FlyTrapCare Forums

My drosera is still small, but it has begun to give flowers. Should I cut it or let it go?

It's good, let it flower if you want. The flowers for capensis aren't really that spectacular, so it's not a big loss if you cut it.

Venus fly trap flowers seriously absorb energy, I wondered if the flower is the same as drosera. Thank you.

From what I understand, sundews don't take the energy-hit that flytraps do when they bloom. They're very small flowers, but pretty. And...they can make lots of seeds if you're wanting to grow more plants...even if you simply let them go to seed, fall onto the surface of the grow-mix and "volunteer" for later thinning. Or you can let them go to seed, let the seeds ripen, and catch the seeds for planting in other pots, giving away, sticking in the refrigerator for later planting, etc.,. Or, you can whack the flowers off and not worry about'em anymore. But, if you whack them off you have to get a crazed look in your eyes and give a villainous, evil laugh when you do the deed!!!

Your plant looks very healthy, I say let it flower. My capensis flowered early this year and was still getting acclimated so the process was really detrimental to the plant. It recovered quickly after the seeds ripened.

Thank you for your answers. Can I do the pollination myself with a brush? It worked when I did it with a Venus fly trap.

From what I've read (I'm a newbie learning) capes are good at self-pollinating and really don't need any help. A gentle shake of the pot might help a little in dislodging some pollen to fall on the stigma, but it sounds like that really isn't necessary. Give them a little shake a couple of times a day, it won't hurt anything...I'd be more comfortable doing that than trying to pollinate with the brush. The old KISS principle (which I try to stick with but ol' "OCD-Me" usually sends me on a wild tangent, anyhow! ).

Some Barry White music in the background is all you need.

Panman wrote: ↑Fri Aug 12, 2022 1:14 am Some Barry White music in the background is all you need.

The voice of experience.

VFT seeds are huge compared to capensis seeds, and the flower generation is more gradual. Probably why the energy intakes are different.

Re pollination, I understand that when the flowers close (they stay open for about 1 day) they self-pollinate. I would leave the stalk on the plant until it dries a bit to let the seeds ripen. They're very tiny, sort of oblong, and hard to see.

I let mines flower so I can get seeds for new plants. If you do not want seeds, you can remove the flower stalk.


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