Venus Fly Trap

[MySweetChickens]

If this is in the wrong area sorry

So i just bought one from meijer The plan is to put it in a 5 inch deep pot with 1 third sand and 2 thirds peat moss it will be in a window facing north meijer didn't have good lighting on it really the sun wont burn the plant right? (its in a black plastic pot until i can re pot it just need to buy the peat moss) any tips or words of advice its almost fall here and i don't want to kill it. Its currently out of the original terrarium and eating a cricket and 3 flies

.

Thanks

 

[MySweetChickens]

bump

 

[shortgrass]

Oh wow lol, my daughter wanted one, and coming from someone who likes to think they inherited their green thumb from grandma.... I killed it. Lol I can do African violets, bloom all year, orchids, bloom all year, gardenia, poinsettia...I like a challenge lol but that Venus flybtrap got the best of me... Probably because I lost my greenhouse

Indirect light, lots of it. Humidity close to 50%. Keep moist but not waterlogged. Sand and peat, perfect. Maybe a wee bit of orchid mix for the big chunky bark bits...

The humidity or lack of, I should say, is what did mine in I tried to terrarium it at the end but it was too late. Seems that too much watering will waterlog it and then not enough humidity made it transpire to death.

Good luck lol... Moist but not waterlogged is the key

 

[MySweetChickens]

thank you!! though from all the websites I read a terrarium can kill it apparently bacteria can grow from the moisture but I wouldn't know

. How long did yours last it could have died from over watering while it was dormant...just a thought though

Again thanks for the help

 

[dekel18042]

If this is in the wrong area sorry

So i just bought one from meijer The plan is to put it in a 5 inch deep pot with 1 third sand and 2 thirds peat moss it will be in a window facing north meijer didn't have good lighting on it really the sun wont burn the plant right? (its in a black plastic pot until i can re pot it just need to buy the peat moss) any tips or words of advice its almost fall here and i don't want to kill it. Its currently out of the original terrarium and eating a cricket and 3 flies

.

Thanks

My kids had venus fly traps forever, it seems. They were in pots pretty far back from a southern window and they thrived.
Then more recently I got my own. I put it in an eastern window and I thought it was far back enough, but NO, it burned and died in a very short time. In talking to others, they need to have a light source, but be away from it. In nature, they usually have plants growing over them which shades them. I had it in an area where I have my violets and phalaenopsis (orchids) which do well so I thought it was safe, but apparently not. I was told I should have tucked it under one of the broad phal leaves.

 

[MySweetChickens]

That makes sense mines in the north but seems to get enough light since the inside of the traps are red/pink though I don't think it will burn since it gets maybe 2 or 3 hours of direct sunlight behind a curtain that might as well not even be there

 

[shortgrass]

thank you!! though from all the websites I read a terrarium can kill it apparently bacteria can grow from the moisture but I wouldn't know  . How long did yours last it could have died from over watering while it was dormant...just a thought though   Again thanks for the help

That's exactly what happened, I think... It was nearing the end of summer; I had gotten it the spring of the same year...poor little guy only lived 5 months lol.... I think it probably was going dormant, and I noticed it was too wet but before I could repot, it started to brown on some if the leaves... So I stopped watering to repot and tried to just up the humidity by putting it under glass.... And by then I gave up because my daughter wasn't going to help with HER plant and I was too frustrated with it lol

I should have just repotted it; it probably would have lived... Lazy

 

[MySweetChickens]

arent we all though I still need to get peat moss from TSC to re-pot it though its thriving for now definitely running out tomorrow someone may have to drag me there though XD

 

[MySweetChickens]

just wanted to ask what month do they usually go dormant its august here...

 

[dheltzel]

I used to raise VFT's by the hundreds and they do very well in full direct sun, that is where you will find them in the wild. The critical part of growing them is understanding the particular morphology of their roots. Their roots are adapted to high moisture areas (boggy, swampy areas), to do that, they grow few root hairs, just larger cordlike roots that are very inefficient at extracting moisture from the substrate. Have you ever rooted a plant in a glass of water? Those roots are far different than what the same plant would have in soil. VFT's have those sorts of roots, so they must be kept very wet, but the leaves and crown can't be submerged (they are not semi-aquatic like the pitcher plants).

I recommend long fiber spagnum moss as the only substrate you need. Pot them into a 3 or 4 inch pot and submerge the pot in water up to half it's height. Place in full sun, or if they were in the dark (spent time on a shelf in a store), then partial sun, moving them to more sun as they adapt. Outside in the spring, summer, and fall is ideal.

Never fertilize them, their roots are not capable to absorbing the nutrients efficiently and it just adds salts to the water that hurts the root's ability to absorb water by osmosis. Change the water regularly so it doesn't get stagnant. Don't feed more than 1 bug at a time, and never hamburger or any other meat. Really, they need very little in feeding, one bug supplies a huge amount of nitrogen for them.

So much mis-information about these, they are really quite easy to grow as long as you don't treat them like regular plants.