Help with a Venus flytrap?

Question

I've had three different plants over the course of the past several years. The first two died after having them only a few months. The current one (I bought it about two or three weeks ago) isn't looking to great either. I've found several websites about them, none have really helped. I put the last one in the refrigerator from late November to February (more than one site suggested this), but it never came up. I would really like to be able to grow them, and I rarely have trouble with houseplants.

Answer 1

Venus Flytraps can be rather Challenging. Other than lots of light and the dormancy period, the number one thing is it must be watered with low mineral water. Most people use Distilled water and absolutely no fertilizer. They trap insects because of their low nutrient areas where they grow.

They probably 'watered' (really poisoned) the plant where you got it with tap water. The minerals have built up to a toxic level and it's suffering. I'd flush it out with some distilled water to wash away the minerals. It can't harm the bog loving VFT.

Unless it's really, really dry, they will usually to well outside in the summer. They love sun, can handle some frost, and are surprisingly rather tough little plants.

It can be hard to find peat moss/sphagnum moss without additive fertilizer. Once you get the hang of them, there are many cool varieties to choose from:

http://www.collectorscorner.com.au/Carnivorous%20Plants/Venuscomplants.htm

http://dionea.homestead.com/mutate.html

Have you thought about a Purple Pitcher, Pinguicula moranensis, or a Cape Sundew? They are all nice little carnivores, but not has hard to grow as the VFT. (same thing - distilled water for all your carnivores.) And once you get good with them, you can add the VFT with the blessings of the FSM.

Answer 2

1) Keep them in a mix of peat + sand + perlite
2) Place the pot in a tray filled with water
3) Make sure the water you use is distilled

Those are the main guidelines, but they also need a dormancy in order to live beyond more than a couple seasons. The refrigerator method is one way of simulating this if you don't have a climate with appropriate seasons.

Answer 3

as the plant is carnivorous it lives with animal prey its position must be very favorable to trap insects ,keeping it in the refrigerator will not allow it to trap and digest insects. first arrange a pot containing the similar soil from where you have brought, maintain the humidity, and moisture similar to its original place-then we can hope for its survival

Answer 4

Do NOT feed it hamburger. The fat content is too high and will kill the plant. You can feed it insects if they are not too large for the traps. An insect that is too large will not be fully digested and could promote fungal rot.

Answer 5

Have you feed them?
One good way is to put a little bit of hamburger meat on a leaf, and let it close up and so digest the meat.

According to Wikipedia:
"Venus Flytraps are very popular as cultivated plants, although they have a large reputation for being difficult to grow. This reputation is almost exclusively due to inappropriate treatment of the plants by retailers and their consequent ill-health on purchase. However, Venus Flytraps are safely grown in pots under conditions that mimic those in their natural habitat.

Venus flytraps can be kept in pots on a patio, deck, window sill, or position in the garden that receives at least 6-8 hours of sunlight per day. In areas of lower humidity, the plant can survive with frequent watering and a drainage system to prevent fungal growth. It is also beneficial to keep it in a tray with about an inch of water to maintain higher humidity levels. Stagnant water is dangerous for the plant, so using pebbles to elevate the plant from the water is safer for the plant. Venus flytraps grow better still in a greenhouse which often leads to healthy, vigorous and colourful plants. The colour of the trap leaves may be used as an indicator of sufficient light; in appropriate conditions the inside of each trap should be bright red in color for most varieties. Insufficient light leads to the inside of the trap turning light green. Low light also causes etiolation and makes plants more susceptible to diseases.

Venus flytraps are best grown in mixtures of sphagnum peat moss and/or peat often with the addition of sand, perlite or other inert salt free material. Soil pH should be in the range of 3.9 to 4.8.

Venus Flytraps ideally should not be watered with tap water as accumulated salts in tap water may kill carnivorous plants. Soft water with TDS of 100 ppm or less yields good growth, both distilled water or clean rain water are ideal. The soil should be kept constantly moist by placing the pot in a tray full of water, with the root bulb of the plant allowed to be above the level of the water at least part of the time, to prevent root rot in stagnant water. There is no danger of over-watering. Venus flytraps can survive short periods of immersion underwater.

Some horticulturists have experimented with giving small amounts of fertiliser to Venus flytraps, usually applying diluted solutions of products formulated for epiphytes, using cotton swabs, to the plant's foliage. Another method of fertiliser application is a spray bottle or pump. Beginners, however, and those without expendable plants, would be wise to avoid fertiliser in favor of insects."

Check out these web sites:
http://www.cobraplant.com/venus-flytrap.html
http://www.thegardenhelper.com/flytrap.html
http://www.expertvillage.com/interviews/venus-fly-traps.htm
http://www.the-venus-flytrap.com/venus-flytrap-help.html
http://hortchat.com/info/how-to-choose-a-venus-flytrap-plant-to-buy
or other sites in this Google search
http://www.google.com/search?q=care+of:Venus+Fly+Trap&hl=en&rlz=1T4WZPA_enUS224US224&start=10&sa=N