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Red Dragon Help

  • Thread starter MorbidMacaroni
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MorbidMacaroni

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My Red Dragon i ordered just came in the mail. I opened him up and he looks a lil bad. i watered him right away and put him in the sun. I hope he does fine. This is my first time growing a red dragon,or a venus flytrap for that madder. Does anyone have any tips for growing the red dragon and for VFTs in general? Your help is much apreciated.
 
Hey MorbidMac,

First off, welcome to the forums!

Where do you live? And will your plant be outdoors all the time, or indoors? For lighting conditions, this may make a huge difference!

Basic stuff to know, only rainwater, distilled, or reverse osmosis water. No hamburger or other such "human food", VFTs like bugs! Keep it in a tray of water, it will suck up what it needs. Traps can open and close a couple of times each, so after a while some traps may not close, but they still provide the plant with energy from the sun like a leaf, don't cut anything off unless it turns brown.
 
As long as you used distilled or rain water you should be fine.  Give your VFT a little time to recover from being stuffed up in a dark container and banged around for however many days and it should come around.
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If you havn't put it in a small tray of water yet do so.  VFT like their soil damp to wet but not waterlogged.  It will also help keep the humidity up around the plant a little bit.
 
Visit the FAQ section of this site for information. I forget the address, but if you go to the beginning you'll see a section about it in Announcements.
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I live in ohio for your info,the plant will be spending alotta time indoors. But on the really sunny/warm days he'll be outside.also, thanx for all your help you guys. One more question,how much sun should this thing be getting,doesnt it need more sun than the other species?
 
I live in Colorado and once the night temps start staying in the high 40's I leave my flytraps outside 24/7.  They get about 5 hours of direct sun from about 8:30am to 1:30pm and are in the shade the rest of the day.  They will tolerate temp's down into the 30's for brief periods and can recover from light freeze's but will lose any frozen leaves.  They will need a rest period in the fall.  I stick mine in a ziplock in the fridge for 3 months with the date written on the bag.  Check them occasionally for fungus.  Some people put them in a cool room instead.  Whatever works is fine as long as they get 3 monthes of rest.  If they don't get that rest they will slowly decline in vigore and evetually may die.
 
Hi, Red Dragons are great vft`s to have, but you need to know that they are usually much smaller than a Green Dragon or a Common. I received a Red Dragon about 2 months ago and it`s about a 1/4 of the size of my other plants.
 
Also to keep them red they need TONS more light than the other varietes. Don't worry, the plant will probably come out of shock soon and be ready to eat yet again!
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Good luck!

- Brett
 
I've had one red dragon and even though it received the same care as the other VFTs, it expired.
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It was never a strong plant. They just seem to be a weaker variety. I still want to try another one though.

Suzanne
p.s. Welcome to the forums!
 
  • #10
www.cpfaq.com

WELCOME TO THE FORUMS!!!


Please keep us up to date on your plant!!
 
  • #11
Looking for an update !
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how is your plant doing?
 
  • #12
Okies, Here is an update on my plant. It seems to be doing much better. It started producing new traps and its red color is coming back.Right now it has lots of traps, the traps are small though,i thought they would get bigger. None of them are big enough to catch anything,will they get bigger or not? Like the original traps that were their when i got it havent really gotten bigger at all. Their stalks did extend out and some of them hang out over the pot,but the heads are still not big:( Am i doing sumthing wrong? I live in ohio and every morning i wake up,fill the plants tray with water and set it on my back porch,where it gets direct sunlight all day?Then at night i take it in and water it cuz the tray is usually empty. Is their anything else i need to do? My other varieties of venus flytraps seem to be growign much faster. Right now,im growing the red dragon, the green dragon and a normal one. My green dragon is big but all of a sudden recently his traps and leaves have started to blaken at the ends? What should i do about this one as well? hrrrm,any general tips for me would help as im still a beginner at growin these things. thanx
 
  • #13
Morbidmac, sometimes we forget that vft's (all cp's) are plants, and in most ways act like any other plant. Leaves will turn black and die, as long as it's producing new leaves to replace them its o.k.. I keep my plants out at night and that seems to be the time they catch most of there food. your watering them find, and keeping them in the sun will keep them happy. As for red dragons, mine is stronger and larger then my typicals. Its petioles are narrow and about 3 inches long with traps over an inch. Good luck, Jack.
 
  • #14
MorbidMacaroni, Is there a reason you can't leave your VFT's outside at night like squirrels, mice, or neighborhood kids? If not and the night time temps are nice (50°F or warmer) leave them outside. Top off their water before retiring and they'll do fine.
 
  • #15
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Hi there Morbid Mac
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You know I have mine planted in with my other vfts and it does fine. They all are outside or on the window sill.

One thing I would like to mention though from my experience is that they do better if you let the tray run out every once in awhile there was a thread here where a few other members also said it was true of thier plants as well. For some reason they are more likely to get root rot than the others. Dont let the soil dry out of course but keep it from being sorta soggy all of the time.

If your plant is real tiny you may want to take a trip to the petstore and see if they carry flightless fruitflies to feed it.
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That should get a growth spurt going!
 
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