TerraForums Venus Flytrap, Nepenthes, Drosera and more talk
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unless they eat back widows theyll be ok,
i suggest growing them outside so they catch their own food,
you rarely will need to replant them as the roots dont need EXTREME room to grow big, you wont need to repot them for a few years,
they dont get big enough to eat your pet rats, thats for sure, i heard record size traps are 1inch and 1/2 or something ?
but that is REALLY rare for most plants, and an inch is quite big, depending on your plant variety it might take more or leess time to get to this stage
there is only one species DIONEA varieties are simple selective breeding done to make the plants *look good*
oh and about red, so many people ask out there, as if red is the only type of vft
i dont blame them but it does awe me who tells these people taht all vft's are red !!!! They Arent!! red dragon is the only variety that grows all red, green dragon stays all green and a slight pink if lots of sun, dente is known through its triangular like leaf, sawtooth varieties show the tips of their traps with less and more wide spikes, and big mouth grows a wider rounder mouth, basically bigger than other vfts at first, common grows straight leafs, average sized traps small at first, spiky traps with lots of thin spikes, so dont expect them to grow too big, i hope i answered all your questions about variety
ps. if you wanna feed a cp rats, get a type of sarracenia or nepethes
i suggest growing them outside so they catch their own food,
you rarely will need to replant them as the roots dont need EXTREME room to grow big, you wont need to repot them for a few years,
they dont get big enough to eat your pet rats, thats for sure, i heard record size traps are 1inch and 1/2 or something ?
but that is REALLY rare for most plants, and an inch is quite big, depending on your plant variety it might take more or leess time to get to this stage
there is only one species DIONEA varieties are simple selective breeding done to make the plants *look good*
oh and about red, so many people ask out there, as if red is the only type of vft
ps. if you wanna feed a cp rats, get a type of sarracenia or nepethes
PlantAKiss
Moderator Schmoderator Fluorescent fluorite, Engl
Hi Darkfox
First, welcome to the forums! And congrats on your new plant.
Its hard to say how big a VFT gets...it depends on variety, maturity and growing conditions. I have a clump of VFTs that is abit over 4" tall (upright petioles) and I have other plants that grow more in a rosette (flat out closer to the ground). I have some traps that measure 1" to about 1 1/4" but most aren't that large. I have heard they can get to 2" and somewhere on this site there is a pic of someone with a trap thats 2". (I have a terrible memory but I THINK it was in the Foreign forum entitled "Mike King Day" or something like that). Someone slap me if I'm incorrect on that.
Your VFT does not have to be outside...its just easier for it to naturally feed that way. But a sunny windowsill will do. Just keep your plant wet and in a saucer/tray of pure water (1/2-1") and it should be fine. They don't need to be transplanted very often. They do fine staying the same pot for a good while since they don't grow to any huge size.
As for feeding, soft-bodied critters like flies, mosquitoes and spiders are better than hard-shelled ones like beetles. And if you choose to hand feed, keep the food to about 1/2-1/3 the size of the trap. You don't want anything hanging out of the trap ifpossible. Don't feed it insects that eat plants as they may chew their way out of the trap! Don't freak out if you see traps turning black.
That happens naturally after the trap has fed a few times. Old traps wear out...new ones come up.
Make sure you use pure water (rain or distilled0, give it lots of light and you should be just fine.
I hope you enjoy your new plant. Soon you will be wanting MORE.
Suzanne
First, welcome to the forums! And congrats on your new plant.
Its hard to say how big a VFT gets...it depends on variety, maturity and growing conditions. I have a clump of VFTs that is abit over 4" tall (upright petioles) and I have other plants that grow more in a rosette (flat out closer to the ground). I have some traps that measure 1" to about 1 1/4" but most aren't that large. I have heard they can get to 2" and somewhere on this site there is a pic of someone with a trap thats 2". (I have a terrible memory but I THINK it was in the Foreign forum entitled "Mike King Day" or something like that). Someone slap me if I'm incorrect on that.
Your VFT does not have to be outside...its just easier for it to naturally feed that way. But a sunny windowsill will do. Just keep your plant wet and in a saucer/tray of pure water (1/2-1") and it should be fine. They don't need to be transplanted very often. They do fine staying the same pot for a good while since they don't grow to any huge size.
As for feeding, soft-bodied critters like flies, mosquitoes and spiders are better than hard-shelled ones like beetles. And if you choose to hand feed, keep the food to about 1/2-1/3 the size of the trap. You don't want anything hanging out of the trap ifpossible. Don't feed it insects that eat plants as they may chew their way out of the trap! Don't freak out if you see traps turning black.
Make sure you use pure water (rain or distilled0, give it lots of light and you should be just fine.
Suzanne
Suzane, thanks for the tips
I have tons of granddady longlegs around my house so I have been catching some of them and feeding them to my VFT. Sence their legs are so long once and a while there may be a few legs hanging out of the trap. What kind of problems could that cause?
I feed it misquitos and flys when I can but thankfuly there aren't many around my house.
Thanks again for the tips!!!!
I have tons of granddady longlegs around my house so I have been catching some of them and feeding them to my VFT. Sence their legs are so long once and a while there may be a few legs hanging out of the trap. What kind of problems could that cause?
I feed it misquitos and flys when I can but thankfuly there aren't many around my house.
Thanks again for the tips!!!!
le tme tell you from experience...
My traps catch daddylong legs ALL THE TIME... and they usually end up paying for it... 50% of the time, the traps rot..
whether this is from the venom (DDL have potent venom, but no strength to deliver it to a human) or because their legs hang out giving bacteria a route to travel in, I don't know, I do know I lose about 50% of the traps that feed on the suckers... good news is, I think, that most of the ones around my home have already been eaten.
Green Dragons Do NOT stay all green except for a slight pink blush as Big Bald Bob says, Green Dragons are a cross back between the red dragon, and the typical, it is very vigorous in it's growth, and is heavily colored with red, even though it is mainly a dark green through out the foliage... A all green plant with blushing pink on it's traps is a typical VFT. Dente is also noted for it's truncated 'teeth' that edge the trap (which is how it is identified) and Bigmouth, is noted for achieving 2 inch long traps (along with a few other varieties.)
As PAK says, use only distilled water, no need to re-pot for a while. Don't worry about feeding the plant daddy longlegs, they will enjoy the nourishment derived from it, and while you MAY lose the trap, enough energy and nutrients will be gained from the digestion of the animal to fuel 2 or three new leaves...
Since you live in alaska, your going to want to suppliment this plant with some more light I expect, since it grows much closer to the equator.
I am guessing you already have plant lights since you seem to be a plant person, so that is good, if not, then equal numbers of soft white and cool white flourescents are great. I have 4 48" tubes for my terrarium (which is not neccessary for a flytrap) but you could use smaller lights if you wanted.
Remember to keep the plant in a saucer of distilled water, and not let it go dry.
In winter, ***OUR WINTER*** meaning, NORMAL!
Heh... for at least 3 months, you will want to provide the plant with reduced light, and cut the water back to just keep the soil moist, never let it go dry, but back off from wetter conditions...
do this for 3 months, and then gradually bring the light levels back up, along with the water. This will bring the plant out of dormancy. Unless you REALLY want seed, cut the flower stalk as soon as you see it, this keeps the plant from wasting energy on rather unremarkable flowers.
Never fertilize, and only feed 1 or 2 traps at a time...
I think that pretty much runs the gammut...
My traps catch daddylong legs ALL THE TIME... and they usually end up paying for it... 50% of the time, the traps rot..
whether this is from the venom (DDL have potent venom, but no strength to deliver it to a human) or because their legs hang out giving bacteria a route to travel in, I don't know, I do know I lose about 50% of the traps that feed on the suckers... good news is, I think, that most of the ones around my home have already been eaten.
Green Dragons Do NOT stay all green except for a slight pink blush as Big Bald Bob says, Green Dragons are a cross back between the red dragon, and the typical, it is very vigorous in it's growth, and is heavily colored with red, even though it is mainly a dark green through out the foliage... A all green plant with blushing pink on it's traps is a typical VFT. Dente is also noted for it's truncated 'teeth' that edge the trap (which is how it is identified) and Bigmouth, is noted for achieving 2 inch long traps (along with a few other varieties.)
As PAK says, use only distilled water, no need to re-pot for a while. Don't worry about feeding the plant daddy longlegs, they will enjoy the nourishment derived from it, and while you MAY lose the trap, enough energy and nutrients will be gained from the digestion of the animal to fuel 2 or three new leaves...
Since you live in alaska, your going to want to suppliment this plant with some more light I expect, since it grows much closer to the equator.
I am guessing you already have plant lights since you seem to be a plant person, so that is good, if not, then equal numbers of soft white and cool white flourescents are great. I have 4 48" tubes for my terrarium (which is not neccessary for a flytrap) but you could use smaller lights if you wanted.
Remember to keep the plant in a saucer of distilled water, and not let it go dry.
In winter, ***OUR WINTER*** meaning, NORMAL!
do this for 3 months, and then gradually bring the light levels back up, along with the water. This will bring the plant out of dormancy. Unless you REALLY want seed, cut the flower stalk as soon as you see it, this keeps the plant from wasting energy on rather unremarkable flowers.
Never fertilize, and only feed 1 or 2 traps at a time...
I think that pretty much runs the gammut...
Rampuppy,
Thanks for all the great advice!
As grotesk as it may sound I think that I will try pulling the legs off the daddy longlegs before I feed them to see if that helps to keep the leaves from dieing.
As for being a plant person I have to give most of the credit to my wife, she takes care of all the plants exept for my VFT. The plants we have know don't need extra light, but I do have artificial light for my snake cage, I keep the VFT next to it so hopefully they will share the light, we'll just have to wait and see.
So far I have collected enough rain water to use for watering my VFT, but I'm still not shure on how to, there are some small holes in the bottom of the pot and I have that sitting in a dish with about 1 1/2'' of water, will it soak enough water up threw the holes? Should I still mist it like is done with the rest of the plants?
What advise do you have on that?
Thanks for all the great advice!
As grotesk as it may sound I think that I will try pulling the legs off the daddy longlegs before I feed them to see if that helps to keep the leaves from dieing.
As for being a plant person I have to give most of the credit to my wife, she takes care of all the plants exept for my VFT. The plants we have know don't need extra light, but I do have artificial light for my snake cage, I keep the VFT next to it so hopefully they will share the light, we'll just have to wait and see.
So far I have collected enough rain water to use for watering my VFT, but I'm still not shure on how to, there are some small holes in the bottom of the pot and I have that sitting in a dish with about 1 1/2'' of water, will it soak enough water up threw the holes? Should I still mist it like is done with the rest of the plants?
What advise do you have on that?
