FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

HI,
Im curious at what point is a Dionaea large enough that flowering is reasonably safe?
Is there a difference between cultivars?
What are some tips to getting seeds without risking parent plants?, just good growing conditions?

thanks, Max

Maxzilla90 wrote:HI,
Im curious at what point is a Dionaea large enough that flowering is reasonably safe?
Is there a difference between cultivars?
What are some tips to getting seeds without risking parent plants?, just good growing conditions?

thanks, Max

Many growers wait until their plants have had a full growing season and dormancy before allowing their plants to flower. There isn't really a set point outside of having near ideal plant health.

If you choose to let them flower, be sure they have AMPLE light and also note that normal leaf development may slow or stop until a few weeks after the entire flowering process is complete.


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If it is in full sun, and had a good dormancy period, it should be all fine.

People worry too much about flytraps flowering. If the plant is healthy, it will be fine. Can you imagine if all the plants in the wild died after flowering? They would have gone extinct a long time ago.

My plants were at their biggest while flowering, ironically.

nimbulan wrote:People worry too much about flytraps flowering. If the plant is healthy, it will be fine. Can you imagine if all the plants in the wild died after flowering? They would have gone extinct a long time ago.

There are many monocarpic plants(purposefully die after flowering), though Dionaea isn't one of them. I haven't had a problem with die off in the past with typicals in the past, but I also find it hard to find any information on this subject beyond Barry Rice saying "don't do it". Im trying to collect more information before I "risk" the plants i'm attached to and that are hard to replace/expensive.
Like:
Do all cultivars react the same to flowering, or do reds have a harder time since most grow lower anyways?
I just haven't any place to find this info.

Maxzilla90 wrote:

nimbulan wrote:People worry too much about flytraps flowering. If the plant is healthy, it will be fine. Can you imagine if all the plants in the wild died after flowering? They would have gone extinct a long time ago.

There are many monocarpic plants(purposefully die after flowering), though Dionaea isn't one of them. I haven't had a problem with die off in the past with typicals in the past, but I also find it hard to find any information on this subject beyond Barry Rice saying "don't do it". Im trying to collect more information before I "risk" the plants i'm attached to and that are hard to replace/expensive.
Like:
Do all cultivars react the same to flowering, or do reds have a harder time since most grow lower anyways?
I just haven't any place to find this info.

Don't do it, as in, don't let it flower? While I love Barry's site, it is very outdated, with some misinformation on there.

Benurmanii wrote:

Maxzilla90 wrote:

nimbulan wrote:People worry too much about flytraps flowering. If the plant is healthy, it will be fine. Can you imagine if all the plants in the wild died after flowering? They would have gone extinct a long time ago.

There are many monocarpic plants(purposefully die after flowering), though Dionaea isn't one of them. I haven't had a problem with die off in the past with typicals in the past, but I also find it hard to find any information on this subject beyond Barry Rice saying "don't do it". Im trying to collect more information before I "risk" the plants i'm attached to and that are hard to replace/expensive.
Like:
Do all cultivars react the same to flowering, or do reds have a harder time since most grow lower anyways?
I just haven't any place to find this info.

Don't do it, as in, don't let it flower? While I love Barry's site, it is very outdated, with some misinformation on there.

Ya, it actually says "Should you let your fly trap flower? No!" (http://www.sarracenia.com/faq/faq2620.html)
,
but that doesn't help if you want to do crosses.

That page was last revised a decade ago. I think that it is also directed towards growers growing in a windowsill or otherwise unhealthy environment.

I let every single one of my plants flower last year and set seed with manual pollination and I had absolutely no set back. As everyone has said, as long as the plants getting plenty of light and had a good dormancy, let it flower.

Now if you picked it up from a Home Depot two weeks ago, I would recommend snipping it as you are gonna need to save energy so it can adapt to normal conditions. Thats my opinion.

Unless the plant isn't healthy there is ZERO problem letting them flower. Imagine all the "doomed" WILD VFTs that flower. It's a myth that it'll kill the plant.

Well, after reading the posts in this topic, I think instead of cutting the stalk and trying to get it to root a new plant, I may just go ahead and let it flower out. Thanks!