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Help! new to carnivorous plants

So, I was wondering if someone could help me. My Fiancee has bee saying for a while that she wants a Venus Flytrap, or another type of carnivorous plant and, since her birthday is rolling around I have been considering purchasing a few for her. Can anyone give me any recomendations? Is it a good idea? How well do some of these plants survive in central Florida? Which ones are good for beginers? What are some plant care essentials often overlooked? Any seprate care products that I might need to purchase?(Thanks in advance)
 
Funny you should ask! You can buy Venus Flytraps at Wal-Mart and other outlets like Home Depot and some nurseries. Make a phone call here and there, I am sure you will find one. Once the plant is bought, it needs a LOT of sun, and loves its water. (Hard to drown a VFT!) Put the plant in a container, like a cool whip container, in its pot. Place the plant in full sun, for as long as it can get sun, and just add water. However, the kind of water it needs is (now listen closely) distilled water, rainwater, or reverse osmosis water. Tap water will most likely kill the plant, so don't use it. The only other thing that may do it under is drying out. It is a bog plant and requies a lot of water. During most winters, the plant goes into a dormancy of a sort, and slow down in growth, or stop growqing altogether. In spring, they send up fresh leaves and traps, and continue growing. They also flower in May and June (usually) but can pull a fast one on you from time to time. I have some flowering now, WAY out of season.
 
Welcome to the forums, Jay. Flytraps are native to North Carolina, so they're just fine in Florida. Other plants to consider are Sarracenia, the North American pitcher plant, and temperate species of Drosera (the sundews), Pinguicula (the butterworts), and Utricularia (the bladderworts.) Most will succeed with the same basic care that Bugs described. You could also probably grow hardy species of Nepenthes in a shady spot outside. You can check out pictures of them on BobZ's CP photo finder and find more information on the CP FAQ. Best luck!
~Joe
 
Marry this woman ASAP. ;)
 
Awsome! Thanks for the advice... So what if I wanted to order the starter set (Offered at http://exoticgardens.zoovy.com/product/CPASST) Contaioning a Common Venus Flytrap a Sundew a Nepenthes a Pitcher Plant and a Butterwort... Is that a good idea? Do you think they'd arrive alive? What are some things I should know about the care of these plants before purchasing them? You know... The sort of thing that will keep me from giving a dead gift... lol
 
That is an EXCELLENT choice.
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Exotic Gardens sponsors this forum and they sell nice healthy plants that have been cared for the way they should be. If you buy from WalMart or Lowes, you get plants that have most likely been watered with tap water and abused in all kinds of way (people poking the traps with their fingers, etc.).

We have the forums divided into different plant types so you can find lots of help in each one of those forums. I believe there is a care sheet pinned at the top of the Venus flytrap forum.

If you and/or your fiancee like plants, you might find you get addicted to carnivorous plants. They are really amazing plants.

Welcome to the forums and feel free to ask questions and look around.
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Welcome to the forums - I live in Kissimmee also - small world isn't it? If you decide to buy from a store instead of here, the Lowes on Sand Lake Road gets in a small shipment of plants about every 2 or 3 months. I leave my plants out year round except for the tropical ones I bring them in on the 1 or 2 nights that they predict below freezing temps. I water with regular tap water and have never had a problem with mineral build up. Bugweed- the water in Kissimmee is wonderful - just like everything else in florida.
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (PlantAKiss @ Nov. 15 2005,12:38)]you might find you get addicted to carnivorous plants.  They are really amazing plants.
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You are so right about that PlantAKiss addicting is not the word obsessed with CPs is.. LOL!!!
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Hello Jay8607 and welcome aboard, hope you enjoy it here. Everyone here is very very nice and helpful...
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Here's a link to the venus flytrap care sheet mentioned above. Venus Flytraps (my only experience) are reallllly easy to care for so long as you use distilled water. I bought mine without knowing how to care for them ahead of time and just used the instructions they came with and all-in-all, things seem to have turned out OK. If you have any questions, you've already found the right place!

~ Brett
 
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