Jump to content

Beginner Questions


thisisapita

Recommended Posts

Hi, I was recently gifted a venus fly trap from B&Q and after much reading on here and other care guides I have a slight problem, it was recommended that you don't re-pot for at least 2 years especially if you're new at keeping VFTs, however, the pot mine came in has no holes in the bottom so I can't sit the plant in the recommended 3-5 cm of rainwater.

So in this instance which is the more pressing concern would it be better to risk potting up, just placing this plant with medium intact into a bigger pot so as to disturb the roots as minimally as possible, or to water from the top until I get better at keeping the plant? If re-potting is the better option then how large a pot should I go with?

Also, on the topic of dormancy I live in Kildare in Ireland and was wondering would a poly tunnel be suitable for overwintering to protect from freezing but to also allow the plant to go dormant?

Thanks for any help you can offer!

For clarity, and because I've never been on a forum that didn't like pictures, here are some pictures of the plant and pot.

IMAG0462.jpg

IMAG0459.jpg

IMAG0460.jpg

IMAG0461.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Welcome to the forum. Nice to have someone new to the hobby in Ireland. I'm in East Cork and you're always welcome to visit if in the area.

I've some good news and some pain in the arse news.

Firstly the ones from B&Q are a pot within a pot. So as not to make a mess with water. I'm pretty sure I can see it in the second photo. If you run your finger down the inside edge of the pot to under the level of the horrid multi-purpose potting compost they use for the plant you'll notice that it isn't a straight run down and you'll hit something on the side, that's the rim of the real plant pot. This can be got out pretty easily by placing your thumb on the outside and your index finger solidly up against the inner edge of the REAL pot and pulling it up and out of the colourdy one. Now throw away the colourdy one and get yourself a saucer. In the event that I'm wrong and their is no other pot in there then you can take out the plant (via the upside down method) and drill a few holes in the bottom of that pot. Oh and that size pot is ideal. Don't go too shallow.

The pain in the arse news I've already touched on. B&Q's own plant wholesalers buy their VFT's in from Holland in big trays of nursery plug plants (small amounts of peat, which is what the professional growers there are planting them in for sure in order to get them to grow). In order to make this big tray of plants into individual pots to sell on they pot them up, but being stupid people who don't care about the life expectancy of the plants they use ordinary multi-purpose compost which contains fertiliser and slowly kills the plant. This means in order to get the best from your plant you need to repot it (it's an adult plant and will be fine as the roots won't be much out of the original peat plug). Trouble is you need to get your hands on some sphagnum moss peat (such as Erin or Shamrock) and you will likely have to go to several garden centres before you find it as many places have stopped selling it. Don't let them talk you into buying something else either. You also need some perlite. To be honest it's probably going to be easier and cheaper for the sake of one plant to buy a bag of carnivorous plant compost or venus flytrap compost from eBay or Amazon. A couple of weeks in it's current soil will be OK until you repot.

When you do repot, use damp/moist mixture and just go with your instincts, there may even be a youtube video out there on potting a venus flytrap. Just don't compact the soil too much as they prefer things on the lighter side.

To answer your second question. A polytunnel is the ideal thing to overwinter your Dionaea (it's spelled wrong on your pot). It's the same as an unheated greenhouse and that's what nearly all of us use (or polytunnels). I've even overwintered mine outdoors fully exposed for the past 2 winters as we didn't have a deep freeze. They were absolutely fine but to be honest it's not the most ideal thing as you end up with a shorter growing season as they come up late due to cold springs. Your set up is perfect, just sort the soil thing out.

Actually I can give you enough potting mix for your plant if you cover the postage cost via Paypal. I'll have to put it into a bag into a box so it'll go as a small packet which is, depending on weight, going to be €3 or €4. I have a spare box lying around. Of course, if you have peat and perlite then go ahead and mix up your own (3 parts peat, 1 part perlite)

Well done for doing your reading, fairplay for that. We have a care guide for VFT's on here (this link) and you can also look at the venus flytrap section on my own site (www.IrishCarnivores.tumblr.com look at the sidebar to go to that section)

I'm always happy to answer questions and give advice as are everyone else here.

Just remember it's a sun worshiper and requires 1-2cm of rain water (better than 3-5cm) to stand in during the growing season. You can allow the saucer to go empty before refilling, it allows some beneficial oxygen in.

The B&Q plants are quite decent ones, it's just a shame about the soil and the pots they come in. During April, May and June I was in Cornwall as my father was dying. I needed a CP with me so I went into B&Q in Penzance and picked up one in the same pot as yours. It's turned out to be a very strong plant, I let it flower just because I wanted to (but I advise you not to this year) and the stalk was the sturdiest out of all my plants, the flowers the largest and now the traps are coming on a large size. A good buy.

Let me know if you want the peat/perlite mix from me as I'm happy to help out.

Happy Growing

Richard

Edited by Richard Bunn
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi there ... i have a somewhat related question for the forum, as I have two VFTs from Homebase that I bought last year. They look identical to those B&Q ones and I presumed they were not in good soil, but I left them and they have survived the winter and are flourishing. Last week I finally got around to repotting. The plant had divided, and I was able to separate and pot up a few smaller plants. I have since noticed that all the traps on the mother plant and divisions are starting to wilt and go black. Is this normal when repotting/dividing? Is it just the stress of the 'move' and will they grow back okay?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi there ... i have a somewhat related question for the forum, as I have two VFTs from Homebase that I bought last year. They look identical to those B&Q ones and I presumed they were not in good soil, but I left them and they have survived the winter and are flourishing. Last week I finally got around to repotting. The plant had divided, and I was able to separate and pot up a few smaller plants. I have since noticed that all the traps on the mother plant and divisions are starting to wilt and go black. Is this normal when repotting/dividing? Is it just the stress of the 'move' and will they grow back okay?

I've left plants in the soil and they've been ok too but they don't look as good the next year as when they are repotted.

What soil did you use when you repotted? What are you watering with? Was the soil moist when you used it?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

From 8 plants bought from Homebase a couple of years ago, and after repotting, I had 50 plants! Some did go black as you describe, but all grew back and are now approaching the size of the originals. B&Q/Homebase/etc do not know how to grow these plants. Apart from the wrong compost they also use tap water on all their plants and that will gradually kill off VFTs. In my opinion you should repot in a suitable compost as soon as you can (though they will not suffer unduely if they have to wait a few weeks for that) and start watering with rainwater ASAP.

During winter they will die back to just one (or no) leaves. Just leave them a little moist (not soaking wet) and wait for them to grow new leaves next year. They really need a period of dormancy, but if there is a threat of a hard prolonged freezing spell try to protect them in some way.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks so much for such a detailed reply! You were indeed right that there was a pot inside a pot.

2013-07-30212529.jpg

As for the soil I would really appreciate that, if you're sure its not too much hassle?

I'm currently in the process of going through your website you have some really awesome plants!

Thanks again for all the help :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's no hassle at all. PM me your name and address and I'll send some to you. You'd actually do better at punching a couple of drainage holes into that big coloured pot and using the potting mix to plant your VFT into that as it's a little deeper which can be better.

Many of those photo's on my website are 'reblogged' which means they're somebody else's I've reposted. It always says though if they are (at the bottom of the posting under Source). Thanks for the complements too, helping newbies get into the hobby is what I enjoy doing. Did you check out my Venus Flytrap Secrets of Success section on my site?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey I'll pm you now! Will do with the bigger pot shouldn't be a problem.

I noticed the reblogging afterwards ha thats what I get for looking briefly, I seen your grow list and assumed. I've looked at the guide, if only I'd found it earlier ha cuts out a lot of the excess,but I guess thats part of the learning experience too!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...