FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hello from Pittsburgh, PA.

Just purchased a few VFTs from the Fly Trap Store yesterday and I'm eagerly awaiting my shipment. Decided to check out the Forums for some support and info. These are my first VFTs, so I'm hoping I made the right decision in which specific breed/strain to purchase.

I was looking for larger, and fast growing plants, so I bought (1) Vigorous, (1) Czech Giant, and a mystery box consisting of (5) plants. I couldn't decide what I wanted for sure, so I'm letting FTS make the decision for me.

I plan on using a mix of peat, coir, vermiculite, and some perlite for moisture control, for the substrate. I am going to plant the Vigorous and Czechs separately, and the mystery box plants all together in a larger planter. Will this be okay?

Besides awaiting my new carnivorous plants, I tend to my carnivorous fish. I have 10x Pygocentrus Nattereri (Red Belly Piranha) and 1x Serrasalmus Rhombeus (Black Piranha). So I feel these plants will feel right at home in my collection.

Welcome to the forums!
I really like the idea of pirhanas, but with 4 cats which like to jump in the pond alot... well, you can guess.

Ordering from Fly Trap Store is a great decision, they wont let you down Your planting methods should be fine too

Good luck!

Welcome to the forum

You picked the plants I would have recommended for a beginner and someone who wants
a larger, longer leaf plant with large traps.

You will love them and soon be addicted like the rest of us;)

Welcome to the forums and thanks for your support with the purchase! Steve will be shipping your order, so you'll surely get some very healthy, robust and large plants

Hello and welcome to our wonderful community! I hope you enjoy your new plants and best of luck with them!

Welcome!

Hello 0S1R1S, and welcome!

I have never had a Vigorous, but it's called Vigorous for a reason! Czech Giants are very nice plants and The mystery box is a great item too, I'm sure it won't disappoint!

I also like your avatar! I have a small green pot that I wanted to use to make a "pipe" pot out of. It would look something like this :

0S1R1S, welcome! and good luck with your Carnivorous plants and pets!

Thanks everyone!

Daniel_G wrote:Welcome to the forums!
I really like the idea of pirhanas, but with 4 cats which like to jump in the pond alot... well, you can guess.

I have a cat as well, but glass tops on the tank. He never gets on top, but he chases the hell out of them from the sides.

Matt wrote:Welcome to the forums and thanks for your support with the purchase! Steve will be shipping your order, so you'll surely get some very healthy, robust and large plants

No problem, glad to show my support. Looking forward to receiving them soon!
And I'll be sure to post some pictures when I get everything situated.

Shes Crofty wrote: I also like your avatar! I have a small green pot that I wanted to use to make a "pipe" pot out of. It would look something like this :

Damn you! Now I have a project on my hands.. I might try to construct a 'pipe' pot out of PVC for one of my new arrivals.

0S1R1S wrote:Thanks everyone!

Daniel_G wrote:Welcome to the forums!
I really like the idea of pirhanas, but with 4 cats which like to jump in the pond alot... well, you can guess.

I have a cat as well, but glass tops on the tank. He never gets on top, but he chases the hell out of them from the sides.

I can only imagine, mine enjoy chasing dead, canned fish. Let alone somethig LIVE!
Could they actually do any harm to him if he got in?

0S1R1S wrote:I plan on using a mix of peat, coir, vermiculite,

Some people report some reservations or problems with vermiculite, although I have nothing to offer from my personal experience (zero experience with vermiculite as carnivorous plant growing medium ingredient).

The coir however will very probably be problematic unless you pre-treat it thoroughly to desalinate it. There are many discussions here at the Forum about coir. I use coir extensively, for most of my Venus Flytraps now, but I have tried several brands (all the same stuff, maybe even from the same large waste pile of "coir dust" in Sri Lanka) and all of them are extremely high in soluble mineral salts (even the ones that are marketed as "pre-rinsed," "pre-washed with fresh water," etc. That's just marketing hype; don't believe it. It just means that the huge pile of coir dust, which was processed probably with sea water, got rained on several times.

At any rate, I would recommend against using coir that has not been thoroughly desalinated and tested for TDS by you, disregarding anything the people who are marketing it say in their promotional description. A cheap TDS meter (about $15.00) works fine, such as the HM-Digital TDS-EZ.

Daniel_G wrote:

0S1R1S wrote:Thanks everyone!

Daniel_G wrote:Welcome to the forums!
I really like the idea of pirhanas, but with 4 cats which like to jump in the pond alot... well, you can guess.

I have a cat as well, but glass tops on the tank. He never gets on top, but he chases the hell out of them from the sides.

I can only imagine, mine enjoy chasing dead, canned fish. Let alone somethig LIVE!
Could they actually do any harm to him if he got in?

Most likely not, they're pretty skittish fish to begin with. Especially with something entering the tank from above..
Not to mention the cat hates water, so by the time he would fall in, and the jump out, the fish wouldn't even know what happened.
But all those circumstances aside, they're very curious of anything in their tank, and would do some damage if given the opportunity.