don’t put big chunks of meat in them. I once enticed a huge spider to go into one of the traps on my VFT, and the whole thing went rotten :frowning:

Window sill should be OK, as long as it is not in blazing sunlight.

They come from North Carolina IIRC, so try to keep it in a Carolina-swamp kind of ambience, I guess… :smiley:

My advice is most applicable to Southern California, where I live. I grew venus fly traps for a couple of years (till I got bored with them). I will probably be building a new bog sometime in the fall.

I am lucky enough to be able to keep my plants out doors all year round. You probably won’t be that lucky since your location says Northern England. Will it keep on a window-sill? I would guess it might be able to depending on how much light it gets. VFTs love full sun and heat. They also like to keep damp (but not soggy) and humid. Finding such a situation on a window sill can be a challenge, but not impossible.

Can you use tap water? How pure is your water? If it’s not pretty pure, you might be better off buying water just for your plants. I know I had to. Tap water here in San Diego has too high of a mineral content, and these minerals build up in the soil and can harm the plant’s roots. Since pots with VFTs are rarely flushed (mine were always set in trays full of water so that the soil kept moist all of the time), the salts and other minerals just don’t leave the soil.

Mine were okay with the cooler temperatures I got on my semi-protected patio, but we only got an occasional light freeze. They go fully dormant during those periods. They thrived on the 80’s and 90’s we get during our summer and fall, but it was a challenge to keep the soil moist during those heat waves.

Finally, the biggest problem I would think with growing them indoors is a possible lack of food for your plants. VFTs should never be fertilized, and should get all nutrients from insects they catch and digest. For best health, they should eat the kinds of food they adapted to catch, mostly small flies. Other foods are either too rich or too indigestible, and can cause long-term problems.

If you find yourself continuing to be interested in insectivorous plants, check out the book “The Savage Garden.” It describes a large number of insectivorous plants and how to raise them.

Good luck!
JOhn.

Thanks for the replies.

Growing one outside is a definate no-go, as the ground frosts up here would kill it without question.

I’d already watered my VFT with tap water (I know), will it be alright? There’s a container outside where all the rainwater collects, I’ll use that from now on.

One last question! I think my VFT trap may be developing a flower, but since it’s only a tiny thing I’m not entirely sure, it might be a leaf. Should I get rid of it anyway? It looks a bit like this but on a much smaller scale - should I get rid of it just to be on the safe side?

Lawdy, I don’t have a clue!
I loves 'em, but I kills 'em.
Good luck and I’ll be watching this thread for sure. :wink:

When I saw the title, I thought you were going to ask us to send you flies.

If I am not mistaken those are new “traps” growing. Do not get rid of them. :slight_smile:

I can’t add to what others have posted. I had one for a couple of years, but the climate here in Texas was almost perfect for growing them.

:slight_smile:

This Site seemed to have some good quick tips on VFT care…

Good luck!

Yeah, that’s a new trap. VFTs only grow flowers in early to late may. They send up a single, long shoot straight up as much as a foot or so into the air (presumably to keep its pollenators from being eaten) and grows flowers only at the very tip. The flowers look like this. After the flowers have dried up, you can cut the shoot off at the base, if you wish.

FWIW, I worked for a greenhouse where the owner refused to sell them to the customers because they are so difficult to keep alive. He was required to carry them by his supplier, so he just kept a couple on hand to satisfy the supplier’s demand; but, whenever someone asked about them, he said that it will die and they’d be much better off with something else. So good luck! But don’t feel bad if it dies.

lol, you weirdo. I see you sitting there for hours on end gently prodding the spider along.
“Yes, thats it. Just a little more”.

P.S. I would do the same thing. :slight_smile: