Variegated Venus Fly Trap? The 7 Latest Answer

Venus flytraps grow best in full sun in areas that are humid and cool in summer. For hot and dry locations, these plants thrive in full morning sun and afternoon partial shade. They like moist but not saturated soil and don’t need fertilizer. Keep houseplants in full sun or under plant lights to adapt to the outdoor photoperiod. Active growth begins in late winter, around March. New seedlings grow for about four months and then stop in anticipation of winter, but transplanting can tempt them to keep growing. Plants begin to shed summer leaves as daylight gets shorter and slow growth as temperatures begin to drop.

Venus flytraps are perennial, carnivorous plants that can live up to 20 years in the wild. While most of their energy is obtained through photosynthesis, insects provide nutrients that are not readily available in the soil.

We reached out to Steph Jeffries, Associate Teaching Professor at the Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, to learn more about this fascinating plant.

1. They are native only to North and South Carolina.

While Venus flytraps have been planted and naturalized in other areas, they only occur naturally within a 75-mile radius of Wilmington, North Carolina. This area is primarily in North Carolina, but also includes some counties in South Carolina.

2. The Venus Flytrap is the only species in its genus.

For this reason it is called a monotypic genus. “It used to be in its own family too, Dionaeaceae,” Jeffries said. However, taxonomists have recently decided that it is closely related to the sundew, making it part of the Droseraceae family.

3. You don’t waste energy with false alarms.

The “traps” are two-lobed leaves with hair-like extensions for capturing prey. They only close when two hairs are touched within seconds of each other. In this way, the plants do not close due to false alarms. “There’s no need to expend energy on a random piece of debris or a drop of rain,” Jeffries said. When the traps close, digestive juices are released to break down the insect inside.

Each plant has a cluster of leaves that grow from a central point near the soil surface. In favorable habitats, plants often grow close together. Photo by Maccoy Kerrigan, NC State University.

4. They rarely capture their pollinators.

Venus flytraps eat insects, but that doesn’t mean they catch their pollinators. NC State scientists Elsa Youngsteadt, assistant professor of applied ecology, and Clyde Sorenson, professor of entomology, worked with other conservation scientists to study this issue.

The researchers found that the flowers sit six to 10 inches above the trap-like leaves, which are close to the ground. The plants are pollinated by flying insects but primarily consume crawling insects.

5. Their greatest threat is habitat loss.

“Venus flytraps live in the humid, open longleaf pine savannahs, which often need fire to keep the stands open,” Jeffries said. Without frequent fire, trees and shrubs will begin to grow in these habitats, blocking smaller plants like the Venus Flytrap from the sun they need. In addition, longleaf pine forests occupy only 3% of their former extensive range throughout the coastal plain.

Poaching is also a problem, and Venus flytraps are considered a “Species of Special Concern” in North Carolina. While poaching has always been illegal, a 2014 change in state law made it a crime. However, Venus flytraps still lack protection for threatened and endangered species.

The Carnivorous Plant FAQ v. 12

Q: How exactly do I feed my Venus Flytrap?

I want to eat you! A: If you toss a dead bug down the maw of a Venus flytrap, even if the trap snaps shut, the plant can apparently lose interest in the bug and reopen the next day with no acceptance of the victim. Why did the plant refuse the food? The plant responded to your gift of a dead bug as if it were a false alarm. It’s rare in the wild for dead bugs to fall into carnivorous plant traps, and your plant doesn’t expect such easy prey.

You see, Venus flytraps have a clever trick up their botanical sleeve. This trick ensures they don’t waste their time and energy wasting the digestive process on traps set off by raindrops, escaped prey, undersized bugs, or by people looking for cheesy thrills. You need to understand this trick if you want to successfully feed your plant with dead bugs.

Munch munch! Look at the flat surface of the trapping leaves of an open Venus flytrap and you’ll see a few trigger hairs. If these are repeatedly touched by insectoid food, the trap snaps shut. Initially, the trap is closed very loosely. You can see the trapped beetle pacing back and forth in the trap. (This is always a good time to laugh at its fright. Ha! Ha ha!) If the bug were very small, it would escape. In this case, the trigger hairs (inside the trap) would no longer be stimulated and the trap would open again in about a day.

This way the plant avoids wasting time trying to digest sticks, raindrops or escaped prey.

But when a beetle remains trapped in its vegetable prison, its continued pacing stimulates the trap to close more fully. Digestion follows and the trap remains closed for several days. When it finally reopens, all that’s left is the sad exoskeleton. It will be a desolate sight. But you would be happy. (What kind of person are you?!)

(I’ve often wondered what it would be like to be the trapped bug. I think it must be like being trapped in an elevator. If you’re ever trapped in an elevator, I recommend not wearing the trigger hair touch. Think what might happen. )

To feed your plant a dead bug, first drop it into the trap so the trap closes. Made easy. Next, very gently squeeze the two lobes of the traps between your thumb and forefinger, as if trying to pick up a delicate piece of…something delicate. Squeeze it a few more times, making sure the two lobes gently come into contact with each other. This will bend any trigger hairs in the trap. Another method is to carefully insert a toothpick or a blunt piece of wire (like a straightened paper clip) through the gaps in the loosely closed trap. Wiggle your tool a bit to stimulate the trigger hairs in the lobes.

If you have inappropriate thoughts based on my description, get your thoughts out of the gutter.

After a few minutes you will notice that the trap is moving to the next digestion phase. Your monstrous task is now complete!

Has anyone seen mine?

pet crane? Feeding your plant a live bug is a little easier. It can be a little frustrating trying to trap the bug. But your labor will be more than repaid if the plant breaks! (You ghoul, you.) Once the leaf has closed, the plant will do the job without your extra help.

I can say that you are the kind that will enjoy learning my favorite live bug trick. Place the bug in a jar (so it can’t escape) and turn the jar upside down over an extremely cold surface. These rectangular plastic containers filled with “blue ice” (the things you freeze to keep food cool in your coolers) are perfect for that. (I’m sorry if you’re not from the US and don’t understand the previous sentence – I’m sure Aussies, Brits and others have different names for these things.)

The chilled bug quickly stops moving and looks dead. Don’t overdo it or you’ll actually kill the bug. The dormant beetles are easily maneuvered into a Venus flytrap leaf. Snap! Within minutes, the beetle awakens to a terrible surprise. His scurrying back and forth movements stimulate the trap into the digestion phase. Mwa-ha-ha!

Do that horrible act in style. When using a sleepy cricket, dangle it from a single antenna and slowly lower its sad little body into a waiting maw. Watch it swing back and forth. Play music that’s appropriately Gothic or Metallic, Evanescence or White Zombie would do well. Or maybe wear a lab coat. It would be a good time to recite Edgar Allan Poe’s Pit and the Pendulum from memory:

Down – steadily down it crawled. I took tremendous pleasure in contrasting his downward speed with his lateral speed. To the right – to the left – far and wide – with the cry of a damned ghost! to my heart with the sneak step of the tiger! I alternately laughed and cried as one idea or the other became dominant.

If you’re really looking for cheap scares, consider that those legs and arms don’t add much nutritional value to the plant and really just get in the way. Snap snap, pull pull!

Now it’s time to tease your neighbor’s cat!

Page citations: Poe, E.A. 1966; Rice, B.A. 2006a; Fast, D.E. 1976; personal observation.

Most carnivorous plants grow in boggy soil with acidic or “Ericaceous” compost. Most bog compost contains peat, but several peat-free bog mixes have come onto the market in recent years. Keep this well watered and make sure it never dries out. When growing your carnivorous plants, choose a bright, sunny spot in summer and move to a cool, frost-free spot in winter. Remove wilted flowers and leaves as needed.

Carnivorous plants, including pitcher plants ( Sarracenia ) and Venus flytraps ( Dioneaea muscipula ), are unusual and fascinating plants and are particularly popular with children. They are an excellent choice for a conservatory or a sunny windowsill.

There are three important things to remember when caring for temperate carnivorous plants, including sundews and pitcher plants. In this Golden Rules video, Hewitt-Cooper Carnivorous Plants’ Nigel Hewitt-Cooper shares his top three tips on the temperature, water, and light that carnivorous plants need to thrive.

More on growing carnivorous plants:

Hardy carnivorous plants are easy to grow as long as you follow a few simple rules. Here are our 10 tips for growing carnivorous plants.

Grow 1 carnivorous plants in the sun

Hardy carnivorous plants thrive in warm conditions with plenty of bright light during spring and summer, so plant them on a sunny windowsill, in a conservatory, or on a sunny patio.

2 Keep carnivorous plants cool in winter

Unlike tropical plants, most carnivorous plants are temperate and therefore need a cool place to rest during the winter – otherwise they will become exhausted and die. When they go dormant, some plants may die (and a Venus flytrap’s traps may turn black and die). Place in a cool, unheated room or greenhouse – around 7°C is ideal – and keep the compost just moist.

Grow 3 carnivorous plants in moist compost

In the wild, hardy carnivorous plants grow in swampy soil, so their compost needs to be moist at all times during the warmer months. Place the pot in a saucer of water and keep it topped up. Alternatively, block drain holes to prevent water from draining. During the hibernation period, keep the compost just moist.

Water 4 carnivorous plants with rainwater

Tap water can harm carnivorous plants. Use distilled or filtered water, water from a boiled kettle or preferably rainwater – you can leave a bucket outside to catch it or use water from a barrel.

Grow 5 carnivorous plants in heather compost

Carnivorous plants grow best in a nutrient-poor medium like peat or a special compost known as heather compost. If you prefer not to use peat for environmental reasons, you can try Moorland Gold, which is mined without damaging peat bogs, or a peat-free moorland soil-soil mix.

6 Do not feed insects to carnivorous plants

Don’t feel like you have to “feed” your carnivorous plant insects – when it’s outside it catches itself and even inside there should be insects to feed on.

7 Do not fertilize carnivorous plants

Carnivorous plants don’t need fertilizing – they get all the nutrients they need from the insects they catch. In fact, fertilizer can kill the plants that normally grow in nutrient-poor soil.

8 Don’t tease carnivorous plants

If your Venus flytrap’s traps aren’t closing, it may be because curious fingers are poking at your plant too often. Each trap will only close about five times in its lifetime, so resist provoking your plant.

9 dead carnivorous plants

Cut off dead blooms with scissors – and for Venus flytraps and pitcher plants, cut off the dead traps when they turn black – this often happens in the fall and winter.

10 Control of pests on carnivorous plants

advertisement

Carnivorous plants are surprisingly incapable of dealing with aphids, so use traps or biological controls to control them. Carnivorous plants can also be susceptible to the red spider mite, which thrives in hot, dry conditions. Improve air circulation in the greenhouse and increase humidity by placing water trays on the benches between the plants. If you grow a lot of plants, you can try releasing the predatory mite Phytoseiulus persimilis on your plants.

Dionaea muscipula; Photo courtesy of Flickr cc/Marco Uliana

You can grow carnivorous plants in a variety of conditions, from natural bogs in your garden to a dish on a windowsill. The trick is to find out which carnivorous plants grow well in the conditions you have inside and outside your home. Carnivorous plants should never be collected in the field as most of them are relatively rare and threatened due to human population, agricultural land use and over-collection. If you are interested in growing carnivorous plants in your home, purchase the plants from a reputable breeder who will use tissue culture or vegetative means to grow the plant, or start from seed.

You can learn more about growing these common carnivorous plants

venus flytrap

American pitcher plant

sundew

Butterwort

Venus flytraps (also called Venus flytraps or just flytrap) are some of the coolest plants you can grow. In their natural habitat, Venus flytraps live for years. Unfortunately, in culture they are often short-lived plants, but that’s only because most people don’t care for them properly. In this article you will learn all the essential basics of Venus flytrap care.

Varieties of Venus Flytraps

There is only one species of Venus flytrap, Dionaea muscipula, and it is native to a small region in eastern North and South Carolina. Over the years it has been bred to exhibit various traits and there are dozens of different strains on the market today. Some of the Venus Flytrap types you might come across are Red Dragon, which has a dark red coloring, Justina Davis, which is solid green, Flaming Lips, which has bright orange traps, and Purple Haze ‘, which has deep purple traps among many others. There are also some pretty wacky growth forms, although they’re often only available through specialist nurseries. Most are propagated via tissue culture, but unfortunately wild collection still occurs, although it puts native populations at risk.

The majority of Venus Flytrap varieties grow to only an inch or two in height and width, although some larger varieties exist.

Care of the Venus Flytrap

To properly care for a Venus flytrap, you must first understand what it needs. As with other plants, a flytrap’s growth depends on where it evolved and what it needs from its natural environment. The same factors you consider when caring for other plants should also be considered when caring for a Venus flytrap. Briefly, these factors are light, the growing medium, water, nutrition, and, for Venus flytraps, a special rest period. We will talk about each of these factors in turn. But first, let’s talk about the fact that Venus flytraps can be grown both indoors and outdoors.

Venus flytrap care: indoors vs. outdoors

Venus flytraps are significantly easier to care for when grown outdoors as a hardy plant rather than growing them indoors. Residential environments aren’t ideal unless you have a very sunny windowsill and can give the plants a lot of attention. However, I will cover both indoor and outdoor Venus flytrap care in this article, as I know not everyone has the opportunity or space to grow them outdoors.

The best planting mix for Venus flytrap plants

Regardless of whether you decide to grow your flytrap indoors or outdoors, you must first consider the best growing mix. Venus flytraps have evolved in the very lean, nutrient-poor peat soils. Because of this, they evolved the interesting adaptation of relying on nutrients taken from their insect prey rather than from the soil.

Do not plant Venus flytraps in garden soil or regular potting soil. Instead, use a mixture of two parts peat moss and one part perlite as ingredients. An alternative mix is ​​a 50/50 mix of peat moss and perlite. A third option is pure, high-quality fiber peat moss.

The best lighting conditions for Venus flytraps

These carnivorous plants need a lot of sun. When growing your plant outdoors, 4 or more hours of direct sunlight followed by 2-4 hours of bright indirect light is best. Indoors, a south-facing window that receives at least 6 hours of full sun is required if you live in the northern hemisphere. Alternatively, place the plant under a grow light for 10-12 hours per day during the growing season. Choose a light system that produces light in the blue wavelength and place the lights about 6 to 8 inches above the plant tops.

Do Venus fly traps have to be in the terrarium?

Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need to breed Venus flytraps in a terrarium. In fact, completely enclosed terrariums can cause the plants to rot. If you have an open terrarium with good ventilation, fly traps should do the trick (combine with a pitcher plant and sundew for a truly carnivorous experience!). It’s just enough protection to keep the humidity high around the plant, but not so much that it causes rot. Never grow fly traps in a terrarium outdoors, however, as the glass increases sun exposure, which often causes leaf burns.

How to water a Venus Flytrap

Whether indoors or outdoors, always keep the growing medium moist to wet. Remember, these are bog plants. Don’t let the soil dry out. Water the plant by placing the bottom of the pot in a saucer of water for a few hours every few days. Some growers constantly leave the pot in a saucer with half an inch of water in it, but I find this increases the risk of rot. If you are growing a flytrap outdoors, pour cool water into the saucer daily to prevent the roots from getting too hot on the hottest summer days.

Only use distilled water, reverse osmosis water, or rainwater to water Venus Fly Traps. They do not tolerate water with chlorine, dissolved minerals or salts. Do not use tap water. This is very important.

How to feed a Venus Flytrap

If you grow your fly traps outdoors they will catch a lot of prey on their own, but if you grow them indoors you can catch flies, bugs, spiders, crickets or any other garden insect in a net and use a pair of terrarium tweezers to attach the bug to your to feed the plant.

Each of the traps contains a handful of trigger hairs. If the movement of an insect hits the same hair twice within a few seconds or if two different hairs are tapped in quick succession, the trap is triggered to close. The continued movement of the insect after the trap has been triggered then releases digestive enzymes and allows the plant to absorb the nutrients contained in the insect. Feeding a Venus Flytrap this way isn’t necessary, but it’s definitely fun!

A few don’ts when it comes to feeding insects into a Venus flytrap:

Never feed your plant prey during hibernation (more on that in a moment). Do not feed your plant hamburgers or other meat. It cannot digest it because the enzymes are only released by movement that occurs after the trap closes. Don’t feed your plants more than one or two bugs a month.

Fertilizer for the care of the Venus Flytrap

Because flytraps live in poor soil, there is no need to add additional fertilizer. They don’t like compost, granular or liquid manure. In most cases, they are killed by fertilizing.

How Often Should You Repot a Venus Flytrap?

Repot Venus flytraps every year or two, choosing a slightly larger pot and changing the growing medium each time. The best time to repot a flytrap is in early spring.

Venus flytrap care in winter – rest is important!

When fall arrives, Venus flytrap plants begin to enter a winter dormancy period. They stop growing and most of the leaves turn black and die. The mechanism that triggers the closing of all remaining traps no longer works. This is your signal that the plant is going into hibernation. This rest period is absolutely necessary and lasts 3 or 4 months. Remember, your plant is not dead. Don’t throw it away; just change how you take care of it.

The hibernation is triggered by the shorter days and falling temperatures in autumn. There’s no need to panic, I promise. Trying to fight this natural dormant period means death for your plant, so don’t ignore it. Plants need it whether they grow indoors or outdoors.

Regardless of whether you grow your plant indoors or outdoors, place it in a cool place, such as a patio, for the dormant period. B. an unheated attached garage or a cool basement. The plant doesn’t need much light, but best near a window. Venus flytraps can survive occasional winter temperatures of as low as 20°F in the wild, but they’re not quite as hardy in a container. Winter dormant temperatures between 50° and 35°F are ideal. If you live in a region where outside temperatures don’t drop below 30°F, there is no need to bring the plant to a garage. Just leave it outside during the rest period.

Let all the leaves turn black and die. The plant is dormant. During the hibernation, make sure that the plant is always kept moist. Don’t feed your plant or worry about it. Just let it be.

When spring arrives, temperatures soar above 50 and the days get longer, move your plants back into your living space if you’re growing them indoors. Or put her back on a sunny patio if you’re growing her outdoors. If dead leaves are still clinging to the plant, now is the time to cut them off.

Venus Flytrap Care Basics

As you can see, proper Venus flytrap care is the perfect combination of art and science. They are truly fascinating plants that deserve a home with any gardener willing to give them their winter dormancy.

Need more caring tips for carnivorous plants? I recommend The Savage Garden by Peter D’Amato.

For more information on growing unique plants, check out these articles:

pin it!

expect. I thought the plant I got wasn’t good, but this article explained why it looks the way it does. I bought it at Lowe’s. I hope that with this help everything goes well. Thank you for all this great information. ”

…”

“I covered everything I wanted to know. This is my first time getting the plant and I had no idea what to do

The research examines the cellular process behind the plant’s quick bite.

Thomas Sumner, contributor

(ISNS) – Plants aren’t usually known for their speed, but the carnivorous Venus flytrap can close its pine-like leaves in a jiffy. Charles Darwin once described the Venus flytrap as “one of the most wonderful plants in the world”. But despite the plant’s notoriety, its locking mechanism remains a mystery 250 years after its discovery.

Biophysicists at the Ecole Polytechnique Universitaire de Marseille in France are studying the cellular process behind the Venus flytrap’s rapid response to prey. Researchers have already thrown out a popular explanation for the Venus flytrap’s rapid movement, which is that water movement within the plant causes its jaws to snap. They announced this finding in San Diego at a meeting of the American Physical Society’s Department of Fluid Dynamics.

“This is the first time anyone has studied how Venus flytraps move at the cellular level,” said biophysicist and lead researcher Mathieu Colombani. “We are looking for an explanation that is both biologically and physically possible.”

Venus flytraps are native to the coastal bogs of North and South Carolina. Peat soil lacks the right nutrients – especially nitrogen and phosphorus – for plant growth. The plant manages to survive in this harsh environment by trapping and digesting insects to meet its nutritional needs.

“You see a lot of carnivorous plants in these bogs that rely on animals and insects for nutrients,” said biophysicist Jacques Dumais of Universidad Adolfo Ibanez in Chile.

When an insect is drawn into one of the plant’s traps, it tickles a small, hair-like outgrowth on the inside of the leaf. When two different outgrowths are triggered in quick succession, a rapid process triggers the leaves to close, trapping the insect in just a tenth of a second.

As the insect tries to escape, it triggers more growths, causing the Venus flytrap to tighten its grip and release enzymes to digest its snack. Each “mouth” can only snap four or five times before dying, whether catching something or not.

In 2005, scientists discovered the large-scale principle behind the plant’s bite. Each leaf bounces from convex to concave as it closes, like a bouncing popper toy or an inverted contact lens.

“A Venus flytrap is like two popper toys put together,” Colombani said. “Once the process has started, the two sheets snap together very quickly.”

When the leaves of the plant are separated, the trap is in a stable equilibrium and stays open. Once the plant’s prey jumps the trap, an internal process in the plant disrupts the system, causing the two leaves to snap together quickly. Identifying this internal process is the focus of Colombani’s research.

“The movements of the Venus flytrap are both a biological and a physical process,” Dumais said. “Colombani’s work is a truly wonderful attempt at understanding everything from start to finish.”

There are currently several theories as to how the leaves of the Venus flytrap become unstable.

The researchers were able to rule out a popular theory that suggests that cells on the inside of the plant’s leaves transfer water to cells on the outside of the leaves. The resulting change in cell size would change the shape of the leaves, possibly causing them to quickly destabilize and collapse. Colombani’s team studied the change in pressure in a single cell when the leaves snapped shut.

“It’s difficult because you have to focus on a single cell and the leaves of the plant are moving very quickly,” Colombani said.

To solve this problem, the researchers used creative blue toothpaste to glue one of the Venus flytrap leaves to an anchored plastic fork. This arrangement prevented the sheet from moving and allowed focusing on a single cell. They found that the movement of water between the inner and outer cells was far too slow to account for the plant’s rapid movements.

“It takes a few seconds for each cell to relax, which means it would take about two minutes for the facility to shut down,” Colombani said. “That doesn’t seem like a good candidate for a mechanism that takes less than a second.”

Researchers are currently testing another popular explanation, which says the elasticity of the plant’s cell walls changes, causing the leaves to destabilize and snap together. Colombani says the mechanisms behind the remarkable plant’s bite could have potential applications in medicine or other fields.

Thomas Sumner is a science writer based in Santa Cruz, California.

Summary of TLDR Venus Flytrap Care

Pour your venus flytrap with distilled water

Drop the Humidity Dome

Plenty of sunshine

Feed Your Venus Flytrap (But Not Too Much)

Respect the resting phase of your flytrap

Bonus Item: Have Fun Growing Your Venus Flytrap!!

Growing Venus Flytrap – Basic Care

Hey, did you just pick up an awesome new Venus Flytrap from HomeDepot/Walmart/your local nursery? That’s great! In fact, that’s exactly how your dear author started carnivorous plants over 20 years ago (more time than I care to admit). Maybe this is your first, second or even third time trying to grow Dionaea muscipula (fancy Latin name for Venus Flytrap) and I know exactly how difficult it can be to get your awesome new plant to trap big beautiful ones to produce. -I definitely killed my fair share. Let’s talk about how to breed a venus flytrap and keep it alive and healthy. I go into loads of plant-specific detail on our Venus Flytrap genus page, but what about the basics? – These essential quick tips to help a new breeder. Buckle up, because here’s your crash course:

Pour your venus flytrap with distilled water

The important things first. Your Venus Flytrap requires distilled water. I have an extensive post on water quality and types of distillation methods, but the bottom line and all you really need to know is that you should water your Venus Flytrap with water that has undergone reverse osmosis. You can buy gallon jugs at your local grocery store (usually around $0.99 each), have the stuff delivered through water delivery services like Sparkletts, or install a reverse osmosis system under your sink (which makes for excellent drinking water, btw). . Use a shallow bowl of water and keep it filled throughout the growing season. Avoid spring and tap water – the mineral content is too high and will damage and eventually kill your fly trap.

Drop the dome

Chances are your Venus Flytrap came in a clear plastic container. Great for retaining moisture (and moisture in general), this plastic dome will protect your carnivorous plant in transit from greenhouse to storage and storage to your home. Once you have the plant home, you’ll likely smother the thing with love, give it enough water to keep it happy, and avoid knocking it around. The dome has served its purpose, and now it’s time to free your flytrap so it can spread unhindered. Go ahead and carefully remove the plant from its plastic cage. If you live in a humid area, you can simply remove the plastic container and recycle it. If you live in a drier region, it is best to acclimate the plant to a lower humidity level. Start by taking the flytrap out of its container for a few hours, then bring it back for the rest of the day. Remove the plant for a few extra hours each day. After a few days, you can remove it completely. Note that without the humidity dome, moisture is lost more quickly through evaporation, so keep an eye on soil moisture and don’t let it dry out!

Plenty of sunshine

Your new Venus Flytrap will appreciate plenty of sunshine. I grow mine outdoors in sunny Southern California in mostly direct sunlight (the plants are shaded from direct afternoon sun by a few taller pitcher plants nearby). Outdoors or sunny window sills should suffice. If you got your flytrap from a store that has kept it indoors, allow the plant to adapt to lighter conditions over the course of a week to avoid roasting. Similar to the moisture acclimation method discussed above, you can expose the plant to progressively more light over the course of a week. By the end of the week, the worst case will be a small crop sunburn. At best, the plant will perk up and start producing rose-pink hues inside the traps. Remember, more sun = hotter = more evaporation, so keep your flytrap soil moist but not soaking wet.

Feed your Venus Flytrap

I think we can all agree that feeding a Venus Flytrap is the coolest thing about owning one. What is the best way to feed a flytrap? What can you feed a Venus Flytrap? stick to mistakes. Don’t feed your flytrap meat or anything other than what it would naturally catch in the wild. Anything else will cause the traps to rot before the plant can get enough nutrients from the food. Make sure the bugs are 1/3 to 1/2 the size of the trap itself so the trap can fully enclose the insect without it sticking out between the teeth or bulging the trap. Anything larger and the trap will have a hard time sealing and may rot. Anything smaller and the prey can escape between the teeth. If live prey like crickets or mealworms aren’t your thing, try dead insects, which you can rehydrate by soaking them in water before introducing them to your plant. How do you feed a Venus Flytrap? Small trigger hairs in a flytrap must be touched twice within 20 seconds for the trap to snap shut. Once closed, a live insect continues to wiggle around and touch the hairs more, sealing the trap and digesting it. When feeding the plant-dead insects, you need to insert a toothpick between your teeth and gently rub the inside surface of the trap to manually stimulate the triggering hairs. Can You Overfeed a Venus Flytrap? When grown outdoors, your flytrap will almost certainly catch enough food to keep them happy. When growing indoors, a simple rule of thumb is to feed one trap per week. It takes a lot of energy to close a trap and digest prey. Triggering too many traps of food in a short period of time will temporarily weaken the plant as it works to extract nutrients. If you fertilize too much, your plant can produce smaller traps until it has a chance to recover. I’m just trying to imagine how sleepy and lazy I feel after a big meal – it’s sort of like that. By the way, each individual trap is good for 1-3 meals before dying. Traps take about ten days to digest prey and remain closed the entire time. Can I play with the flytrap? Keep in mind that traps cost energy to trigger, and if you trigger too many without actually feeding the plant, you’ll weaken it and it will start producing smaller traps.

Respect the dormant period of the Venus flytrap

Probably the hardest thing to pull off as a new grower, the hibernation for Venus flytraps begins around November and lasts until late February or early March. During this time, daylight should decrease, temperatures drop and the soil should dry out a bit. All traps will turn black and die, and it may seem like your poor flytrap is dead. The hardest part is not throwing away your plant, assuming it’s gone to the great swamp garden in heaven. As long as you keep the soil very slightly moist, the plant will survive the winter and come back much stronger next year. Dormant months can vary globally depending on location and climate – just make sure your plants get enough sleep for 3–5 months. Without hibernation, Venus flytraps will weaken and eventually die.

ED READ leans over a tray of plants in the Cal State Fullerton greenhouse and gently tickles the leaf of a Venus flytrap. Twice. Two leaves snap in a tenth of a second. “It’s like a pseudo-memory,” he says. “Touch it once and nothing happens, but if you touch it again within a few seconds, it closes.”

Attract, capture, digest. Understanding how a Venus flytrap turns a fly into food is fairly easy. But keeping the flytrap happy and healthy? Not as much. Like the goldfish won at a charity bazaar, the plant is notoriously difficult to keep alive.

“People buy a flytrap in this little pot with a plastic dome on top, and that’s a recipe for death,” says Read.

Once an exotic rarity, improved tissue culture technology has made fly traps as readily available in 99 cent stores as they are in nurseries. That’s good news, unless you’re a fly trap. The thump of those little pots ending up in kitchen trash cans is louder than ever.

A newbie looking for the secrets to keeping those troublesome plants alive needs some expert advice, which brings us to the Fullerton Greenhouse.

advertisement

There are hundreds of flytraps here, young leaves pushing up and unfurling. They are joined by thousands of other carnivorous plants: butterwort, bladderwort, bulbous plant, and delicate sundew, whose long, tentacle-shaped leaves glisten with drops of digestive enzymes. The collection is one of the largest of its kind in California.

Fly traps should be simple in many ways. They do not require fertilization. They can survive under full sun or fluorescent lights. Unlike so many other houseplants, they can sit in half an inch of standing water without fear of root rot. So what’s the problem?

“It’s the water,” says Read, explaining that the alkaline dissolved solids in California’s tap water are toxic to most carnivorous plants — especially flytraps. Flytraps originate from a swamp in the Carolinas, where they live in full sun, high humidity, and pure water, the most important element.

“To help the plant thrive, give it distilled or reverse osmosis water,” says Read. “Even rainwater.”

Dry air, especially Santa Ana winds, can quickly damage plants. Those kept indoors should be kept well away from heaters or air conditioner vents.

Part of Read’s collection comes from Forbes Conrad, a 22-year-old student at Moorpark College who has been fascinated by carnivorous plants for almost half his life. He insists they are not difficult to grow or propagate. In fact, understand the tendencies of plants and it’s easy to end up with too large a collection. At one time he had 400 pitcher plants in his backyard and a bog he built himself.

“It’s like having a pet,” he says. “You have to watch them. You only need to repot them when they are overcrowded. If you put a dead fly in a flytrap, you have to massage the hairs to make them close.”

When gardeners have mastered fly traps and are ready for more expensive and dramatic species, pitcher plants are often the choice. Some tropical cultivars produce football-sized pitchers with sweet-smelling nectar on top, a waxy surface, and downward-sloping hairs that lead to a pool of water and digestive fluids. At least one has been found trying to digest a rat.

“These plants aren’t boring,” says Read. “You are not just green, a flower. You are actually doing something. However, I don’t usually invite girls to my house to feed the plants. It’s a mood killer right there.”

Although some collectors accumulate huge collections, breeder Ivan Snyder has earned a reputation for keeping a small but impeccable range in his Inglewood home. Among the members of the Los Angeles Carnivorous Plant Society, Snyder is known as Dr. Frankensnyder known for its ability to breed and for the health and excellence of its specimens.

His collection is now smaller than usual, just 16 plants – a few flytraps, sundews (his favorites) and an Australian pitcher plant. They are all kept indoors and arranged on trays under two 4ft fluorescent tubes of cool light. Among the trays are his tools: a jeweler’s magnifying headset, magnifying glasses, tweezers, tiny knives, and a hair clipper. He also has flasks of food including dried shrimp, live wingless fruit flies, and vitamin-enriched freeze-dried flies. He sometimes prepares a diluted Miracle Gro solution that he squirts onto a fly with a syringe before dripping it onto a leaf.

“People tend to overdo it with this hobby, but I don’t do it,” he says. “There are too many mouths to feed.”

Snyder has been a collector for 20 years and says he started like everyone else. He got a flytrap from a nursery, gave her tap water and watched her die after a few months. When he figured out how to use pure water, his plants thrived. He’s had a flytrap for seven years.

Collectors don’t typically think of them as plants, he says, because they behave more like animals.

“They replace pets, but they’re not as messy, and when they die, they don’t smell bad,” he says. “They don’t make any noise – all the benefits of pets, but no downsides.”

Venus fly traps are just the beginning. In the photo gallery that accompanies this article, settle in for the Cal State Fullerton greenhouse’s carnivorous plants, some of which are surprisingly beautiful: Venus flytraps and other carnivorous plants.

[email protected]

Back to L.A. home

It’s that time again: you reach for a slice of watermelon or a fresh banana, only to find that fruit flies got to it first.

According to Bob Tuckey, owner of the Natural Gardener Garden Store in Vancouver, fruit flies are most common in July.

Luckily, there’s an easy, natural way to get rid of them.

“Carnivorous plants are the best way to control them, in my opinion,” says Tuckey.

“They will catch all the fruit flies for you.”

Here are his top three plants for dealing with fruit fly invasions naturally:

1. Venus Flytrap

Perhaps the most famous of all carnivorous plants, the iconic Venus Flytrap uses sweet-smelling sap to lure unsuspecting insects into its mouth.

Despite its fame, a Venus flytrap can only catch 3-4 bugs before closing forever, making it less effective than other plants.

2. Pitcher Plant

Don’t be fooled by its tall elegance, this plant is a living, breathing, fly-eating machine.

Fruit flies aren’t the only thing on a pitcher plant menu; It is also efficient in catching wasps and bees.

3. Sundew plant

These are the kings of catching fruit flies. The sweet slime on a sundew attracts, traps, and digests an insect, making it a potent enemy for any fruit fly.

According to Tuckey, just a few sundew plants on the kitchen counter will effectively get rid of most fruit flies.

Reduce watering

If the growth slows down and the leaves die off, reduce the wetness of the compost by not leaving the plant in the water for a long time. Water just enough to raise the pot, then allow the compost to dry out slowly but not completely before watering again. The water content of the compost is best judged by weight.

DO NOT LET THE PLANT DRY COMPLETELY.

Check for pests

Check your plant for signs of insect pests, particularly aphids (aphids), as the underside of the remaining flat leaves provide the perfect spot for these pests to spend the winter, burn up energy, and get a head start in spring. A spray of Provado (a systemic insecticide) should sort them out.

position

The perfect location is a cold greenhouse where temperatures can drop well below freezing. In the winter of 09/10 our VFTs in the greenhouse dropped below -10°C. You don’t have to provide heating in winter.

If you do not have access to a greenhouse, an unheated or slightly frost-protected conservatory (5°C or lower) is suitable. Sun in winter is not important as the plant will not grow, so a north-facing conservatory will do.

For growers who don’t have a greenhouse or conservatory, you can overwinter your plant outdoors in your garden. It is important to place your plant in a sheltered spot from cold winds. Some protection from a cold frame bell helps, but isn’t essential. There are several areas in the country where the Venus flytrap has been naturalized in the wild. It’s important to get your plant outside before the very cold weather sets in to allow it to acclimate and become more frost hardy. If an exceptionally cold spell is forecast, a straw or fleece cover will help as protection.

Those of you who need to keep your VFT indoors over the winter should place your plant in the coldest room in the house to slow the growth rate as much as possible. For a deeper dormancy* place the plant in the fridge for about 3 months from December to the end of February. This can be accomplished by cutting off all growth above the ground and placing the just-damp pot in a bag in the salad drawer, or by removing the plants from the pot, washing off all the compost and cutting off the traps and watering in a suitable fungicide against botrytis before placing in a sachet in the salad drawer. It sounds dramatic, but it works and is a method we’ve used in the past.

* First ask the refrigerator owner for permission.

Finally

Not all Venus flytraps die at the same rate. Our observations show that the greener varieties tend to hold more of their traps over the winter than the red ones. Don’t expect all of your flytraps to exhibit the same changes at the same rate and at the same time.

For many people, getting their plant through the initial dormant stage will change their understanding of Venus Flytrap, allowing them to be successful year after year.

Downloads

Venus Flytrap Winter Care Guide

The first period of rest for new growers is nerve-wracking, and with good reason! It’s hard to tell if your Venus flytrap is dormant, sick, or dying. I’ll tell you straight, there’s no 100% sure way to say it unless you dig it up or wait until next spring. As the weather gets warmer and daylight hours increase, you’ll either see an explosion in growth or more likely the same decline.

However, here are a few things to note. If you have these basics covered, there’s a good chance your venus flytrap is simply dormant but healthy!

Before the rest

Remember black traps are normal!

You watered it with distilled, reverse osmosis, or rainwater

They kept it in unfertilized peat moss, long-fibered peat moss, and washed perlite or quartz sand

You gave him plenty of direct sunlight

You didn’t overfeed the plants

During the rest period

Make sure you’ve read the hibernation guide and applied it to your situation

and applied it to your situation. Don’t try to feed it. The traps are triggered very slowly, if at all. This consumes valuable energy that it should save

Don’t overwater. Check the plants once a week and only water them when the soil is dry.

Wait patiently until spring!

After rest

After freezing temperatures are gone, watch for new growth. If your plants have been in a fridge or cold room over the winter, bring them outside and slowly acclimate them to direct sunlight.

Transplant plants into fresh media. When you dig them up, look at the rhizome, the part between the leaves and the roots that sits just below the ground. If it’s white and firm, your plant is alive and well! Unfortunately, if it’s black and squishy, ​​you have a dead plant on your hands. 🙁 But hey, it’s okay! We’ve all been through this! There’s no reason why you shouldn’t try again!

But I just got a Venus Flytrap! Does it have to rest?

Basically yes. If you got your first plant within the last 2-3 months I would still recommend leaving it alone for now. I know it’s hard when you’ve only had a short time to enjoy growing, but it’s better for the longevity of the plant. Most likely, the plant has already begun the dormant period, and bringing it out will seasonally confuse it, will stress it, and its health will deteriorate. Don’t forget that there are many other great carnivorous plants that grow year-round!

I’ll also mention one piece of advice that you won’t read in any other grooming guide, but it’s the truth.

The best way to tell when a Venus Flytrap is dormant is through experience. Growing your plants over multiple seasons will make you more aware of their growth habits that lead to the dormant period. You will learn to recognize the differences between heat stress, pest infestation, dormancy, etc.

Ultimately, hibernation won’t even put you in phase. I’m trying to calm you down, kids! It will get easier over time.

Most important: Don’t worry! These plants have survived for millions of years without our help. They are resilient life forms that can take a beating. A few winter frosts and little light are not enough to kill a healthy plant.

If you have any other questions about insomnia, please feel free to leave a comment and I’ll be sure to answer as best I can!

Venus flytraps (also called Venus flytraps or just flytrap) are some of the coolest plants you can grow. In their natural habitat, Venus flytraps live for years. Unfortunately, in culture they are often short-lived plants, but that’s only because most people don’t care for them properly. In this article you will learn all the essential basics of Venus flytrap care.

Varieties of Venus Flytraps

There is only one species of Venus flytrap, Dionaea muscipula, and it is native to a small region in eastern North and South Carolina. Over the years it has been bred to exhibit various traits and there are dozens of different strains on the market today. Some of the Venus Flytrap types you might come across are Red Dragon, which has a dark red coloring, Justina Davis, which is solid green, Flaming Lips, which has bright orange traps, and Purple Haze ‘, which has deep purple traps among many others. There are also some pretty wacky growth forms, although they’re often only available through specialist nurseries. Most are propagated via tissue culture, but unfortunately wild collection still occurs, although it puts native populations at risk.

The majority of Venus Flytrap varieties grow to only an inch or two in height and width, although some larger varieties exist.

Care of the Venus Flytrap

To properly care for a Venus flytrap, you must first understand what it needs. As with other plants, a flytrap’s growth depends on where it evolved and what it needs from its natural environment. The same factors you consider when caring for other plants should also be considered when caring for a Venus flytrap. Briefly, these factors are light, the growing medium, water, nutrition, and, for Venus flytraps, a special rest period. We will talk about each of these factors in turn. But first, let’s talk about the fact that Venus flytraps can be grown both indoors and outdoors.

Venus flytrap care: indoors vs. outdoors

Venus flytraps are significantly easier to care for when grown outdoors as a hardy plant rather than growing them indoors. Residential environments aren’t ideal unless you have a very sunny windowsill and can give the plants a lot of attention. However, I will cover both indoor and outdoor Venus flytrap care in this article, as I know not everyone has the opportunity or space to grow them outdoors.

The best planting mix for Venus flytrap plants

Regardless of whether you decide to grow your flytrap indoors or outdoors, you must first consider the best growing mix. Venus flytraps have evolved in the very lean, nutrient-poor peat soils. Because of this, they evolved the interesting adaptation of relying on nutrients taken from their insect prey rather than from the soil.

Do not plant Venus flytraps in garden soil or regular potting soil. Instead, use a mixture of two parts peat moss and one part perlite as ingredients. An alternative mix is ​​a 50/50 mix of peat moss and perlite. A third option is pure, high-quality fiber peat moss.

The best lighting conditions for Venus flytraps

These carnivorous plants need a lot of sun. When growing your plant outdoors, 4 or more hours of direct sunlight followed by 2-4 hours of bright indirect light is best. Indoors, a south-facing window that receives at least 6 hours of full sun is required if you live in the northern hemisphere. Alternatively, place the plant under a grow light for 10-12 hours per day during the growing season. Choose a light system that produces light in the blue wavelength and place the lights about 6 to 8 inches above the plant tops.

Do Venus fly traps have to be in the terrarium?

Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need to breed Venus flytraps in a terrarium. In fact, completely enclosed terrariums can cause the plants to rot. If you have an open terrarium with good ventilation, fly traps should do the trick (combine with a pitcher plant and sundew for a truly carnivorous experience!). It’s just enough protection to keep the humidity high around the plant, but not so much that it causes rot. Never grow fly traps in a terrarium outdoors, however, as the glass increases sun exposure, which often causes leaf burns.

How to water a Venus Flytrap

Whether indoors or outdoors, always keep the growing medium moist to wet. Remember, these are bog plants. Don’t let the soil dry out. Water the plant by placing the bottom of the pot in a saucer of water for a few hours every few days. Some growers constantly leave the pot in a saucer with half an inch of water in it, but I find this increases the risk of rot. If you are growing a flytrap outdoors, pour cool water into the saucer daily to prevent the roots from getting too hot on the hottest summer days.

Only use distilled water, reverse osmosis water, or rainwater to water Venus Fly Traps. They do not tolerate water with chlorine, dissolved minerals or salts. Do not use tap water. This is very important.

How to feed a Venus Flytrap

If you grow your fly traps outdoors they will catch a lot of prey on their own, but if you grow them indoors you can catch flies, bugs, spiders, crickets or any other garden insect in a net and use a pair of terrarium tweezers to attach the bug to your to feed the plant.

Each of the traps contains a handful of trigger hairs. If the movement of an insect hits the same hair twice within a few seconds or if two different hairs are tapped in quick succession, the trap is triggered to close. The continued movement of the insect after the trap has been triggered then releases digestive enzymes and allows the plant to absorb the nutrients contained in the insect. Feeding a Venus Flytrap this way isn’t necessary, but it’s definitely fun!

A few don’ts when it comes to feeding insects into a Venus flytrap:

Never feed your plant prey during hibernation (more on that in a moment). Do not feed your plant hamburgers or other meat. It cannot digest it because the enzymes are only released by movement that occurs after the trap closes. Don’t feed your plants more than one or two bugs a month.

Fertilizer for the care of the Venus Flytrap

Because flytraps live in poor soil, there is no need to add additional fertilizer. They don’t like compost, granular or liquid manure. In most cases, they are killed by fertilizing.

How Often Should You Repot a Venus Flytrap?

Repot Venus flytraps every year or two, choosing a slightly larger pot and changing the growing medium each time. The best time to repot a flytrap is in early spring.

Venus flytrap care in winter – rest is important!

When fall arrives, Venus flytrap plants begin to enter a winter dormancy period. They stop growing and most of the leaves turn black and die. The mechanism that triggers the closing of all remaining traps no longer works. This is your signal that the plant is going into hibernation. This rest period is absolutely necessary and lasts 3 or 4 months. Remember, your plant is not dead. Don’t throw it away; just change how you take care of it.

The hibernation is triggered by the shorter days and falling temperatures in autumn. There’s no need to panic, I promise. Trying to fight this natural dormant period means death for your plant, so don’t ignore it. Plants need it whether they grow indoors or outdoors.

Regardless of whether you grow your plant indoors or outdoors, place it in a cool place, such as a patio, for the dormant period. B. an unheated attached garage or a cool basement. The plant doesn’t need much light, but best near a window. Venus flytraps can survive occasional winter temperatures of as low as 20°F in the wild, but they’re not quite as hardy in a container. Winter dormant temperatures between 50° and 35°F are ideal. If you live in a region where outside temperatures don’t drop below 30°F, there is no need to bring the plant to a garage. Just leave it outside during the rest period.

Let all the leaves turn black and die. The plant is dormant. During the hibernation, make sure that the plant is always kept moist. Don’t feed your plant or worry about it. Just let it be.

When spring arrives, temperatures soar above 50 and the days get longer, move your plants back into your living space if you’re growing them indoors. Or put her back on a sunny patio if you’re growing her outdoors. If dead leaves are still clinging to the plant, now is the time to cut them off.

Venus Flytrap Care Basics

As you can see, proper Venus flytrap care is the perfect combination of art and science. They are truly fascinating plants that deserve a home with any gardener willing to give them their winter dormancy.

Need more caring tips for carnivorous plants? I recommend The Savage Garden by Peter D’Amato.

For more information on growing unique plants, check out these articles:

pin it!