Venus flytrap care guide?

[armyranger10a]

Ive searched many sites telling me to do differnt things. All i need to no is how much sun and water it needs.

[Guest Aidan]

Sun - All day, every day.

Water - Stand permanently in an inch of water when in growth. Keep just damp when dormant over the winter.

[Stefan P.]

>click me!<

Edit:

LOL, Aidan, I was a few seconds too slow...

[armyranger10a]

I had my venus flytrap in no water and now I no why its dieing. My trap is about to flower so thanks for the help.

[Dazkeirle]

www.myvenusflytrap.com

We've got a care guide and an ever growing FAQ to answer all of your questions.

Enjoy :)

[FlytrapRanch]

Ive searched many sites telling me to do differnt things. All i need to no is how much sun and water it needs.

To answer your immediate question first, Venus Flytraps tend to like lots of sun, and while their growing medium should be watered well when it is watered, most of the time it should be just moist: less water than completely saturated and soggy, but more water than completely dry. Completely soggy all the time will likely cause the plant to rot and die from fungal growth, and completely dry for longer than just briefly will cause the plant to dry, wither and perhaps die if not rewatered in time. In the winter when dormant Venus Flytraps should be just barely moist most of the time (with occasional full watering and then allowing the plant to dry til just barely moist before watering again).

However, everyone has their own way of taking care of Venus Flytraps. There are a few basics like using only rainwater (including collected rainwater), distilled water, or reverse osmosis water with nothing added to the water (there are often additions to bottled "drinking water" sold in stores), because one's tap water usually has too many dissolved minerals that will harm or eventually kill the plant, but regarding cultural practices there is a lot of variation based on one's climate, personal feelings and circumstances, etc.

SO--you'll have to read all the advice you find and then make up your own mind about what is important to you and how you wish to take care of your plants.

My own particular cultural notes and methods for Venus Flytraps is at the following location, to add to the information you have already received--

http://flytrapranch.com/index.php?main_pag...05f4497a8b7690d

Best wishes,

Steve

[Guest Aidan]

...most of the time it should be just moist: less water than completely saturated and soggy, but more water than completely dry. Completely soggy all the time will likely cause the plant to rot and die from fungal growth,...

Since my plants stand in 1 - 2" water permanently for six months of the year and I know of growers that keep their plants plunged to the rim, I have to take issue with that statement.

[jimscott]

Sun - All day, every day.

Water - Stand permanently in an inch of water when in growth. Keep just damp when dormant over the winter.

There appears to be a significant difference between what Aidan wrote and that of xscd. How deep of a pot would you say would be good for sitting in an inch of water? If I were to reconcile the two approaches, I would put a VFT in a deep pot (several inches) and have it sit in an inch of water, so that the plant isn't necessarily sitting water-logged, but has moist enough soil media to "wet its whistle".

[FlytrapRanch]

Since my plants stand in 1 - 2" water permanently for six months of the year and I know of growers that keep their plants plunged to the rim, I have to take issue with that statement.

:) Yeah, I knew I would get resistance with that statement.

My comments were geared toward beginners who may keep a Venus Flytrap both too wet for too much of the time, and perhaps in a terrarium (to any beginning growers reading this, a terrarium is not necessary) or in other conditions where there is not much fresh moving air, or perhaps in conditions where the plant is both too cold and too wet for too long, or any number of bad combinations of environmental conditions.

To ArmyRanger10a , who wrote:

I had my venus flytrap in no water and now I no why its dieing. My trap is about to flower so thanks for the help.

The problem may not be that you "had your Venus Flytrap in no water" (by which I presume you mean you didn't have it sitting in a tray of water) but instead may be that you are allowing the Venus Flytrap to flower, which requires a lot of the plant's reserves to accomplish. If you are not an experienced grower, or if your Venus Flytrap is new or was recently transplanted, or if it is not in robust good health to begin with, it's probably better to cut the flower stalk when it is just emerging from the plant rather than to allow the Venus Flytrap to expend its limited stored food-energy and perhaps limited health growing a stalk, producing flowers and then setting seed.

Best wishes with your plant. Try to reduce its stress if you can. Despite what Aidan said ( to Aidan--> :haha: ) don't drown your plant in water until it is in robust good health. Then you can drown it or abuse it however you want. Once you are a good and experienced grower, you can torture your plants and they'll still usually grow well for you.

Steve

[FlytrapRanch]

There appears to be a significant difference between what Aidan wrote and that of xscd. How deep of a pot would you say would be good for sitting in an inch of water? If I were to reconcile the two approaches, I would put a VFT in a deep pot (several inches) and have it sit in an inch of water, so that the plant isn't necessarily sitting water-logged, but has moist enough soil media to "wet its whistle".

That seems to be a good compromise. Contrary to my usual advice, I do allow my Venus Flytraps to sit in standing water (interesting phrase :) ) sometimes, for perhaps half a day or perhaps for a few days if I'm gone from the house and can't tend to them. But I personally don't leave them in an endless supply of water. I allow them to dry until just moist, if I can, before I water them again from above or below. Once again though, that is just my own personal cultural habit and preference. Climate, cultural conditions and habits vary greatly among growers of course.

Regarding planter depth, I have Venus Flytraps with roots that extend downward more than 8 inches (more than 20 centimeters). These plants' roots don't tend to grow outward but instead downward. From my point of view, ideally a Venus Flytrap planter would be much taller than wide. To get the depth of planting medium that I believe they are happiest with, I usually use an oversized pot for the depth it provides, and then plant a small group of Venus Flytraps in that planter. In an 8" wide container I would plant perhaps 3 or 4 Venus Flytraps; in a 10" planter I might place 4 or 5 Venus Flytraps.

Everyone develops their own techniques and preferences-- :)

Steve

[Guest Aidan]

Jim - Standard pot sizes that I use are 7x7x8cm for small to medium size plants and 9x9x10cm for large plants. So, not particularly large or deep.

(Hint - Divide measurements by 2.54 to convert to inches :mrgreen: )

[jimscott]

Jim - Standard pot sizes that I use are 7x7x8cm for small to medium size plants and 9x9x10cm for large plants. So, not particularly large or deep.

(Hint - Divide measurements by 2.54 to convert to inches :mrgreen: )

I have to laugh because America is still using the "english system". There's a lot of resistance to metric.

[Steve Stewart]

I have to laugh because America is still using the "english system". There's a lot of resistance to metric.

jimscott,

Be carefull!

Only an American would call the "standard system" the "english system"

This is the UK forum after all.

Steve Stewart

[jimscott]

Regarding planter depth, I have Venus Flytraps with roots that extend downward more than 8 inches (more than 20 centimeters). These plants' roots don't tend to grow outward but instead downward. From my point of view, ideally a Venus Flytrap planter would be much taller than wide. To get the depth of planting medium that I believe they are happiest with, I usually use an oversized pot for the depth it provides, and then plant a small group of Venus Flytraps in that planter. In an 8" wide container I would plant perhaps 3 or 4 Venus Flytraps; in a 10" planter I might place 4 or 5 Venus Flytraps.

Steve's approach, the drier conditions, causes root development, a search for water. In contrast, a plant that parctically lives in water, doesn't have the incentive to search. Hence, far less roots.

[jimscott]

jimscott,

Be carefull!

Only an American would call the "standard system" the "english system"

This is the UK forum after all.

Steve Stewart

Yeah... I know... collectively speaking, we tend to be a bit centristic. I'll bet Rome was like that too, just prior to falling. ....and coming from NYC, there is that same mentality toward the rest of the State.

[Ian Salter]

I never did adjust to the metric system and still prefer inches to those dinky little centimetres

Does that make me an Imperialist?

[Guest Aidan]

Ian - You can still buy your bananas by the pound. Imperial weights and measures are not going to disappear any time soon. Especially as the European Commission has recently thrown in the towel and given up trying to get us to change.

[Amar]

Ian - You can still buy your bananas by the pound. Imperial weights and measures are not going to disappear any time soon. Especially as the European Commission has recently thrown in the towel and given up trying to get us to change.

they should know better than to want to change a brit..

ducks and runs..

[Tommyr]

Ian - You can still buy your bananas by the pound. Imperial weights and measures are not going to disappear any time soon. Especially as the European Commission has recently thrown in the towel and given up trying to get us to change.

they should know better than to want to change a brit..

ducks and runs..

Or an American for that matter! I'm TRYING to get used to metric but still prefer Standard.

Tom