FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hello Everyone!

I just recently bought my new fly trap from the FTC Store (Maroon Monster) and received it in the mail just yesterday afternoon. Came in great shape and the colors were just mesmerizing!A couple of Black traps, but seems normal. Got around to setting up its home and now just waiting to see if I have a "Green Thumb." Gotta say, those tiny VFT's were a real pain to plant since my fingers are huge. I just hope I planted them correctly as I read it online when you receive 'em bare root. lol

Living in Vegas where the temps can go up to 115-120, Going to cross my fingers that my VFT's don't burn up! Although I did see that my VFT can survive the winters here on the "Hardiness Map Zone" since it doesn't reach freezing. Meaning I can leave it outside all year around right?

Overall, definitely digging the site and the people in the forum. Great Community, very helpful, and informative. I'm too excited to grow my very own VFT! Hopefully I can take all I've read and grow one very awesome VFT garden.

-Ritchie

Welcome to flytrapcare! Congratulations on the new flytrap, Maroon Monster is a great one

ritchie_calabrese wrote:Meaning I can leave it outside all year around right?

When it is fully adjusted to it's new environment it should be fine outside year round provided with proper care.

Welcome to the community. The maroon monster is a great plant, my favorite in my collection. I would keep your plants inside at a bright window for a couple of weeks and then acclimate them to your weather, since they will be going into shipping shock.
This site has all the info you need and the members are all happy to help. Good luck!

P.S. If you can, you should post some pics of your plant, we would love to see it

Such warm welcomes! You guys are awesome!

Unfortunately, I left it in the sun for about 3-4 hours, so it might've beaten the traps up a bit. Going to move it to a spot where it can get plenty of shade and slowly move it toward direct light once they've grown accustomed to this fierce heat.

I will definitely be posting up some pics of my little guys soon. Going to need all the help I can get from experienced VFT growers if I want them to grow big and bright!

ritchie_calabrese wrote:Living in Vegas where the temps can go up to 115-120, Going to cross my fingers that my VFT's don't burn up!

Although Venus Flytraps generally like plenty of sunlight, there is a limit in certain climates beyond which they can experience damage. For example, high-altitude sunlight is more intense (less atmospheric diffusion) and can burn them more easily, if you happen to live 3000 or more feet above sea level (Las Vegas, Nevada evidently has quite a lot of altitude variation depending on where in the valley one lives, from under 2000 feet to over 4000 as one climbs from the valley floor).

If the area is usually very low in humidity, that adds to the combination of stress factors. If it becomes very hot (over 100 degrees Fahrenheit), that also adds to the stress factors affecting the plant. If there is a dry breeze or hot, strong, dry wind, that adds additional stress.

Depending on the number and severity of these and other stress factors (recent repotting, not acclimated, soil too dry for too long, etc.) the Venus Flytrap can be damaged, sometimes fairly severely with lots of leaf die-back.

So it's best to be gentle with the plant and slowly push it toward more harsh or intense conditions, to know for oneself the boundaries of the optimum range of conditions for the plant.

Ah! Thanks Steve for that info. I didn't realize how many factors could affect the plant's stress level.

Lately, the weather has been a bit humid, but it isn't often we've gotten this cloudy weather.This summer has maintained it self at around 90-105 degrees, but sometimes getting as far as to 115. Very arid conditions nonetheless. The altitude where I live is like 2400 ft., so I guess it's a small positive.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I was reading on here that having a tray with water under the pots on hot summers is very useful for the soil to retain it's moisture? I was kind of worried of trying it because I also read that it can lead to fungus and what not to start growing.

Definitely going to keep these babies in the shade. Vegas sun and having the whole city practically lit up turns this place into an oven. lol