FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

I am wondering if I should drill additional holes along the sides of the plastic pots that I have just placed VFT's in??? The pots are 5 inch and I am concerned that enough moisture will not migrate to the surface or at best to the roots from the 5/16" holes in the bottom. The paperwork with the plants suggested filling the water container half way up the pot. That was a new one on me as well. What are your opinions? Thanks in advance...

Bah, no! First of all, most water containers don't even go halfway up the pot.... Doing that and drilling holes on the sides would surely give your plant root rot and eventually kill it off. So for short, no, don't drill additional holes.
How many holes are at the bottom? 2 or 3 should be plenty. Fill up the tray with about 1/2 inch of water about 2 times a week (more or less depending on your climate). This should work fine, it does for me!

Good luck!

Thanks a million for answering my question, over watering is my biggest fear.

rhopkins wrote:over watering is my biggest fear.

Overwatering Venus Flytraps is very common and leads to many unnecessary deaths. Venus Flytraps are not bog or swamp plants, in that they usually flourish a little higher than the water level, in sandy, well-drained soil. Their roots can rot if they sit in a growing medium with unmoving (stagnating) water. In pure water (with no growing medium or other organic matter) they can last for a longer time. However, they seem to do best when grown "moist, not wet all the time."

Hi Steve:

Ok on your response. It just seems like they are awful dry. However, the mist system just kicked on and will operate for the next three hours. Other plants in the greenhouse are moist to touch. Humidity runs 75% inside after the mist cycle. Temp is only 70 but today it is cloudy. Abby has three flytraps and one Sundew. The Sundew looks pretty bad it arrived all clumped up. Will have to explore how to post pictures in the near future. Thanks again for your input and we will just sit back leaving the plants in the 1 inch water dishes and allow nature to do Her job.

rhopkins wrote:The Sundew looks pretty bad it arrived all clumped up.

Don't worry too much about that, Sundews always look TERRIBLE after they've been shipped and repotted. Give it a little bit of time and the old leafs may or may not fall back into place and form dew again. If they don't, the new leaves certainly will. In my experience Sundews typically like to be a bit more wet than VFTs though...

Boy you can say that again. I thought it was a ball of algae at first. Thanks for giving me something to look forward to. I notice on the paper that was sent with the plant to not worry about letting it sleep through the winter. I thought that was limited to tropical plants? On another front I got a second sundew today and it has long leaves with the pods on the end. It is a Drosera Binata. Lot a difference in the two but that is interesting. I sure hope all these plants like the humidity between 65~80% as that is what my greenhouse typically runs during the summer months. In Southwest Arkansas you have to live with the humidity! Again thanks for giving me a rundown on sundews. Just what is the procedure to post a photo, I know to resize to a small file? Thanks so much.

Even though D. Binata is temperate, you don't need to worry about dormancy. It's fine being grown as a tropical plant. I don't grow D. Binata, but I do grow a D. xMarston Dragon which is a cross with D. Binata. Last year was my first full season with the plant, but I grew it in the same exact conditions as my VFTs and it never went fully dormant. Growth just slows a bit during the winter months when it gets colder. Living in Arkansas you may see even less dormant behavior since it's probably a bit warmer there than where I am.

Thanks for the report on the D. Binata. This plant has long leaves I assume that in time when it has a chance to recover the leaves will stand up instead of laying over. A couple have already sprung up but the majority are limp at this time. I don't imagine they will go to dormant in my greenhouse it seldom gets down into the 30's in the winter. I do not have it heated but do run a fogger system that keeps everything from freezing over. Thanks so much for your advise.