My hubby picked these up for me at the local flea market.. They look sad to me.. What can I do to care for them?
Venus Fly Trap
Whats the potting mix and does the pot have drainage holes?
Whatever you do don't fertilize them or water with tap water..the salts in it eventually kill them.
They just need a peat moss, sand, perlite mix and kept moist. They die down during winter but grow back again as it warms up.
breeindy,
This is the container that they was in when he bought them, so I'm not sure exactly what the potting medium but it does look to have some perlite in it. There are not drain wholes. I didn't know if I was supposed to since it came this way.,.. I have watered it only with distilled water as I recalled something about tap water would kill them..
Can you tell me a little about their habits.. Sometimes I notice the "stem and leaves" (as you can see I'm VFT illiterate) sometimes they are standing up and sometimes they are laying down.. When I noticed them laying around, I thought I was killing it, but then I see them up..
Feeding? Do I need to have my boys 11 and 14 feed them once or twice a month? and what do they eat, other than flies? Is there anything I need to do to winterize them or do I just leave them be? They are in the house but I'm thinking of placing them on the covered patio in the spring.
Sorry for all the questions.. Hubby bought them because he thought the kids would enjoy them, being boys and all. He just assumed that I would figure out how to care for them....
I'd repot it into a smaller, shallow plastic pot with drainage(they do rot). Use peat moss (not peat bricks but real peat moss). Can buy it from any garden shop/hardware/nursery.
Mix with coarse river sand(not beach sand as salts there worst enemy). Can also add perlite for better drainage if you like.
I don't know to much about them but have had a heap for years and there growing great so can't be doing to bad. ha!
I think they sand up when they come out and gradually lay letting the newer leaves come out..and so on??
They like a fair bit of sun,they go redder in the sun and greener in more shade.
They'll die down in winter when you can keep them alittle dryer but shoot back in spring when you can pretty much keep them moist all the time.
DONOT FEED THE TRAPS.. especcially poking fingers in them and then no food. The energy it takes to shut and reopen draws from the plant if no food is in them. The food has to be moving to get the traps to shut right up as the inside hairs that shut the traps have to be moved by the bug a certain amount of times in a period of time(don'tknow how many or how long). Traps that shut with nothing will die.
Tap water eventually kills them as the salts build up. They never need fertilizer or feeding, they'll catch there own bugs. People can't help but poke the traps and shut them, which will kill the plant eventually. You don't need to sit flytraps in water just water when they dry abit(peatmoss does stay wet for a while).
I find theres alot of other carnivorous plant are easier to grow then Dionaea's(fly traps), like Nepenthes and sarracenias. Neps don't die down, can handle tap water and can be grow inside as they like more shade. Sarra's stick they out in the sun sitting in trays of water and thats it really.
They send up flower spikes a fair bit which aren't really anything to look at flower wise, i cut the spikes off to save energy in the plant(well im not going to grow any from seed,takes to long). Water by sitting in a tray of water and the peat will soak it up otherwise the water can shut the traps.
this one has a ant in it..
Thanks Breeindy for all the info. I will move them to diff pot and medium immediately.
daisylovn: Did you get your plant straightened out? In your zone, you can grow them outdoors in a bog garden. They like a winter dormancy period and it looks like your traps could be very red with sun. I think mine is a green variety.
3jsmom31- there is the green form of flytraps that will stay green in full sun but most go redder the more sun, and they love sun.
Mine is on a southwestern (brightest) windowsill and not a hint of red, but I know indoor light is still weak compared to what they need. Mine was sold in a cube and I have tried to give it dormancy by keeping it in a barely heated window. I plan on moving it outside next spring and letting it live a better life :). Then I'll know what color the traps are finally.