FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

The American grocery store Wegmans sells Venus Fly Traps once a year starting the week of Father's day (June 16). I got my first plants from them last year, but they died off after re-potting them this year (my fault, didn't know to rinse the soil to lower TDS).

The ones this year looked even better and healthier than last, but from everything I've read on forums like this, I'd expect that VFTs sold at non-specialized stores should be shied away from:
Here are the ones bought at Wegmans (pre-re-potting to a bigger pot).

Plants from Joel's Carnivorous Plants next to them for size comparison. Sadly these aren't doing too well right now, and I haven't figured out why, so not the best picture for comparisons:
I'm hoping these store-bought plants continue to look as good as this, I guess only time will tell.

As long as the VFTs are potted in pure peat or long fiber sphagum moss and watered with distilled water then it should matter where they are purchased.

I've bought VFTs and pitcher plants from non specialty stores and they are doing just fine.

It's the care that matters most, proper light and water and soil, not where they come from.

I wouldn’t suggest that net pot...

You need to remove the cover on the vfts and put them in full sun outdoors. The only reason they look good now is that the grower that the grocery store bought them from was growing them outside and then put them in the dome so they wouldn’t lose water at the grocery store

I agree with thefic. I have bought flytraps from Walmart, Lowes, and the dollar store. They seem grow slow at the beginning most likely due to shock but for the most part tend to come back after a while. You should read the care guides from flytrapstore.com to make sure you are properly caring for your plant.

Copper2 wrote:I wouldn’t suggest that net pot...

I'm following Joel's advice, he recommends them for small/beginner plants until they get bigger. I do know to remove the covers, it's a common myth they need to be kept in a humid environment. I keep them on that sunny window sill, and I have grow lights as well (currently moved out of frame of the photos), so light's not a problem!

I plan on re-potting half the store-bought plants in New Zealand Sphagnum Moss, and the other half in a peat moss and perlite mix (with non-bio airsoft BB's added in for extra aeration since I have very tall pots for the soil-plants). I'm curious to see for myself which ones grow better.

Love Joel's plants but I don't agree with how he markets his plants to be grown.

got to admit that's some nice looking VFT's what i see around my area makes me feel bad for them like the betta fish at walmart.

Fieldofscreams wrote:Love Joel's plants but I don't agree with how he markets his plants to be grown.

Do you mind me asking what you disagree with? Always looking to hear differing opinions on how best to care for VFTs

JetTiger wrote:The American grocery store Wegmans sells Venus Fly Traps once a year starting the week of Father's day (June 16). I got my first plants from them last year, but they died off after re-potting them this year (my fault, didn't know to rinse the soil to lower TDS).

The ones this year looked even better and healthier than last, but from everything I've read on forums like this, I'd expect that VFTs sold at non-specialized stores should be shied away from:

IMG_20190614_161246.jpg

Here are the ones bought at Wegmans (pre-re-potting to a bigger pot).

Plants from Joel's Carnivorous Plants next to them for size comparison. Sadly these aren't doing too well right now, and I haven't figured out why, so not the best picture for comparisons:

IMG_20190614_161305.jpg

I'm hoping these store-bought plants continue to look as good as this, I guess only time will tell.

I didn't realize wegmans sold them. I ran up there yesterday and found a bunch. They sort of look like g17s. Obviously they'll be typicals, but I love the red. I thought it was a light trick, but boy are they red. I feed then all this morning.

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Update: Re-potted half the Wegmans plants in New Zealand Sphagnum Moss, the other half in a peat moss-perlite mix.

Setup: Sunny window sill with grow lights to ensure they get at least 12 hours of sunlight.

LFM Plant 1 looking good.

LFM Plant 2 looking good.

LFM Plant 3 looking good.

Soil Mix Plant 1 has a second trap starting to die off, nothing out of the ordinary.

Soil Mix Plant 2 has a new trap starting to die off, nothing out of the ordinary.

Soil Mix Plant 3 has sprawled out a bit, and started growing two flower stalks which I trimmed.

And finally the only non-Wegmans plant, the one from Joel's Carnivorous Plants. Sadly, this one seems to be doing the worst. Most of the traps have died/are dying off. There's hope in some new growth on the left, so we'll see if it can recover.

yes my vft is doing great for a cheap flytrap i got it when they first came in to the store so

I ditched the mesh pot from my Joel's carnivores shipment. It leaves the plant vulnerable to cold and root problems/pests. I overwinter my plants outside (I live in North Carolina so this is feasible for me). A mesh pot would kill my plants as it offers no protection to the roots from the light freezes.

My two plants that I got from him are doing very well in straight peat moss and a solid plastic pot. It's the Lowe's deathcube rescue that has yet to fully bounce back from its neglect and abuse.



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Artchic528 wrote:I ditched the mesh pot from my Joel's carnivores shipment. It leaves the plant vulnerable to cold and root problems/pests. I overwinter my plants outside (I live in North Carolina so this is feasible for me). A mesh pot would kill my plants as it offers no protection to the roots from the light freezes.

Ah, yeah I live in upstate New York, it gets pretty cold here in the winter, so I just keep my plants indoors all-year round. It gets nice and cool next to the window where they are, and obviously I just keep the grow lights off during the winter season.

I like the idea behind the mesh pots with LFM, as it seems to allow better aeration compared to a peat moss/perlite mix. I also happen to like the aesthetic of it better, too, though I know I could just put LFM as a top layer on the peat moss mix for that.

Having read many of the posts and threads here debating straight LFM vs peat moss/perlite mixes, I opted to try and see for myself hence the mix in my pictures.

I'm just not sure what it is that is hurting Joel's plants there. I'm wondering if I've been over-watering it. His instructions he sends with his plants say to fill the dish you put the mesh pot in to 1/4 the height of the mesh pot, then leave it until there's no more free water in the container before refilling it again. Obviously this assumes you're keeping the plant indoors, which I am.

Only problem with that advice is that it doesn't account for volume, a wider dish can hold more water if filled to 1/4 the height of the pot than a smaller dish. (The same problem applies to peat moss/perlite mixes too, obviously).

I only use distilled water, but I just realized I never did take a TDS measurement on the LFM itself. I did it for the peat moss/perlite mix and washed all that until it the TDS was <50 ppm.

I'm gonna go run some water through my sphagnum moss and see what the TDS is on that.

I'll report back on that. This thread is turning into an ongoing experiment, but maybe someone else will find my progress/results helpful

UPDATE: Distilled water ran through the LFM came read 32ppm TDS.

Flytraps don't like to be kept wet. I just make sure my peat is damp, but not soggy. Basically, the roots just need to be kept from drying out, otherwise they'll begin to rot in the boggy soil. Their just like any potted plant in that regard.

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Artchic528 wrote:Flytraps don't like to be kept wet. I just make sure my peat is damp, but not soggy. Basically, the roots just need to be kept from drying out, otherwise they'll begin to rot in the boggy soil. Their just like any potted plant in that regard.

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Yeah, and that's also why I think it's easier to keep them in peat than LFM. LFM dries so much faster than peat, so I think I may have been over-watering them out of fear of letting them get too dry.

I'm gonna let those ones go longer between watering, until the LFM at the top starts feeling dry - in theory the LFM in the center should have more moisture so it won't be completely dry when re-watering. We'll see how that goes!