Hello everyone! I am brand new to the forms and keeping carnivorous plants. I have always had a green thumb and I have dabbled around with bonsai trees and other unique plants. I moved here to Tennessee from Southern Nevada, and I really enjoy how easy it is to cultivate plants here. After a lot of thought and research I decided to get a Venus Fly trap. I really wanted one that was healthy, has a lot of aesthetic appeal, and would also help with the absolutely abundant amount of insects in my house. I have the perfect area to keep my plant where it will get plenty of sun, and also gets cold. (My kitchen, during the winter I seal it off from the rest of the house, close the vents, and the windowsill it will be on has a window that is perpetually cracked open, letting in the cold. It is enough to give my Juniper bonsai a dormancy, so I figure it will work for the fly trap.) I ended up buying a bristletooth from flytrapstore.com. ( http://www.flytrapcare.com/store/venus- ... istletooth ) I am suuuper excited about getting it! It is already potted so, for now, I will not have to worry about purchasing the type of soil I will need or a new pot. I know I will eventually, but I figured in the end this was less trouble AND I'll be getting a better plant then getting one of those plant kits from the educational toy section of the store. I have thoroughly read the caresheets and about the sort of supplies I will eventually need... but does anyone else have any additional advise for a beginner just about to receive their first plant? Does anyone have any experience with this plant specifically?

The care for almost all vfts is generally the same so there won't be any difference in conditions between bristletooth and most other flytraps, one thing I'd ask is why not grow it outdoors?
Also just making sure (I know you've read the care sheets but...) you'll be using distilled water right? (Or some other form of pure water)

SFLguy wrote:The care for almost all vfts is generally the same so there won't be any difference in conditions between bristletooth and most other flytraps, one thing I'd ask is why not grow it outdoors?
Also just making sure (I know you've read the care sheets but...) you'll be using distilled water right? (Or some other form of pure water)

Oh yes, I understand that, I was just wondering if people found that they are a hearty plant, ect. I'm not wanting to grow outdoors because the main reason for choosing the VFT is that everything year we get an insane, and I do mean INSANE, amount of houseflys during the summer. Plus, if the plant is outdoors I wont really get to see it. I knew about the distilled water thing and it is actually something I keep around the house for myself and my dogs to drink anyway.

The spot I am going to keep it in gets a lot of sun, of course if it isn't enough I do have artificial lighting that is very much suitable for plants to supplement if I must. Supposedly juniper bonsai trees don't do well indoors either but the one I keep in the same area is thriving and its lighting and temp needs are the same, so I don't think I will need to supplement, but I keep a close eye on all my babies so I will know if I do need to before the plant gets into trouble.

Hi Swiggity! If you plan to grow vft's indoors, you'll need some pretty intense fluorescent lighting. They are full sun plants, and will need 12 to 14 hours of bright light per day if kept indoors. I have a couple that I keep in my green room under a four lamp T8 fixture, 6500k lamps. I keep the plants at about 3 inches below the fixture. Lack of light is probably number 2 in cause of death of vft's. It can be done, but they don't do quite as well as they would outdoors. Which ever you choose, ask plenty of questions, and best of luck!

SwiggityStag wrote:

SFLguy wrote:The care for almost all vfts is generally the same so there won't be any difference in conditions between bristletooth and most other flytraps, one thing I'd ask is why not grow it outdoors?
Also just making sure (I know you've read the care sheets but...) you'll be using distilled water right? (Or some other form of pure water)

Oh yes, I understand that, I was just wondering if people found that they are a hearty plant, ect. I'm not wanting to grow outdoors because the main reason for choosing the VFT is that everything year we get an insane, and I do mean INSANE, amount of houseflys during the summer. Plus, if the plant is outdoors I wont really get to see it. I knew about the distilled water thing and it is actually something I keep around the house for myself and my dogs to drink anyway.

The spot I am going to keep it in gets a lot of sun, of course if it isn't enough I do have artificial lighting that is very much suitable for plants to supplement if I must. Supposedly juniper bonsai trees don't do well indoors either but the one I keep in the same area is thriving and its lighting and temp needs are the same, so I don't think I will need to supplement, but I keep a close eye on all my babies so I will know if I do need to before the plant gets into trouble.

How much sun does your kitchen window get? And at what time?

And in any case I feel like you'll do fine with your flytrap, in all honesty, once you have the right water, they're very easy to grow and should thrive for you. If you're looking for something to get rid of flies however I would suggest getting a Nepenthes instead of a fly trap

Welcome to FTC!

kcbugs wrote:Hi Swiggity! If you plan to grow vft's indoors, you'll need some pretty intense fluorescent lighting. They are full sun plants, and will need 12 to 14 hours of bright light per day if kept indoors. I have a couple that I keep in my green room under a four lamp T8 fixture, 6500k lamps. I keep the plants at about 3 inches below the fixture. Lack of light is probably number 2 in cause of death of vft's. It can be done, but they don't do quite as well as they would outdoors. Which ever you choose, ask plenty of questions, and best of luck!

Oh wow, that is a lot more intense of a lighting set up then I expected. The area I was planning on using gets full sun exposure from dawn until about 11am, light still comes in because there are windows on each side of the room. The other side does not get as much light because of the tree line, the other window gets so much because we are at the top of a hill over looking a relatively flat and tree free area... so the light coming in is really good. Outside that side of the house can produce epic amounts of full sun flowers, such as marigolds, and that is the side the window faces.

As far as the lighting I was planning to use to supplement, I have a free standing lame that uses pl/f 27 watt bulbs. If I do begin to get into this as a intense hobby I would eventually like to do a greenhouse, somewhere indoors where the plants can be protected and thrive where I can also keep my bonsai trees... but for now I have just purchased my first plant and may buy another later this year. I want to cultivate two healthy plants and see how I feel before making a big time monetary commitment to the hobby like a greenhouse.

Welcome to FlytrapCare!

I believe the 12-14 hours is only in reference to using artificial lighting, they should get at least six hours of natural sunlight

Welcome in buddy

SFLguy wrote:I believe the 12-14 hours is only in reference to using artificial lighting, they should get at least six hours of natural sunlight

That's correct!

welcome!! awesome community here and great to have you

Thank you guys so much for the advise and the warm welcome! I am so excited about getting my new plant and I have been making sure to go through the forums for additional research. This is an awesome community!

Welcome to the CP club

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