FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hi there! My name is Celeste. I live in Melbourne in Australia. I've been very enthusiastically and semi-successfully growing Venus Fly Traps for a couple of months now. I've been lurking around here getting tips for a while, so I've decided to jump in and join the conversation. I purchased my first VFT from my local nursery about two months ago and am totally hooked. Now I've got that little guy and four B-52's. I haven't killed one yet, but I've made plenty of mistakes.

Anyway, today one of my Venus Fly Traps caught a slug! I was very excited and grossed out. It's head is caught and it's tail is still wiggling. I took a photo:

Welcome to the forum Celeste. I hope you enjoy your plants and learn a lot from this site so you can expand and continue your collection.

Keep up the good work.

Hello and welcome to our wonderful community!

Welcome the the Forums Celeste!

WELCOME!

Thanks everyone

I got some new plants today at the market- a Low Giant, a Royal Red and a European Wasp Eater. The guy who sold them to me told me that they grow better inside on a windowsill. The guy who sold me my B-52s told me that they grow much better outside! I think I'm going to grow half inside and half outside and see what happens. Before today, my strategy was to keep moving them every time I heard something different. A couple of my plants are a bit dead, probably from moving them so much. I also have had contradicting advice on water and potting mix!

Ask John (Snapperhead52)
He has some greay flytraps, and grows them in Aussie land
Maybe outdoors with a bit of shad cloth would be good...

There is a lot of contradicting or quite frankly false information about caring for venus fly traps around; the simplest and most basic needs can become horribly complex when they needn't be. There are various soil mixes you can use or try for venus fly traps but I've always used a peat/perlite mix; some users have had success with coconut coir pith/dust that has been thoroughly cleaned (it contains a lot of dissolved soilds and the like which can be harmful to a venus fly trap's roots).

Pure water is the only thing I'd suggest watering your plant with. Pure water consists of deionised, distilled, reverse osmosis or rainwater. Tap water is usually too high in dissolved minerals to be safe to use, but this does vary depending on where in the world you are. You can always buy a TDS (total dissolved solids) meter to test your tap water; if it displays as under 50PPM (parts per million) it should be safe to use. Most water under 50ppm is safe for venus fly traps as it is low in dissolved mineral content which could burn a venus fly trap's roots.

As for your climate issues, I'm afraid I can't help. Hopefully someone else who lives in Australia can help you!

Hello and welcome Celeste!

I think it's just going to take a bit of trial and error. I think I've discovered that I've been burning my plants. I've had them in a spot in my backyard which has direct sunlight for the entire day, and it's just hitting summer here. They get black spots on them, and the baby traps die as soon as they open. I've moved them temporarily into my sunroom, until I can figure out a better solution. I think I might have to put up some shade cloth in the backyard or something.

There is a lot of light in my sunroom, cause all the walls are pretty much made of glass, and there is a big window that lets all the bugs in. Is there any reason that having them in a room like this would be less ideal than having them outdoors?

Celeste wrote:I think it's just going to take a bit of trial and error. I think I've discovered that I've been burning my plants. I've had them in a spot in my backyard which has direct sunlight for the entire day, and it's just hitting summer here. They get black spots on them, and the baby traps die as soon as they open. I've moved them temporarily into my sunroom, until I can figure out a better solution. I think I might have to put up some shade cloth in the backyard or something.

There is a lot of light in my sunroom, cause all the walls are pretty much made of glass, and there is a big window that lets all the bugs in. Is there any reason that having them in a room like this would be less ideal than having them outdoors?

I've been having the same problem at this time of year. I leave them in full sun almost year round. I only move them into the shade on days of extreme heat, usually about 37C plus. I'm in St Kilda, and I get some terriable black spot infestation from time to time. If you're unsure, perhaps give them a quick spray with some fungacide from Bunnings or something. Is this what you are experiencing?