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How to Take Care of a Venus Fly Trap
Venus Flytrap (Fly Trap) Dionaea Muscipula 3 inch pot
Venus Flytrap Care
The way the actor Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors cared for that unrealistic Venus Flytrap is certainly not advisable for anyone really wanting to know how to take care of a Venus Fly Trap! Venus Flytraps do not eat people! As a matter of fact, I have an understanding that it is not neccessary to feed them anything and still have a flourishing carnivorous plant.
Please watch Venus Flytrap expert Joel Garner below in the video below for more:
Venus Flytrap Facts - Venus Flytrap Care
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Having a Healthy Venus Flytrap
Joel Garner, carnivorous plants conosieur, explains that a Venus Flytrap can actually thrive with distilled water, reverse osmosis water, or rain water and appropriate sunlight. You cannot find a better care regimen than that! It is simple and so cheap!
Potting Your Plant- It is a common practice to plant in a pot with dirt, fertilizer, and possibly even Miracle Grow. However, Venus Fly traps can be grown independent of the traditional potting in a mixture of moss as soil and a plastic pot with a depth of five to eight inches. (long-fibered sphagnum and peat moss pictured to the right).
Sun Exposure- Like any other plant sunlight is vital for Venus Flytap nourishment. Therefore, it is advisable that your trap can live outside; however, an alternative would be a sunlit window sill. In the event growing your Venus Flytrap outside or next to a sunny window are not feasible a third option is providing high output flourescent light. To ensure your Flytrap is getting maximum exposure to the flourescent light experts advise you position the plant within two to four inches under the bulb.
Watering- As previously mentioned the best, tree types of water for Venus Flytraps are rain water, reverse osmosis water (purified tap water or other filtered water), or distilled water. Joel Garner states,
"Having sold 1000s of Venus Flytraps online I have found that the number one way that customers lose their newly purchased Venus Flytraps is by using an incorrect kind of water and it consistently kills them in 2 days flat."
Bottled mineral water, bottled drinking water, or purified water are not encouraged in the irrigation of Flytraps.
Feeding- Feeding Flytraps live bugs is the best nutrients rather than forcing dead matter. Joel Garner indicates a Venus Fly Trap can eat weekly one, possibly two, bug(s) for adequate sustenance. It has been established that a Flytrap owner must not feed the plant when indoors. On the same token, it is important to understand that Venus Flytraps that live outdoors are fully capable of feeding themselves by cathcing insects.
Dormant Stage- Oftentimes Venus Flytrap owners think their plant is on its last leg (dying) because it loses its fall leaves and displays smaller leaves. The Venus Flytrap is not dead in such cases, but the greater mass of the plant is beneath the surface. The Winter season brings about dormancy for Flytraps. Whereas the plant appears dying, swelling of the rhizome takes place in preparation for winter dormancy.
The video below shows the different stages a Flytrap leaf undergoes:
Growth Cycle of the Venus Flytrap
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The Venus Flytrap is indigenous to North Carolina, my home state. I recall first laying my own eyes on Flytraps in the wild in Pender County at a campground. What a sight they were to behold. They were on the walking path of a nature trail and I tried my best to adore them while stepping over them!
Oddly, Pender County was where a recent theft of Venus Flytraps occurred landing four men in jail and facing over two years in prison. These men stole 900 Flytraps and got caught! This is a felony in the state of North Carolina.
As an owner of a Venus Flytrap and having seen them grow in nature, I understand the awe and amazement of their splendor and uniqueness, however, to do time in the penetentrary for stealing them is not an option!
There are so many vendors of Venus Flytraps both online and elsewhere and tons of resources to help one maintain their carnivorous plants. To take a Flytrap illegally suggest a clear misunderstanding of how to take care of a Venus Fly Trap!