How to take care of a venus fly trap?

Question

Ok I just bought my Venus fly trap, and it’s not looking to good. I just wanted to know the steps of taking care of it!

Answer 1

First, I'd like to suggest that you repot it in a 50/50 mix of peat moss and perlite in a pot designed to absorb moisture like Terra cotta and set in on a terra cotta saucer filled with pea gravel and water. It will wick up the water keeping the soil moist. You can also find double pots in which the inner one is porous to absorb water from the outer pot. I found mine at Lowe's. It will also help to mist it with water frequently. I have a Venus fly trap and I just catch flies for it and feed it one. Also, a key thing to remember is that Venus fly traps hibernate and when they do they will turn black and die back. I've thrown away at least three plants thinking they were dead.

Here is a video tutorial that should be able to help with just about any question you may have regarding Venus fly traps.
http://homegarden.expertvillage.com/videos/carnivorous-plant-propagation-division.htm
It's not just about propagating, it's also about watering, feeding, etc. Good luck

Do not feed it meat and absolutely do not feed it fertilizer...They like poor soil and they feed themselves. Watch the tutorial and you will get all the correct answers regarding the Venus fly trap. You can feed it flies.

Answer 2

Keep it moist, give it bright indirect light, and feed it dead bugs from the pet store. I give mine crickets and it loves it! I can give you more info later, but I have to signoff now! Crazy storm...

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Most places that you buy them from have them already potted in a "boggy" mixture. You shouldn't have to repot it. However, if you aren't really into Carnivorous Plants and you don't have a terrarium built for them, I would treat it as an African Violet. If you use an AV pot, that will keep them moist all the time, I suppose you could even just place the pot in a shallow tray of water. The best non-terrarium setup would probably be a shallow tray, no more than an 1"-2" deep, take pebbles and depending on how deep the tray is put 1/2"-1" of them in the bottom. Keep the water level just at the rock level. Then water your plant really well. It will bring the water level up to the bottom of the pot, but that is ok. The water will evaporate and provide the humidity you need so you shouldn't have to mist it. JUST NEVER LET IT COMPLETLY DRY OUT!!! VFT do NOT like that. It doesn't like to be submersed, but it likes its roots moist.

As far as feeding goes, you can do numerous things. I prefer to give mine 2-3 wk old (sometimes called Small) crickets from the pet store. I kill 'em and then drop 'em in the traps about once a month. If you drop them in live, they may get out. I would avoid buying the wingless fruit flies, they are too small and kind of a pain in the but to deal with. Also, if you really want to get into giving you VFT a good meal, you can keep the crickets for a couple days and feed them things high in nutritional value. It is often called "loading" your crickets. We use it for our Herps (reptiles and amphibians). There are also methods of using plant food at 1/4-1/2 strength and putting a few drops in the traps. I have never done this and I personally am not a fan of chemicals and synthetics, so I would avoid it.

Now, if you really want to get into raising CPs, I would buy a 10 gal aquarium, a folding glass/plastic lid, a submersible water heater, an air pump, some river rock, a metal grate, an air stone, 2 small landscape blocks (no more than 2" high) and 2 therms (one to measure air temp that sticks to the glass up top, and one of the suction cup ones to measure water temp.) If anyone wants to know how to do this, I can send you some pix and instructions, just shoot me an email. I won't waste a ton of space here.

Oh, and indirect, bright light works well for VFT, I use flourescents and keep them on for 16hrs a day during growing season, less during the "dormancy" seasons.

There is this really cool website I like to that talks about CPs and they also sell them, among other things, you should check it out:

http://www.blackjungle.com/bogintro.htm

http://www.blackjungle.com/outdoorboggarden.html

This is a link to the ICPS:
http://www.carnivorousplants.org/

Here is the NECPS:
http://www.necps.org/

Hope this helps and sorry it took so long to say something, we've had a few bad storms!

Answer 3

I've had several Venus flytraps (VFTs) over the years and they are truly fascinating. During the summer months, I try to actually catch flies for them, but during the winter months or when flies aren't around, I just give them small amounts of grout round. They do better with small insects and flies, however.

They need to be constantly wet almost to the point of saturation. After all, their natural habitat is tropical swamps. But, don't put them in direct sun - they hate that and will get yellow and die. They also don't like the cold, obviously. But, don't put them near a heating vent as they will dry out on top.

One time, during a very dry hot spell, I put a large clear plastic back loosely over the top of my VFT. I didn't let the plastic touch the leaves. I also didn't tie it off at the bottom, but left it open so air could circulate. I kept it nice and wet and it did very well until the humidity increased.

You never need to give VFTs any kind of fertilizer. Just feed them their natural food - insects and meat in very small amounts.

Answer 4

It craves humidity, let flyes go in the house then let them eat the flyes that way it is nourrishement. You should give them luck warm water every time you water so that way the humudity levels really go high, also put them in the sun cause that is extra vitamins. I hope this helps Good Luck!

Answer 5

A Venus fly trap's natural habitat is boggy, marshy areas, and that's why you need to imitate. It needs to be in something like sphagnum moss that's very wet. Feed it with ordinary plant food; contrary to popular mythology, you do not need to give it insects or ground meat. Give it indirect light, or light from fluorescent lamps (grow-lamps are best, but they don't have to be used). Keep it warm, and keep it in a humid area (it's a great terrarium plant), and it should be very happy.