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Venus Flytrap sizes.


Richard Hole

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Hello

Do you know any webpages which outline how big the traps of the different Venus Flytrap varieties get?  If we can find this information, it could help growers to sell more plants as it will make it easier for people to decide what varieties to get

For example, It would be good to find out how big the traps of the "Fast" variety gets in comparison to "Big Mouth" variety and how large "Big Mouth" gets in comparison to "big vigorous" and how "big vigorous" compares to "G4xG37" and how "G4xG37" compares to "DC XL".    Let me know of any information or if you have a rough idea of comparisons of the above varieties.

Regards Richard.

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I imagine the big suppliers would be best suited to working this out, as if it was from everyone's results it's would vary significantly based on conditions? Then again their conditions would play a factor, so I think it would be hard for 100% accurate results for each dionaea, as I read dcxl varies a lot some say it's massive some not so much :s

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It's a nice idea but in reality an almost impossible task unless you ran a very large (and very time consuming) scientific study.

The variable of trap size is influenced by so many factors you'd have to try and standardise your grow space in order to run a fair test. To rule out variance from conditions, one person would have to grow plants in a near identical position. Any variance in position in greenhouse (I.e. Shade/sun path) between the plants would skew the results.

Even if you were able to grow clones side by side in near identical conditions, there are many factors that could possibly influence trap size... pot size, pot temperature, media choice, oxygen available at the roots, sun strength, photoperiod, mineral content in media, insect availability, insect nutrition value, frequency of insect capture, air temperature, root temperature, competition from other vegetation... etc.!

So, even if you ran a very controlled growth experiment to get a fair baseline comparison between species trap size, you'd have to run many more experiments to determine what factors are best to influence bigger traps on an individual. 

After all that, you'd be close to narrowing down a trap size range. You'd then have to repeat the experiment many times with multiple copies of the individual clones to get a credible average size and rule out any anomalies.

Edited by Stu
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Regarding Venus Flytrap trap size, these are just a few notes from my own experience growing and breeding Venus Flytraps for quite a few years.

Most regular Venus Flytraps (those that are in nature or most like those in nature, not the unusually-shaped or "deformed" varieties), will occasionally produce a trap that is 1.5 inches (38 millimeters) or more, perhaps one or two during the year. Some plants do tend to have larger traps than others on average, although the trap size on them usually varies by quite a lot from leaf to leaf and at different times of the season.

In my own experience, and this is simply and purely a personal opinion, the clone SD Kronos (disclaimer: I'm the breeder and original grower of SD Kronos) has produced the largest traps on average, during the entire year, of all the Venus Flytraps I've ever grown, including DC XL, B52, Ginormous, Big Mouth, Low Giant (the original Low Giant, not the fakes that were later distributed) and other so-called "giant" Venus Flytraps. A mature SD Kronos often produces traps that are 1.5 inches or larger (38 millimeters or larger); that is not just a rare or occasional occurrence, and in addition has several other characteristics that I personally like: low, prostrate growth, wide petioles and, once it becomes comfortable, very vigorous growth both above ground and (unlike B52) below ground level as well.

Other than SD Kronos, my personal favorite large-trapped clones are Low Giant (again, the original Low Giant, not the later fakes that have only average and unimpressive growth and size), and Big Mouth.

SD Kronos is slowly becoming a little more widely distributed in the United States (dozens of natural divisions and tissue-cultured clones of SD Kronos now exist in several locations in the U.S.), and I'm sure will be available in Europe and other areas at some time. I just hope that when a person acquires an SD Kronos Venus Flytrap, it will be an authentic SD Kronos and not a different clone or plant that someone is merely trading or selling as an "SD Kronos," as people have done with several other high-demand Venus Flytrap clones in the past including Low Giant and Dracula.

These are merely personal opinions and notes.

Edited by FlytrapRanch
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