FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

feeding them the wrong food is a big beginner mistake. let them catch their own bugs, but if you do feed them yourself, give them small-enough bugs or the traps will die.

In general, when we're giving a beginner advice, I think we've got to very careful to remember that not everyone who wants to grow VFTs (or CPs in general) lives in a place that makes it easy. Describing the perfect growing conditions should be just the starting point of a conversation. For instance, telling someone that a VFT must have direct sunlight when they're living in a dark apartment or a dorm room isn't going to be very helpful and could be very discouraging.

I have no idea how much commitment the average noob who just acquired a Death Cube on a whim is willing to undertake but I think if we want to nuture them, we've got to talk more about what they can do as opposed to what they should do.

xr280xr wrote:Since it's your first flytrap, one thing you can do to really make sure you're not making a beginner mistake is start a running thread and post a picture of your flytrap every week or two along with a description of the conditions it's been under. Beginners frequently don't recognize problems early enough and then they have to try to rescue an unhealthy plant, which is difficult as a beginner.

That's a great suggestion!

What happens if its too dry?

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Too dry for a short time, part of the rhymezone may die and you end up with several very small plants. Completly dry or too dry when it's hot usually equals a dead plant.

VFTs can be kept much drier (perhaps less wet would be a better description) than most people keep them. The surface, top 1/2" can be dry. As long as the rest of the media is damp, they grow well.

All i did was put the pots in fridge with out its water tray on top shelf...Is it possible that my plants didn't make it through fridge dormancy due to plants being exposed to the fridges Contaminates? It was on top shelf but I think since I didn't prep it by covering it, fungus got to it.

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Matt wrote:

Benurmanii wrote:I live in Portland, OR, and so there is rarely a time when my VFTs are not in a full tray of water. They do great! Many even have water up to the top of the pot, but I've never had rot issues.

I used to grow my flytraps similarly, leaving them sitting in water all the time. Rarely had any problems either, at least not any moreso that I do now where I never leave them sitting in water.

However, what I've learned over the years is that they will grow much better, with a larger healthier root system, which will be able to support a larger plant overall, if they aren't left sitting in water all the time.

People forget or don't know that roots need air. This is one reason why drainage is important when growing any plant.

Matt wrote:

xr280xr wrote:Since it's your first flytrap, one thing you can do to really make sure you're not making a beginner mistake is start a running thread and post a picture of your flytrap every week or two along with a description of the conditions it's been under. Beginners frequently don't recognize problems early enough and then they have to try to rescue an unhealthy plant, which is difficult as a beginner.

That's a great suggestion!

That is a phenomenal suggestion! Great thinking.

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Thanks so much for all the advice! My VFT came today. I put it in a window for now, so it can adjust slowly, but after it's been here for a few days, I'll move it outside. It looks incredibly healthy and doesn't have a single blackened trap! Thanks Matt!

Now the only thing is.. I caught an ant for it (we're currently having ant invasion issues) and I dropped the ant in the trap with tweezers, but it wasn't big enough to trigger I think.. so I brushed the inside and triggered it. However, the ant was quick and the trap shut half on the ant and half off the ant -.- Not sure what I need to do about that if anything. I have heard half-sealed traps can cause issues.

tommyr wrote:

Matt wrote:

Benurmanii wrote:I live in Portland, OR, and so there is rarely a time when my VFTs are not in a full tray of water. They do great! Many even have water up to the top of the pot, but I've never had rot issues.

I used to grow my flytraps similarly, leaving them sitting in water all the time. Rarely had any problems either, at least not any moreso that I do now where I never leave them sitting in water.

However, what I've learned over the years is that they will grow much better, with a larger healthier root system, which will be able to support a larger plant overall, if they aren't left sitting in water all the time.

People forget or don't know that roots need air. This is one reason why drainage is important when growing any plant.

There is a difference between high trays of water and an undrained pot. Where I live, it rains throughout most of the year. There is probably more gas exchange in my plants' soils than others who are careful to water lightly.

Also, the amount of air that plants' roots needs varies from plant to plant. VFTs may not be temperate Drosera, but they are certainly no Nepenthes, they are quite tolerant of wet feet.