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Ask questions about how to grow and care for Venus Flytraps

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By Tiff14RN
Posts:  4
Joined:  Mon Jul 27, 2015 1:06 pm
#264325
So my fly trap has officially made it through dormancy into its 3rd summer. I bought it at a carnival in 2014. Last summer It flowered but I cut it off. I took it outside and it grew great but it got knats. They were a pain to get rid of, but they are gone.

This is how my fly trap looks now ..early June 2016. I've had it inside exposed to lots of light through windows. My question is, I want it to get bigger...is keeping it inside going to hinder its growth? I should mention that several of my outside plants now have aphids....so I'm scared to move it. Does it look ok and will it continue to do well in a really sunny room? Also if it flowers should I cut it again?

And...here is a pic of my sun dew, Do I have to remove all the dead brown parts off it? They seem to curl into a ball underneath the green plant. My sundew hasn't flowered since the first summer. I'd really appreciate any comments or help.

Thanks Tiff
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By Leathal_Traps
Posts:  1311
Joined:  Wed Jan 04, 2012 1:27 am
#264326
That vft could use more light, not a tint of red anywhere on the plant. More light will get you bigger and faster growth
By Tiff14RN
Posts:  4
Joined:  Mon Jul 27, 2015 1:06 pm
#264329
Last summer when I had it outside it did get a nice pink color inside the trap. It also got much bigger and looked really good. Might it be a specie that doesn't get real red? I guess I'll try to put it out and see what happens. Thank for the tip.

Tiff
By mrlindeman
Posts:  6
Joined:  Wed May 11, 2016 1:31 am
#264335
I just recently moved mine outside from suggestions here. I kept mine in a window. What happened was the traps all started to lose their red color, then within a week BAM! all the traps started dying :( Now I have only remnants of fly trap plants. There were not getting near enough light and now they are all in critical condition. Even my saw tooth only has a few small traps. I am trying to recover them at this point. I wish you luck. Being outside should do them great! They love alot of sunlight and air flowing around them.
By Alfa
Posts:  3
Joined:  Wed Jun 08, 2016 8:53 am
#264711
I would definitely put them inside the house. You have to take care that they are in a sunny room. I made better experience keeping VFT inside. Once I put them outside, they started to die. Never again! Probably was too cold for them at night.
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By boarderlib
Posts:  1641
Joined:  Fri Dec 04, 2015 1:13 pm
#264714
If you take a fly trap from inside and just throw it into direct sun all day, most of the old growth will die off. It's going to at some point anyways. Just watch the new growth. It should come up already adapted to full sun.

I don't like dealing with acclimation much, so that's what I have been doing with my new additions, when I get them. I don't pamper my plants either. In my honest opinion, if you pamper something you're going to have more headaches down the road. If you let it deal with the elements it'll adapt to them, to an extent of course. That's just me though. Take it for what you will, and good luck!

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By Shadowtski
Location: 
Posts:  4720
Joined:  Tue Mar 22, 2016 8:19 am
#264717
Your sundew could use more light also. Move him outside. He'll color up and catch lots of bugs on his own. Once he has the energy, you'll end up with flowers, seeds, and lots of little baby Drosera capensis seedlings.

If you move him directly into full sunlight, you'll toast the existing leaves but new growth will probably be OK. If you have the time and patience, do it gradually. Give it a little more sun every day.

Good growing,
Mike
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By xr280xr
Posts:  2807
Joined:  Wed Jun 22, 2011 3:29 pm
#264718
The dark green and spindliness tells me it needs more light. You can gradually expose it to direct sunlight outside so that the leaves don't burn off. If you just let them burn, it's harder for the plant to grow new leaves when it has no leaves to photosynthesize at the same time and yours doesn't look like it has a lot of energy to spare. I would cut any flower stalks off until it gets healthier. I do also like to cut off the dead brown leaves from my sundews once in a while, but you don't have to.
By tommyr
Location: 
Posts:  1748
Joined:  Mon Nov 02, 2009 1:38 am
#264948
Alfa wrote:I would definitely put them inside the house. You have to take care that they are in a sunny room. I made better experience keeping VFT inside. Once I put them outside, they started to die. Never again! Probably was too cold for them at night.
They belong OUTSIDE. You probably didn't acclimate the plant to full Sun slowly.
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By Earthy
Posts:  1292
Joined:  Tue Oct 14, 2014 4:58 pm
#264961
Alfa wrote:I would definitely put them inside the house. You have to take care that they are in a sunny room. I made better experience keeping VFT inside. Once I put them outside, they started to die. Never again! Probably was too cold for them at night.
these are definitely NOT inside plants, unless you have experience growing them inside under lights. they can take temps down to 32F; they should be outside as much as possible after being acclimated.
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By Alfa
Posts:  3
Joined:  Wed Jun 08, 2016 8:53 am
#265167
They belong OUTSIDE. You probably didn't acclimate the plant to full Sun slowly.
these are definitely NOT inside plants, unless you have experience growing them inside under lights. they can take temps down to 32F; they should be outside as much as possible after being acclimated.
Thanks for your advice tommyr and Earthy. How you would recommend to start the acclimation process? Should I start to put them out for a few hours each day and then back inside the house, or how are you doing it? Thanks in advance :)
By tommyr
Location: 
Posts:  1748
Joined:  Mon Nov 02, 2009 1:38 am
#265172
Bring them out for say an hour for the first day then move to bright shade, next day a little longer etc. until they're out all day.
By Earthy
Posts:  1292
Joined:  Tue Oct 14, 2014 4:58 pm
#265180
Lol....I just put mine straight outside in the weaker early Spring sun. They tanned a little but none burned crispy lol....there's a difference between early Spring sun and late Spring sun intensity-wise :)
By Alfa
Posts:  3
Joined:  Wed Jun 08, 2016 8:53 am
#265407
Okay, if all of you made such good experience with putting them outside, I will try it with gradual acclimation. Will be an interesting experiment. Hope this time my VFT will survive. Will let you know if it works out. Thanks!
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By xr280xr
Posts:  2807
Joined:  Wed Jun 22, 2011 3:29 pm
#265415
Alfa wrote:Okay, if all of you made such good experience with putting them outside, I will try it with gradual acclimation.
Not all of us. But you've gotta give it the light it needs. Good luck!

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