FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

So I just bought my first flytrap from Walmart about a week ago and when I got it home I did research and realized I had more work to do than just putting the container in the window. I bought a 6” plastic pot and drilled holes in the bottom for drainage and have a plastic tray under it for water. I mad a 1:1 mixture of sphagnum peat moss and perlite and watered it with distilled water. I even put a 5 gallon bucket under the gutter drain spout to catch rain water. My question is how often should I water it? So far I’ve been keeping the water tray filled and spraying the top of the soil and traps everyday. Am I overwatering them or is it ok to water them everyday? I split the rhizome and got 2 plants when I was repotting it. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Oh sorry about the double pictures I didn’t realize it put it in twice.

I’m new to fly traps as well, so I’m figuring out watering myself, but the mushy-looking plant looks like it is planted too deep for sure. You’ll want to get some of that media off the rhizome or it’s liable to rot.

If you can keep them outside year round they are really easy to grow just keep them wet and change the media every other year.

if its in peat perlite you can just set it in a shallow trey of water in a small pot 1inch or less of water should be ok. the lower the water level the better but the deeper the less u have to add water.

this is my 1st fly trap all i do is water it and change the media.
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Hedonista wrote: ↑Tue Apr 02, 2024 2:55 am I’m new to fly traps as well, so I’m figuring out watering myself, but the mushy-looking plant looks like it is planted too deep for sure. You’ll want to get some of that media off the rhizome or it’s liable to rot.

Ok so what part of the plant do I want to be at the dirt level? Do I want some of the rhizome showing out of the dirt or should it be just below the dirt?

I think the rhizome should be just below the dirt. You just want a bit more of the base of the leaves exposed, and to clear that media out of the center. It’s my understanding that if you get it close, they will adjust themselves up or down to where they want to be. Here is how I have some of mine planted that I got a few weeks ago. Oops, I planted the little ones too close together. Again, I’m a beginner, so maybe someone with more experience can chime in here. This is just based on picking up bits of info researching CPs, not long-term growing experience.

I keep mine in straight LFSM. They are just now emerging from dormancy and I found that they are creating their own "live" moss out of the LFSM they are in so I had to go through roughly 50 plants and clear the rhizome off of the new moss it grew while dormant. Had lots of old plant tissue that I cleaned out.

You just want to keep it in a tray about one or two inches high with water. And you can top water but its harder that way.

Cheesy_sandwhich_45 wrote: ↑Tue Apr 02, 2024 7:17 pm You just want to keep it in a tray about one or two inches high with water. And you can top water but its harder that way.

I think a better gauge of what water level to keep is to say 1/8 to 1/4 of the depth of the pot. Sitting a 3 inch tall pot in 2 inches of water would lead to rot whereas a 6 inch tall pot would likely not have a problem. Flytrap roots are about 5 inches long and you don't want the tips to be sitting in water for an extended period.

It sounds like you're getting there. Yeah, lower your water to something approaching what Panman said...figure the water level out by height of pot. 6" pot...maybe 5" deep??? If 5" deep then around 1/2" deep water. Let the tray go dry for a day or so in between waterings. Top-watering is good every now and then...it helps to pull oxygen down into the grow mix. Let the water drain through into the tray...let it sit a few hours then dump that drain water and bring the water level in the tray up to the 1/2" mark with fresh water.

Sometimes pots have flat bottoms and the tray used has a flat bottom...this can actually block the pot from allowing a free flow of water. Some pots that I use have a several small indentations around the bottom edge to allow for this. The ones that don't have the indentation I usually drill four holes in the side, just above the bottom, to make sure the pot drains and takes water with no trouble. Sometimes the trays have ridges in the bottoms that prevent the pot bottoms from being blocked. Just something to be aware of.

I usually rinse my peat, perlite, sand, LFSM, etc.,. I'll rinse the peat moss two or three times. A 5-gallon paint filter bag (Lowes/HomeDepot/etc) makes rinsing much easier. Rinsing the mosses can help reduce the incidence of unwanted mold/mildew/odd plants/etc.,. Perlite is a different critter.
When processing perlite the companies keep it wet to help keep the dust to a minimum...and they use whatever water is handy which might be from a pond, ditch, bay, whatever. You will notice very milky drain water with the first rinse, it will get cleaner with each rinse. Remember, those paint filter bags can be your friend! Be sure to use "safe" (<50ppm TDS) water to rinse with. With a lot of ingredients to rinse this can take a lot of water, but for a few plants it really isn't a problem. Lots of successful growers never wash their ingredients. Just call me "OCD-Me"!

Except for things like seed-starting and cutting-propagations (I use distilled for those), I use rainwater exclusively. It has the added benefit of being acidic, which carnivorous plants do well with. I just think rainwater is the best overall choice...good for the plants and CHEAP (like me! ). When catching rainwater I try to let the first minutes of good rain "go to waster"....I don't catch it. That initial water has all the dust, bird poop, dead bugs, leaves, etc., that has collected on your roof since the last rain...I let that rinse off before catching any water. But, if you can't be there to deploy your bucket(s) then don't worry about it. Even letting the first few minutes of rain go to waste you will still end up with fine debris/sediment in what you collect. I store a lot of water in 1-gallon milk jugs. Before storing it, though, I "filter" it. I do this by putting an old t-shirt across a bucket, adding a coarse towel on top of the t-shirt and then pouring my collected water through the cloth layers and into another bucket. The water comes out looking very clean and seems to store better (not turn green) without a lot of debris in it. I guess it's the "OCD-Me" in me.

Anyhow, that's my speech for the moment.

Would it be advisable to put one of those 2 plants into a different pot that way the 2 plants aren’t competing with each other for space and room to grow or are they fine how they are?

MEEMOSS77 wrote: ↑Tue Apr 02, 2024 9:59 pm Would it be advisable to put one of those 2 plants into a different pot that way the 2 plants aren’t competing with each other for space and room to grow or are they fine how they are?

I would think they'll be fine in the pot together for a while. Let them chill out a bit, they've been through some trauma already. They need some R&R time. Then, if you think you would rather have each of them in their own separate pots...repot them. That's probably what I'd do.

Ok thank you so much for all of the advice. I’ve never had much of a green thumb and with this VFT and a Christmas cactus which my mom gave me a part of hers that was originally my great grandmother’s (trying to get it to grow roots. I look forward to seeing these guys take off and do well.