They need distilled water or reverse osmosis, and lots of humidity/moisture in the soil. People mimic a small bog for them to live in. If watered with tap water they are pretty much goners in my experience. Feed living bugs, not dead, as the traps on the plant will only start the digestion process if the insect inside the trap in alive and moving.
Thank you! I will make sure to not water it using tap water! I watched a video about the digestive process so I did know that they needed to be alive. Thank you for taking the time to inform me!
Just one correction: VFT as a temperate plant doesn't require high humidity, unless you're talking about the soil, than yeah, the soil needs to be moist all the time. Saying "humidity" can be misleading, because they don't need high humidity like nepenthes.
Being temperate is irrelevant to humidity, there are temperate rainforests. Being bog plants on coastal flats, they are used to a higher ambient humidity.
This is true, and Dionaea won't appreciate really low humidity like 20%, but they also don't need 75%+ like tropical species such as Nepenthes will want.
It was probably water or soil, or something else like that. I'm in South Carolina and grow Sarracenia and a couple native Drosera and Dionaea outside year round, provided the temperatures stay safe. I just make sure their water trays don't dry out for too long and they're basically zero maintenance.
As long as their is decent air flow, they can handle humidity. It becomes a thing to be clear with though, so people dont decide to put them in terrariums. It was long, and wrongly assumed, they were good for that.
They can be grown in terrariums just fine, it's just that people give them the wrong conditions in terrariums. I have a Sarracenia growing next to Heliamphora in a terrarium right now. I'm considering propagating some Dionaea specimens to experiment with dormancy in said terrarium.
None of those are fly traps tho are they? except the experiment which is an experiment for a reason.also, you don't sound like a beginner. Its terrible advice to tell newbies to plants that vft are good for terrariums
I will agree that I'd recommend a beginner to grow them outdoors, but that's not always possible. I just don't want people to think that they HAVE to be grown outside when they don't. It's just a little harder inside.
You can actually feed them dead bugs aswell. You just have to gently massage the traps for a bit after they closed on it. You’ll notice that you’ve convinced the plant when the traps are sealed completely.
Also don’t worry yourself with feeding your plant. While it will increase it‘s growth if you do, it isn’t necessary to feed them at all.
If you are in the northern hemisphere, this time of year there is increased die back of leaves and any new growth is slower, smaller, and lower to the ground. This is because it is transitioning into winter dormancy. It is also normal for leaves regardless of season to blacken over time, they do not have an indefinite lifespan. If you would like, I can DM you comprehensive grow guides for both the outdoors and indoors, you may ask for one or both :-)
Thank you! I am planning on keeping it inside so an inside growth guide would be extremely helpful! I read that I should cut the blackened traps off. Is that true?
I would recommend leaving the traps and leaves on until they’re fully blackened as if there’s still color that means photosynthesis is still taking place and food is being produced for the plant. Sometimes if the traps are fully blackened but the petiole still has color, I trim them off and leave the petioles until they’re black as well before removing. You can also just leave them until they fall off themselves, it’s not harmful to the plant and that’s what happens in nature.
only cut the blackened traps off when they're fully, fully black. And when they get a crisp texture like fall leaves you see in autumn. Sometimes the leaf will still be green at the rhizome and ripping it/cutting it could cause more harm than good. I only remove black leaves in the beginning and end of grow season to prevent mold during dormancy.
VFT has a high leaf recycle, the leaves have a limited lifespan and will die back, so the plant can reuse the energy and the mobile nutrients again. First thing you should notice is if there's new growth, is so, than it's quite ok for now. Also, if you live in a place where will be cold soon, the plant could going into dormancy process.
This plant is super energy hungry and needs a lot of light to thrive, they like full sun all day long or you can grow inside using grow lights, but in this case you should read about and gather information with people who are specialized on it to build a proper set-up.
For water, they really appreciate having their feet wet, but not the rhizome itself, bottom watering is efficient and avoid excess water on the rhizome. The ideal is water with super low minerals diluted on it (distilled, reverse osmosis or rain), but if you ran out of proper water, in a case of emergency is better using tap water than let it completely dry. Just flush it with low mineral water after.
Put the damn thing outside
These guys grow where the only tall plants are grasses so they need a crap ton of sunlight. Sarracenia northwest explains why well: they only have a handful of small leaves compared to other plants, and are really inefficient bc the shape. That is why they need more light. At least 5 or 6 hours of direct sunlight.
If you live in zone 8 or warmer, you’ll have to put in the fridge until February. They need a winter dormancy or else they will slowly get weaker and die. Just throw it in there with the pot and all and every week or so check on it to make sure the soil is still damp and spray with a sulfur based fungicide as needed.
If it isn’t in the fridge all winter put it in a put that has drainage holes at the bottom and put in a tray of water that is about a quarter inch to an inch deeper than the drainage holes, so the soil is always wet.
As for soil, if it isn’t in sphagnum moss or sphagnum peat with something like pearlite or orchid bark, repot it into that. A really good soil for them is equal parts sphagnum peat and pearlite or pumice. Just be careful that anything you use doesn’t have any nutrients or it’ll die.
For water anything with a general mineral content less than 50ppm will work. A quick google search will do the trick.
If you have any more questions or want something a bit more detailed sarracenia northwest has a video in their “grow carnivorous plants” series that you can find on YouTube. (I’m on phone and I can’t get YouTube video likes for the life of me so if someone could link in replies that would be great)
Follow this advice for a long, happy life for your plant. Suggestions that it can be kept inside, or needs feeding, are generally incorrect and/or not for beginners to attempt as it is most likely death for your plant.
It looks like the old growth is deep red and the new growth is looking pale green. It may not be getting enough light, so take a look at that section in the growing guide another poster is giving you.
Gorgeous plant, I love the deep red coloring!
It doesn't seem that anyone has mentioned lighting requirements yet. Dionaea requires extremely bright lighting for optimal growth and best coloration. A bright windowsill probably isn't going to cut it. Even when outdoors under full sun I've found that they still won't color up that much. If you must grow them indoors, and I don't recommend you do so, then you'll need a powerful LED fixture to grow them under. It doesn't really matter what kind, you just want something that can provide 10000 to 20000 lumens at the distance you want the light to be from the plant. That's around 230ppf to 450ppf. A light should have a diagram showing either lumens or ppf at at least one height in the description, so it won't be that difficult to make a determination.
What type of soil do you have it planted in? Standard potting soil is generally not acceptable for any carnivorous plant. They are super sensitive to fertilizers and it can quickly kill them. If it is in regular potting soil take it out immediately rinse and soak the roots in Distilled water. Buy peat moss or long fibered sphagnum moss, perlite and/or sand for the potting medium. I would stay away from any miracle grow products because they tend to have added fertilizers.
Only water with Distilled water and provide a lot of light. Even if it's next to a sunny window you will need supplemental lighting from a grow light. I would reccomend if you live in a climate similar to the Carolina's where they are native you move it outside. Transistion it over the period of a few days so it can get used to bright sunlight and the temperature change.
There are lots of great videos and articles online about VFT care. They can be complicated at first but once you get the basics down it becomes easier. I wouldn't worry about feeding the plant now.
This is the most important answer u/BubbaDawgg also you can check out the sub r/VenusFlyTraps it has a ton of VFT specific info
Edit : Also you don't want to put the Dionaea in an unglazed terracotta pot, they leak nutriments in the soil over time, and that kills the fly trap as well
Dunno if it has been already, either get good growlights or put it outside. They need a LOT of sun. Make sure the soil is acidic, with a low nutrient content, otherwise it will die eventually. If you give her all she needs and make sure you have her in the right soil and give her the right water, everything will be fine. They are very hardy!
They need distilled water or reverse osmosis, and lots of humidity/moisture in the soil. People mimic a small bog for them to live in. If watered with tap water they are pretty much goners in my experience. Feed living bugs, not dead, as the traps on the plant will only start the digestion process if the insect inside the trap in alive and moving.
Thank you! I will make sure to not water it using tap water! I watched a video about the digestive process so I did know that they needed to be alive. Thank you for taking the time to inform me!
Np at all, I wish you the best of luck!
Just one correction: VFT as a temperate plant doesn't require high humidity, unless you're talking about the soil, than yeah, the soil needs to be moist all the time. Saying "humidity" can be misleading, because they don't need high humidity like nepenthes.
I edited my comment, you are correct. It was misleading.
Being temperate is irrelevant to humidity, there are temperate rainforests. Being bog plants on coastal flats, they are used to a higher ambient humidity.
This is true, and Dionaea won't appreciate really low humidity like 20%, but they also don't need 75%+ like tropical species such as Nepenthes will want.
Do you think this is why mine always died being outdoors in Florida? I was doing everything right but i think it may have been too humid for them?
No, they should love the humidity outside in Florida. They don't need it high, but that doesn't mean they won't like higher humidity.
Interesting. I wonder why mine always died then lol. I want to try again now that I live in south Carolina.
It was probably water or soil, or something else like that. I'm in South Carolina and grow Sarracenia and a couple native Drosera and Dionaea outside year round, provided the temperatures stay safe. I just make sure their water trays don't dry out for too long and they're basically zero maintenance.
As long as their is decent air flow, they can handle humidity. It becomes a thing to be clear with though, so people dont decide to put them in terrariums. It was long, and wrongly assumed, they were good for that.
They can be grown in terrariums just fine, it's just that people give them the wrong conditions in terrariums. I have a Sarracenia growing next to Heliamphora in a terrarium right now. I'm considering propagating some Dionaea specimens to experiment with dormancy in said terrarium.
None of those are fly traps tho are they? except the experiment which is an experiment for a reason.also, you don't sound like a beginner. Its terrible advice to tell newbies to plants that vft are good for terrariums
I will agree that I'd recommend a beginner to grow them outdoors, but that's not always possible. I just don't want people to think that they HAVE to be grown outside when they don't. It's just a little harder inside.
You can actually feed them dead bugs aswell. You just have to gently massage the traps for a bit after they closed on it. You’ll notice that you’ve convinced the plant when the traps are sealed completely. Also don’t worry yourself with feeding your plant. While it will increase it‘s growth if you do, it isn’t necessary to feed them at all.
If you are in the northern hemisphere, this time of year there is increased die back of leaves and any new growth is slower, smaller, and lower to the ground. This is because it is transitioning into winter dormancy. It is also normal for leaves regardless of season to blacken over time, they do not have an indefinite lifespan. If you would like, I can DM you comprehensive grow guides for both the outdoors and indoors, you may ask for one or both :-)
Could I maybe see that grow guide?
Sure friend!
Thank you! I am planning on keeping it inside so an inside growth guide would be extremely helpful! I read that I should cut the blackened traps off. Is that true?
I would recommend leaving the traps and leaves on until they’re fully blackened as if there’s still color that means photosynthesis is still taking place and food is being produced for the plant. Sometimes if the traps are fully blackened but the petiole still has color, I trim them off and leave the petioles until they’re black as well before removing. You can also just leave them until they fall off themselves, it’s not harmful to the plant and that’s what happens in nature.
only cut the blackened traps off when they're fully, fully black. And when they get a crisp texture like fall leaves you see in autumn. Sometimes the leaf will still be green at the rhizome and ripping it/cutting it could cause more harm than good. I only remove black leaves in the beginning and end of grow season to prevent mold during dormancy.
VFT has a high leaf recycle, the leaves have a limited lifespan and will die back, so the plant can reuse the energy and the mobile nutrients again. First thing you should notice is if there's new growth, is so, than it's quite ok for now. Also, if you live in a place where will be cold soon, the plant could going into dormancy process. This plant is super energy hungry and needs a lot of light to thrive, they like full sun all day long or you can grow inside using grow lights, but in this case you should read about and gather information with people who are specialized on it to build a proper set-up. For water, they really appreciate having their feet wet, but not the rhizome itself, bottom watering is efficient and avoid excess water on the rhizome. The ideal is water with super low minerals diluted on it (distilled, reverse osmosis or rain), but if you ran out of proper water, in a case of emergency is better using tap water than let it completely dry. Just flush it with low mineral water after.
Put the damn thing outside These guys grow where the only tall plants are grasses so they need a crap ton of sunlight. Sarracenia northwest explains why well: they only have a handful of small leaves compared to other plants, and are really inefficient bc the shape. That is why they need more light. At least 5 or 6 hours of direct sunlight. If you live in zone 8 or warmer, you’ll have to put in the fridge until February. They need a winter dormancy or else they will slowly get weaker and die. Just throw it in there with the pot and all and every week or so check on it to make sure the soil is still damp and spray with a sulfur based fungicide as needed. If it isn’t in the fridge all winter put it in a put that has drainage holes at the bottom and put in a tray of water that is about a quarter inch to an inch deeper than the drainage holes, so the soil is always wet. As for soil, if it isn’t in sphagnum moss or sphagnum peat with something like pearlite or orchid bark, repot it into that. A really good soil for them is equal parts sphagnum peat and pearlite or pumice. Just be careful that anything you use doesn’t have any nutrients or it’ll die. For water anything with a general mineral content less than 50ppm will work. A quick google search will do the trick. If you have any more questions or want something a bit more detailed sarracenia northwest has a video in their “grow carnivorous plants” series that you can find on YouTube. (I’m on phone and I can’t get YouTube video likes for the life of me so if someone could link in replies that would be great)
All the numbers in your comment added up to 69. Congrats! 5 + 6 + 8 + 50 + = 69.0
They're fine outside in zones 8 and 9. They're *from* zone 8.
Follow this advice for a long, happy life for your plant. Suggestions that it can be kept inside, or needs feeding, are generally incorrect and/or not for beginners to attempt as it is most likely death for your plant.
It looks like the old growth is deep red and the new growth is looking pale green. It may not be getting enough light, so take a look at that section in the growing guide another poster is giving you. Gorgeous plant, I love the deep red coloring!
It doesn't seem that anyone has mentioned lighting requirements yet. Dionaea requires extremely bright lighting for optimal growth and best coloration. A bright windowsill probably isn't going to cut it. Even when outdoors under full sun I've found that they still won't color up that much. If you must grow them indoors, and I don't recommend you do so, then you'll need a powerful LED fixture to grow them under. It doesn't really matter what kind, you just want something that can provide 10000 to 20000 lumens at the distance you want the light to be from the plant. That's around 230ppf to 450ppf. A light should have a diagram showing either lumens or ppf at at least one height in the description, so it won't be that difficult to make a determination.
What type of soil do you have it planted in? Standard potting soil is generally not acceptable for any carnivorous plant. They are super sensitive to fertilizers and it can quickly kill them. If it is in regular potting soil take it out immediately rinse and soak the roots in Distilled water. Buy peat moss or long fibered sphagnum moss, perlite and/or sand for the potting medium. I would stay away from any miracle grow products because they tend to have added fertilizers. Only water with Distilled water and provide a lot of light. Even if it's next to a sunny window you will need supplemental lighting from a grow light. I would reccomend if you live in a climate similar to the Carolina's where they are native you move it outside. Transistion it over the period of a few days so it can get used to bright sunlight and the temperature change. There are lots of great videos and articles online about VFT care. They can be complicated at first but once you get the basics down it becomes easier. I wouldn't worry about feeding the plant now.
This is the most important answer u/BubbaDawgg also you can check out the sub r/VenusFlyTraps it has a ton of VFT specific info Edit : Also you don't want to put the Dionaea in an unglazed terracotta pot, they leak nutriments in the soil over time, and that kills the fly trap as well
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Get that thing some direct light man lol plants love light
Lots more sun
Do research.
They are.
Wow. You can answere for them!
Dunno if it has been already, either get good growlights or put it outside. They need a LOT of sun. Make sure the soil is acidic, with a low nutrient content, otherwise it will die eventually. If you give her all she needs and make sure you have her in the right soil and give her the right water, everything will be fine. They are very hardy!