Do I have to grow my Venus fly trap outdoors?

Do I have to grow my Venus fly trap outdoors?#450931

By Dragon_trap156 -  Tue May 07, 2024 12:56 pm
Posts:  9
Joined:  Tue May 07, 2024 12:37 pm

- Tue May 07, 2024 12:56 pm #450931

I heard that keeping your Venus fly trap outdoors is best when growing it, however, my neighborhood has a lot of cats and kids outside that might mess with the plant. My Venus fly trap is still pretty small and I don’t want it to get ruined. I bought a new lightbulb for my lamp to replicate sunlight so hopefully that shouldn’t be a problem.

Re: Do I have to grow my Venus fly trap outdoors?#450935

By ChefDean -  Tue May 07, 2024 2:48 pm
Location:  Clarksville, TN
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- Tue May 07, 2024 2:48 pm #450935

The light requirements for a VFT are such that indoors is almost always a poor choice. To equal what the sun provides for free, you'll need to have them under strong artificial lights for 16 hours a day or more. I'm not an expert on artificial lighting, I'm cheap and use the sun, but I'd hazard a guess that the bulb you have is insufficient. Direct, unfiltered sunlight for about six hours a day is sufficient, but a sunny windowsill is not direct, and it'll slowly die from lack of light. Modern glass filters sunlight so that outside on a cloudy day is better than the sunniest of windowsills.
I know what you're thinking, but moving it outside for a few hours, then inside to keep it away from the critters is worse. Now you've got the plant trying to adapt to two different environments, and it'll slowly die from stress.
If the critter problem is that bad, you'd be better off making a cage to protect it from them. If that's not possible, maybe look at trading the VFT for a sundew. Most of those will be more than happy on a sunny windowsill, away from critters.

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Re: Do I have to grow my Venus fly trap outdoors?#450958

By evenwind -  Tue May 07, 2024 7:04 pm
Location:  Long Island, NY
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- Tue May 07, 2024 7:04 pm #450958

ChefDean wrote: ↑Tue May 07, 2024 2:48 pm ...maybe look at trading the VFT for a sundew. Most of those will be more than happy on a sunny windowsill, away from critters.

Or a Mexican pinguicula.

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Re: Do I have to grow my Venus fly trap outdoors?#450970

By Dragon_trap156 -  Tue May 07, 2024 11:24 pm
Posts:  9
Joined:  Tue May 07, 2024 12:37 pm

- Tue May 07, 2024 11:24 pm #450970

The light bulb I am using has 5000 kelvin and 1540 lumens. It is in a lamp that I have directed towards my Venus fly trap. Will this not be enough?

Re: Do I have to grow my Venus fly trap outdoors?#450971

By Dragon_trap156 -  Tue May 07, 2024 11:25 pm
Posts:  9
Joined:  Tue May 07, 2024 12:37 pm

- Tue May 07, 2024 11:25 pm #450971

Re: Do I have to grow my Venus fly trap outdoors?#450976

By andynorth -  Wed May 08, 2024 12:06 am
Location:  Federal Way, WA
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- Wed May 08, 2024 12:06 am #450976

I have one fly trap that I bought back in November from a guy that had it outside and it had just gone dormant. I decided I wanted to keep it inside to see how it did under 22 hours of light. Well, it did great and even flowered a couple months ago. I also have 3 or 4 Bohemian Garnet's that were tag alongs in some Capillaris that I got from a guy in NC. I am south of Seattle. They are in my greenhouse that gets about 18 hours of light per day. They are as deep red as they can get and show no sign of bad health. In short, I would say if they have enough light for a long enough time that they will do just fine. I am actually thinking of getting a couple more lights and bringing all of mine indoors so they will have a better chance than outside in our limited sun we get.

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Re: Do I have to grow my Venus fly trap outdoors?#450977

By optique -  Wed May 08, 2024 12:38 am
Location:  Greenville SC
Posts:  1954
Joined:  Fri May 24, 2019 11:15 pm

- Wed May 08, 2024 12:38 am #450977

I got my 1st flytrap in 2019 a King Henry. I grow it outside and it has thrived and multiplied substantially. I took this photo of it in a 12in pot 2 days ago, I have also sold and shared over 25+ divisions so far that is not in the photo. You will not find someone who grows inside with success like this.

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Re: Do I have to grow my Venus fly trap outdoors?#450979

By Dragon_trap156 -  Wed May 08, 2024 12:44 am
Posts:  9
Joined:  Tue May 07, 2024 12:37 pm

- Wed May 08, 2024 12:44 am #450979

andynorth wrote: ↑Wed May 08, 2024 12:06 am I have one fly trap that I bought back in November from a guy that had it outside and it had just gone dormant. I decided I wanted to keep it inside to see how it did under 22 hours of light. Well, it did great and even flowered a couple months ago. I also have 3 or 4 Bohemian Garnet's that were tag alongs in some Capillaris that I got from a guy in NC. I am south of Seattle. They are in my greenhouse that gets about 18 hours of light per day. They are as deep red as they can get and show no sign of bad health. In short, I would say if they have enough light for a long enough time that they will do just fine. I am actually thinking of getting a couple more lights and bringing all of mine indoors so they will have a better chance than outside in our limited sun we get.

What recommendations do you have for types of light bulbs? Is the one I am using enough for my plant as long as I leave it underneath it for long enough?

Re: Do I have to grow my Venus fly trap outdoors?#450980

By Fishkeeper -  Wed May 08, 2024 12:55 am
Posts:  826
Joined:  Sat Dec 03, 2016 10:59 pm

- Wed May 08, 2024 12:55 am #450980

If you put it close enough, yes, that light should work fine for one plant. I'm not really sure that longer light period would help if the light was too weak- it's more about light strength. You might also run into problems with the plant not getting a long enough rest period at night. I don't know either of those things for certain, though.

Flytraps do best outdoors, but you can grow them acceptably well indoors as well. If you want to try putting it outdoors, you could put it inside something like a small dog crate or a birdcage, so it's protected from various local creatures. Though I wouldn't expect the average cat to be particularly interested in a potted flytrap.

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Re: Do I have to grow my Venus fly trap outdoors?#450985

By MikeB -  Wed May 08, 2024 2:03 am
Location:  Clayton, NC, USA - Zone 8a
Posts:  1942
Joined:  Sat Apr 25, 2020 4:13 pm

- Wed May 08, 2024 2:03 am #450985

Dragon_trap156 wrote: ↑Wed May 08, 2024 12:44 am What recommendations do you have for types of light bulbs? Is the one I am using enough for my plant as long as I leave it underneath it for long enough?

You can give that bulb a try and see if the plant likes it.

If it doesn't work out, then I recommend a full-spectrum LED grow light. These lamps will work, preferably a multi-bulb model. If one bulb turns out to be sufficient, then the other bulbs are spares. If you need more light (or you get more plants), then you can turn on the other bulbs as needed.

If you only have the one plant and already have a usable lamp, then this bulb will do the trick.

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Re: Do I have to grow my Venus fly trap outdoors?#451014

By Dragon_trap156 -  Wed May 08, 2024 3:06 pm
Posts:  9
Joined:  Tue May 07, 2024 12:37 pm

- Wed May 08, 2024 3:06 pm #451014

Thank you!

Re: Do I have to grow my Venus fly trap outdoors?#451047

By Dragon_trap156 -  Wed May 08, 2024 9:18 pm
Posts:  9
Joined:  Tue May 07, 2024 12:37 pm

- Wed May 08, 2024 9:18 pm #451047

Fishkeeper wrote: ↑Wed May 08, 2024 12:55 am You might also run into problems with the plant not getting a long enough rest period at night. I don't know either of those things for certain, though.

How long should I leave my lamp on? Could I turn it of when I wake up in the morning (around 6 am) and turn it off when I go to bed? (around 9pm)

Re: Do I have to grow my Venus fly trap outdoors?#451225

By Fishkeeper -  Sun May 12, 2024 1:07 am
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Joined:  Sat Dec 03, 2016 10:59 pm

- Sun May 12, 2024 1:07 am #451225

A 15-hour photoperiod is good, yes.

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