My Red Dragon

[saturn]

I've been growing my red dragon for probably a month now. All of its growth since I got it is very green with little red coloration (it looks like a green dragon). Why is this? What can I do to get the red back?

 

[Tristan]

It needs more light to get full red coloration, but that doesn't mean you should find the brightest spot in your yard. It will get burned. Slowly bring your plant into brighter light.

 

[John Milford CT]

Red Dragons are great to have in your in collection, but it`s difficult to keep their color. Mine get alot of sun,some traps come up red and some come up green. They are also usually much smaller than other kinds of vft`s.

 

[Dyflam]

So far for me... red dragons are just tough. All my VFT's are doing ok but the reds are slow.

 

[RamPuppy]

I personally believe the red dragon to be a weak plant, it took a lot of inbreeding to get the coloration... notice when they crossed a red dragon (actually, I think just before they achieved the red dragon) to a typical, vigor was restored, now if they can make a generation 2 or 3 with that vigor built back into it, it would be awesome...

 

[saturn]

My red dragon is very healthy and strong. I just want it to be more red.

 

[wickedthistle]

Hey Saturn,
I have very strong Green and Red Dragons. They look similar, with the Green one only slightly bigger and wild-looking. I can't give them more light without burning them (southern california) but I have noticed that the Red's leaves and traps will get more red as that particular leaf gets older. The plant also turns more red a week or so after a good-sized bug.

 

[Alvin Meister]

Saturn - if you live further north than North Carolina, then you can leave your plant outside in the sun. If you have fairly strong sun, put it outside for an hour and then for longer each day until it gets used to it. If you live quite far north, just leave it outside to get as much sun as possible.

 

[Alvin Meister]

RamPuppy - get hold of a Royal Red VFT. They are very similar to Red Dragons but are much more vigorous. The one I have is amongst the largest in my collection.