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Has my VFC gone veggie?

  • Thread starter Steve2276
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Steve2276

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OK, bought my first flycatcher the other day (77p Homebase) with the intention of it getting rid of some of the flies buzzing round the office.  But no flies seem to be attracted to it, and even if I splat one then feed it to the trap it spits it out a day later.  What am I doing wrong? The traps are just under an inch in length, and flies I've fed it have been splatted in half and must be about 1/4 inch big.  
Has my VFT gone veggie?  
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Hi
First of all, your flytrap won't eat dead bugs as it requires the little trigger hairs to be touched after the trap has closed as well. Otherwise it thinks it's caught something inanimate and non-edible like a leaf and will reopen.
Also make sure you are giving it rain or distilled water NOT TAP WATER. The chlorine and minerals in tap water will kill it within a few months. Keep the pot in a saucer and make sure it always has some water in it.
Visit www.cpfaq.com or www.sarracenia.com/faq.html for more information.
P.S. How did you buy a flytrap for 77p? I always see them at 3 or 4.99.
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So does that mean that all this talk of feeding VFTs with bugs is actually live bugs? Cos unless I can grab my chop sticks and do a good karate kid impression, it's gonna be jolly difficult to catch a live fly!
But, I did have a fly land on the trap to have a look at his dead friend, and the VFT still didn't trigger.
Maybe patience is the order of the day, either that or hunt about for some woodlice.
And what about water? I'm actually using the office supply of spring water - is this the wrong kinda stuff or will it be OK? The VFT is about to sprout a few new leaves/traps, so I can't be doing it that wrong can I?
Oh, and I should correct the price, it was actually £1.12 (dunno where 77p came from!!?), but it was still fairly cheap. Homebase, Broadbridge Heath, Horsham if anyone's interested.

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No. Spring water has the minerals in it that kills it too... I recommend you buy some reverse osmosis water, or distilled water, and flush the pot out with it, to get red of any minerals that have already started to build up. From then on only water with the purified stuff.
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Oh, and if you get low, you can use rainwater... You have to be careful with that tho...

I set a bucket in the MIDDLE of the yard (so its catching rain from a cloud, and not from the roof or a tree), and then I do my best to clean it with a coffee filter. Water purifiers I think might ADD minerals, so just in case, stay away from them...
 
Oh yes, you need a pair of tweezers or something if you want to artificially feed it
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The problem with using the wrong water is that salts gradually builds up in the soil, especially if you live in a limescale area - just look at your kettle. Unfortunately spring water is also full of these things - carnivorous plants are picky.

You could buy a bottle of deionised water and keep it in your desk.

The trap might not have closed if that particular one was a bit old. Also, the fly has the touch the triggers not once, but twice.

Also be aware that you can't starve a VFT. The bugs it catches are like fertiliser - good but it will grow fine without.
 
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hey not to put u down or anything Steve2276 but catching a live fly really inst hard at all, really it is simpler than  tying your shoe, seriously !
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grab a tissue, put it over your hand, and just throw your hand on the fly, not hit the fly, just to cover it with the tissue, then feel around wher ethe buzzing comes from, and then hold the fly , now u can lift
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your hand up,  
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ps.  to be able to drop it to a slow closing vft, throw it in a little contaner and in a cold place, if your traps close ReaLLy slow, then this IS neccesary
it also means your plant might be dying  
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Blue bottles and green bottles and house flies are faster than that... The only ones that you can do that tissue thing with are those FAT black ones that cant even smash into window panes right... they miss...
 
I'll stick to the small plastic jar I've been using the past couple of years.  It works pretty good. Especially if they are buzzing in a sunlit window.  Just come up slow and easy behind them and slide an index card or other stiff piece of paper across the top to trap them inside.  Put the whole thing in the freezer for ~3 minutes then drop the sleeping fly into a trap.
 The trick is to move slow and easy because flies are very sensitive to sudden changes in air pressure.  In other words, they feel the air pressure change as you move towards them.  And they can move faster than we can.  No contest.
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i do what raW does only with a clear plastie bag then flick it repeatedly put it on the window sill and make it crawl onto a BBQ skewer and flick him in!
James
 
  • #10
I think the flies round here are pretty nippy. But I'll give this jar-tissue-fridge thing a go and see what happens.

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  • #11
If you have flies in the area of your flytraps, you shouldn't need to catch anything. The flytraps will do their thing and catch them themselves eventually. Unless you really just love running around chasing after flies.
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Just have patience and wait til the flies are attracted to the traps. The other day I was cleaning up my plants and saw three flies get caught within about 1/2 an hour. But its not like you put a flytrap out and immediately flies are all over it and the traps are snapping shut. It takes a while for the right conditions to happen. I see flies crawl in and out of traps all the time and never get caught.

If you are trying to get rid of a lot of flies, it will be slow going unless you want to get a lot of VFTs. Once they eat a fly/bug it takes a while (days) for it to digest it....then reopen and catch another one. And it will only do that a few times before the traps wears out naturally and dies.

I don't know about a VFT for pest control but they sure make great plants to have.
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Suzanne
 
  • #12
By the way...I forgot to say...Welcome to the forums Steve2276!
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Hope come visit often and join in.

Suzanne
 
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