venus flytrap but no flies

Any help would be appreciated. I bought a venus flytrap thinking that it would eliminate the fungus gnats around my plants, but they don't seem to be trapped by it, and I am concerned that it isn't getting any food. Some of the shoots died, so I finally gave it a few drops of fertilizer and it seems to be sending up new stems. What should I do given that there are no flies inside and I don't think that it can survive outside. I've already read that feeding it meat or cheese is out, even though some tips say that works.

...go visit a dairy....they have more flies than ANYONE needs! But seriously.....you can swat fly-sized bugs to stun them and drop them into the trap (I would use soft-bodied things, not beetles). Maybe try ants and earwigs, they wiggle around a lot, they might work. Let us know how you do!

K ;~D

I can't tell you what to feed your flytrap BUT I can tell you how to eliminate those nasty lil gnats...lol
Try sprinkling a tsp or so of Bayers Mosquito Repellant granules on the top of each house plant, then water it in and every 30-60 days or so refresh the granules.Also add the granules to any new plant you buy and bring into the house. It worked on my AV collection with no harmful side effects.

MsC

Thanks!

I've read that venus fly traps can survive without actually eating any flies...I guess since they still produce chloraphyll. Mine wasn't getting enough humidity so I stuck it in a cut off coke bottle, which assures that it wont be getting any flies and last I checked it was still living. I'm going to look up this information though. But for now, that's the information I'm basing my care off of. Susanne

Thanks. I've been giving it distilled water, and a few drops of watered down fertilizer every few weeks and it seems to be okay, but it's not growing much.

Be careful not to fertilize very much. The reason that plants become
are carnivorous is that they live in very infertile areas. The only way
they get nutrients is to consume the bugs. I went on an eco-tour to
coastal NC last year and we saw them in roadside ditches. Fantastic!

Tam

PS: I found a fan on my seedlings kept the fungus gnats at bay.

Most carniverous plants will not take nutrients through soil well if at all. There are tiny "hairs" within the "mouth" of the flytrap that trigger the close and digestion process. When a "bug" lands and moves it triggers these hairs. Nature has made them very foolproof and just messing with them with a q-tip might not work. A good way to feed em and they dont need but a few "bugs" a month is to catch and drop soft bodied insects into the mouth.

Hope this helps.

cover them with bubble rap for a while , let them get heathy and don't worry about feeding them and they will do fine. Mine do. Oh they best be in spag. moss.

Thanks for the info! I've been giving it distilled water, and that's all. I will add a plastic cover.