FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

hi i saw the venus flytraps way way back! about 9 years ago, i bought one and it died..:/ i didnt plant it out in the yard though i kept it the way it came!


anywho i am gonna try this again, this time i want it to live:] i am older now and i am sure ill be able to keep it living:]
my question(s) is:

1: can i plant my venus flytrap in a glass pot sort a thing?

2: it looks something like this http://www.couronneco.com/upload/images ... tainer.jpg .... but instead of being that deep it is wide, i like it b.c i want to see the roots grow and also because i want to plant more than one type of carnivorous plant, i was thinking of a pitcher plant...!

3: another question is, can i water it with drinking water? not the one out of the sink, but the one people drink the one we buy in botles...! i am from california and it rains soo little hear, besides the raining season is over now!:P

4: oh since i mentioned i am from california, it gets pretty hot here, will it be safe to plant the venus flytrap outside.!? i mean i am sure it is because i can find the plants at a home depot and lowes store! that is where i will buy my plant!:] they sell both pitcher and venus flytraps!, i would like to plant the venus flytrap outside sometime, but i a m scared to do it! we have many plants in our front yard and we have palmtrees which is really fresh when we re under them...will it be safe to plant them under the palmtrees!?

5: i know that the flytraps dont have to eat any bug in order to survive but can i feed it crickets..? moths..? bees...? ants...!? i know i cant over do it...ive done some research but i dont know what i can and cannot feed them! for sure not raw meat gross that is even gorss to me!:D

6: another question... when i do plant the venus flytrap from the pot that it comes with should i cover it with something...? when i go to home depot i always see them indoors and they are in a small pot with this plastic type cup that has a hole in the center...is that really necessary....or is that just to make it hummid...!? the plants from homedepot are very small i'd say about 4 months old sooo should i keep them covered like the way they do for a while...!?

7: ok the moss part...i know they need moss and not healthy rich soil like all the other plants do, but what type of moss...!? can i put the moss i get from a craft store..?! or must it be something else..!?

8: and last question i promise....this isnt a helping question just a curious question...:] what happens to the bugs the venus flytrap captures...? i know the ones that the pitcher plant catches just drown in the water...!

9: oh im sorry i lied this is the true final question....i noticed in this site i saw some flytraps that had a very dark red inside the traps, the ones i see at home depot are just green....are they two differ types of plants or is it b.c of age...?


thanks!:]

Ps: when you are going to answer one of my question please write the question number so i can know which one you are answering thanks: ]

Hello Krewelement394 and welcome to flytrapcare!
Let me see if I can answer your questions.

Krewelement394 wrote:1: can i plant my venus flytrap in a glass pot sort a thing?
2: it looks something like this http://www.couronneco.com/upload/images ... tainer.jpg .... but instead of being that deep it is wide, i like it b.c i want to see the roots grow and also because i want to plant more than one type of carnivorous plant, i was thinking of a pitcher plant...!

You can use glass or plastic, but I'd recommend a deeper pot instead of a wider one. Venus Flytraps aren't that picky though. You can grow them in anything from 2 inch pots on up.

Krewelement394 wrote:3: another question is, can i water it with drinking water? not the one out of the sink, but the one people drink the one we buy in botles...! i am from california and it rains soo little hear, besides the raining season is over now!:P

No, drinking water usually has minerals added to it for taste. You want to use only distilled water or rain water.

Krewelement394 wrote:4: oh since i mentioned i am from california, it gets pretty hot here, will it be safe to plant the venus flytrap outside.!?

How hot does it get? If it gets much over 100°F, you would probably need to provide some shade for it during the hottest part of the day, but otherwise, yes you can grow it outside. If your winters are mild, you can probably grow it outside all year.

Krewelement394 wrote:5: i know that the flytraps dont have to eat any bug in order to survive but can i feed it crickets..? moths..? bees...? ants...!?

Though there isn't really a need to feed them, you can feed them anything that they could catch on their own in the wild. So yes, crickets, moths, bees and ants are fine.

Krewelement394 wrote:6: another question... when i do plant the venus flytrap from the pot that it comes with should i cover it with something...?

No, there is no need to do this. They keep them in those domes in the store to protect them and prevent them from drying out. But VFTs adapt well to low humidity, so there is no need to keep it artificially high with a cover.

Krewelement394 wrote:7: ok the moss part...i know they need moss and not healthy rich soil like all the other plants do, but what type of moss...!? can i put the moss i get from a craft store..?! or must it be something else..!?

Peat moss or long fibered sphagnum moss only. I've heard of people using coco peat, but I've not tried this. The moss from the craft store is likely spanish moss, which is deadly to VFTs.

Krewelement394 wrote:8: ...:] what happens to the bugs the venus flytrap captures...?

Try reading here: Venus flytrap trapping and digestion

Krewelement394 wrote:9: oh im sorry i lied this is the true final question....i noticed in this site i saw some flytraps that had a very dark red inside the traps, the ones i see at home depot are just green....are they two differ types of plants or is it b.c of age...?

Some plants have red interior traps and some don't it's mostly based on genetics, but also the traps get more red with good lighting and also in the fall they color up more. There are some cultivated varieties, commonly called cultivars, that can get deep red or purple interior traps and there are some plants that are all red. For a list of official cultivars see here:Venus flytrap varieties

Hope that gets all of your questions. Good questions by the way. If you have any more, feel free to ask!

Krewelement394 wrote: 1: can i plant my venus flytrap in a glass pot sort a thing?
2: it looks something like this http://www.couronneco.com/upload/images ... tainer.jpg .... but instead of being that deep it is wide, i like it b.c i want to see the roots grow ...

The problem with clear containers is that if you give the Venus Flytrap as much sun as it likes, the sunlight entering through the glass will heat up the interior (like down where the roots are) so hot (and quickly) that it can harm the plant. This never happens in the ground because light only strikes the surface. But in a clear container the light and heat is trapped inside and becomes like an oven. Do you want to cook your Venus Flytrap? These glass containers are fine for low-light plants that prefer shade, but they can be death traps to Flytraps.

Steve

Steve_D wrote:These glass containers are fine for low-light plants that prefer shade, but they can be death traps to Flytraps.

Thanks for pointing that out Steve. I didn't think about that when I made my post earlier, but it makes perfect sense!

Matt wrote:Thanks for pointing that out Steve. I didn't think about that when I made my post earlier, but it makes perfect sense!

I only know it because I've done it before. So I wanted to give just a little word of warning, that's all.

In some cases and in some climates, glass or clear plastic containers might work OK, but it's always good to be on guard because clear or translucent containers act just like little greenhouses and collect light and especially heat very effectively and quickly. Of course, if used indoors with flourescent lighting there should be no problem. But with natural daylight (and Venus Flytraps love daylight!) there can be problems.