Oudean’s Willow Creek Nursery
7421 137th Ave. SE ~ Snohomish WA 98290
phone 360-568-6024 Fax 360-568-4904
e-mail: cambrp@premier1.net
web
page: www.oudeanswillowcreeknursery.com
The
Care and Feeding of Dionaea muscipula, Venus' Flytrap ă2004
by
Karen Oudean
You may have seen the words “Live Plants” printed on a box. Unlike most other plants, the Venus’ Flytrap demonstrates just how alive it is in a very surprising way. It quickly and actively traps, then digests its dinner. Insects are lured to their death by nectar glands in the guard hair margin of the trap. To insects, the nectar smells like raw meat. Insects that pollinate are not attracted to it. Each trap leaf may catch and digest 3 - 4 times before dying and turning black. It takes about a week for the traps to digest an insect and reopen between meals. Traps, that are triggered but not fed, will open in 1 day and can be triggered up to 11 times before they die. Cut off, don't pull, any black tissue. The plant will not die if one trap dies. It produces new leaves frequently during the growing season. Dining on insects is not necessary to the plant's survival; but 2 or more meals per plant, per month, will improve its general health and trap size. Luckily, it cannot overeat when food is abundant. If you want to hand feed your plant, any small bug is a good meal. Tiny crickets from the pet store are fine. You can feed the traps with bugs you have just killed; but a struggling victim aids the plant’s digestion. If the meal is too large for the trap to close and seal properly around the food, the trap will gradually die. Feed very small meals until you can judge size accurately. Meat is not a good substitute for insects. Bad bacteria grow in the meat faster than the plant can digest it. Fertilizers can be harmful. The rest of the plant's care is quite simple. Adequate light and water are vital to the plant’s survival. They can live many years if you provide what they need.
1. Light
Requirement:
A. Indoor Culture: Place the plants in a south facing window that gets direct light for 6 - 8 hours, measured in June, or in 10 or more hours of light a day, provided by two 32W fluorescent tubes in a shop light for dozens of plants or one 23W 5000K compact fluorescent plant light in a desk lamp for every 3 or 4 plants. Place the lights 4"- 6" above the plants’ leaves. When Halogen or Halite lights are placed close enough to the plants’ leaves to produce the right light levels, the lights give off too much heat and cook the plants’ leaves. VFT can also be grown in a terrarium with two fluorescent plant light tubes. Keep the tank out of direct light or you will fry your plants. Pinch off the flower stalk to divert the plant's energy to making traps.
B. Outdoor Culture: In the Pacific NW, place the plants in at least 4 hours (more is better) of direct, unfiltered, late morning and early afternoon sunlight. In hot climates, shade the plants from the sun during the hottest part of the day. Flower stalks may be allowed to flower and seed out.
2.
Water Requirement:
A. Indoor Culture: This is a bog plant. Never let the soil dry out. Keep the pot in a bowl of water 1"-2" deep at all times. Use distilled or rain water. Going on vacation? Fill the bowl with water to the top of the pot before leaving. The plant is occasionally flooded in its natural habitat.
B. Outdoor Culture: This is a bog plant; it requires constant moisture all year. Creating a miniature bog is easy and inexpensive. A Rubbermaid dishpan or a child’s wading pool is great for this purpose; but you can use any watertight container 8” deep or deeper and 18” wide or wider. It can be made of anything except treated wood or unsealed cement. Most carnivorous plants do not tolerate calcium, alkaline conditions, or petroleum residues. Find a location in full sun with no overhanging plants or eaves to obstruct rainfall. Excess water should drain away from your container in heavy rain. Dig out a level area large enough for your container to fit with its top edge at the same level as the surrounding dirt. Remove any sharp objects from the hole. Place 1” - 2” of sand in the bottom and line it with newspaper, 4 or more sheets thick. Drill a 3/8” – ˝” hole, 2” below the top edge of the container. Place the container in the hole. Arrange rocks or bricks as a retaining wall so that 1/4 of the container will be a small pond. Line the empty soil area with weed cloth. Fill it with soil mix, made of 1 part clean sand (see potting instructions) and 1 part peat moss, thoroughly mixed and wet. Press the soil mix firmly, mounding it slightly. Plant the Venus’ Fly Traps in the center of the mound. Slowly, fill the pond with water. Gently, water the plants to clean and settle them. The water level in the pond may be allowed to drop to 1” in the summer, between refills as long as the soil surface remains moist. Do not allow the soil to dry out. The larger the container, the less care required, as long as 1/4 or more of the surface area is a water reservoir (pond). In hot climates. 18” to 24” containers are best.
3. 3- 5 months of
dormancy.
The Venus' Fly Trap is not a tropical plant. It is a hardy bulb-like rhizome, native only to certain boggy regions of the Carolinas, right here in the USA. It appreciates a period of rest in the winter.
A. Indoor Culture: place the plant in its water tray in an unheated room or garage where temperatures do not drop below freezing, 35°F - 45°F, for 3-5 months, e.g. December-March. Date a strip of tape on the pot for reference. If you don't have a cool place indoors, artificial light must be provided, see paragraph 1.A.
B. Outdoor Culture: if you live where winters are dry, water your bog as needed to keep the soil moist. In climates where temperatures drop below 20°F for long periods of time, insulate the plants with 6” of fir or pine branches, when freezing temperatures are about to begin. If temperatures drop below 10°F for more than a day or two at a time, add a cover of rigid Styrofoam or frost blankets. Remove the insulation as soon as all danger of frost has past.
4.
Potting Instructions:
A. Re-pot yearly during active growth in a wider pot or the same pot with fresh potting mix. A pot depth of 3" is all that is necessary, but deeper pots are okay. Just raise the water level to 2" - 3" below the top of the pot. Use a potting mix of 1 part clean builders sand or superfine perlite to 1 part peat moss. You can use sand from creeks or riverbeds where ground water tests acid pH with an aquarium water test kit. The pH should read 4 to 6.5. Do not use sand from sources contaminated by salt water. Do not fertilize.
For more information: