FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

FlyTrap Hunter wrote:

francisfaustino wrote:Even though I didn't get any seeds from the DCXL, there were some from the Purple Ambush x Purple Ambush and Royal Red x Royal Red if anyone is interested. Free, just pay $3 (Paypal gift) for the shipping and handling. US only please.

The Purple Ambush seeds are from 2 flower stalks.

The Royal Red seeds are only from one and there's only a few seeds. Probably only 10.

I agree with you that flowering takes a lot of energy from the fly traps. I cut the flower stem off of a few plants that didn't seem strong enough.
I am interested in Royal Red seeds and purple ambush.

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I had some purple ambush to germinate. Re: purple ambush x self seed grown. I think I have a Royal Red also but they are all still really small. Thank you. I have had good luck with my seeds from my fly traps this year. They are super slow to grow

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FlyTrap Hunter wrote:I had some purple ambush to germinate. Re: purple ambush x self seed grown. I think I have a Royal Red also but they are all still really small. Thank you. I have had good luck with my seeds from my fly traps this year. They are super slow to grow

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Thanks for the follow up. Take some photos of them next season when they're a bit bigger.

Got some new plants delivered today! It's been two years since I last bought any VFTs so I'm a bit excited. I have been wanting to get the Dracula and the G16 for a while now. They're all so small right now and I can't wait for them to grow to adult sizes.

Left to right: Trev's Dracula, Coquillage, FTS Shogun Star, and G16 FTS Shogun Star G16 Coquillage Trev's Dracula Trev's Dracula Not a VFT but when I looked at this today, I can't help but take a photo of it. I just love this plant. Purpurea ssp. venosa, Tattnall Co. GA location. When I first got it earlier this year, it was just starting to wake up from dormancy with only a few pitchers. Now the pot is almost full.

I "semi"-re-potted the 4 new plants today. I say "semi" because I didn't disturb the LFSM they were already planted in. I just put them in a larger pot and filled in the extra space. I'm trying Matt's potting medium this time. I don't know if he still does this, but years back, he posted that he used LFSM on the top half of the pot with the bottom half being peat/perlite mix. I used to use 100% LFSM in those bigger pots at the back of the photo, but for some reason decided to try only peat/perlite mix.

I didn't acclimate the new plants to direct sunlight which is why there are some black leaves. Probably from shipping stresses as well. It's been about 4 days now since the blackening has stopped.

Clockwise from top right (4 short pots infront): G16, Coquillage, FTS Shogun Star, and Dracula

The 4 new plants I received a couple of weeks ago have fully recovered and all are showing new growth.

I re-potted the 3 remaining VFTs (DC XL, Royal Red, and Purple Ambush) into smaller 5"x5"x7" pots last Sunday. I did this mainly to save space (6"x6"x8" pots do not fit neatly inside the standard 21"x11" trays) and because for a few months now, I have noticed the 3 VFTs haven't really been growing much. Good thing I re-potted because I saw that on all 3 plants, almost all the rhizomes had considerable rot.

I think the rot was the cause of me being lazy lately. I don't typically check on the plants regularly, instead, I just set a reminder in pre-determined intervals (usually either every 5 or 7 days depending on the weather) to water all the carnivorous plants outside. The problem was, I watered the VFTs at the same intervals as the Sarracenias, which are also in smaller pots than the VFTs. This seemed to be too much water for the VFTs in big pots with peat and perlite mix. Moving forward, I have set a reminder to check the plants twice a week and to only water the pots that need watering.

Both photos were taken on September 23, 2018

Ff where do you get your pots. Those look nice. You plants look great by the way.

Nightbreed wrote:Ff where do you get your pots. Those look nice. You plants look great by the way.

Thank you for the compliment. I got the bigger ones from eBay under the name HydroFarms 6"x6"x8". They're a bit expensive. With shipping, I think I paid about $20 for 6 of them. The smaller ones are from Amazon under the name Active Aqua 5"x5"x7", but the sticker on the items says HydroFarms as well. They get cheaper the more you buy. I paid $40 for 24, shipped.

Spring 2019 update: Here is an updated photo (please zoom-in to get a detailed closeup of each plant). Back row from left; G16, DC XL, Trev's Dracula, and FTS Shogun Star. Front row from left; Coquillage, Royal Red, Jaws, and FTS Purple Ambush. I just received the Coquillage and Jaws last week so they're still a bit small. I had another Coquillage last year that did not make it through dormancy. I think I've let the media run too dry during dormancy. I figured getting them earlier in the growing season this time around, as opposed to the end of the growing season, should give me a better chance with the new plants.

The DC XL has always impressed me on how fast it grows and the large size it gets at the start of the growing season. I really believe this is a great cultivar for beginners.

The new plants that I bought last year just before going dormant (G16, Trev's Dracula, and FTS Shogun Star) all died back pretty much to the rhizome during dormancy. The Dracula is yet to color up but I really love its form with the short teeth and the very curved back. The FTS Shogun Star is also a surprise. It is not expensive and I love its form and colors. The G16 is still too small and I might have to wait at least the next season or the one after that for it to show its true form.

I just started spraying miticides for this year as a preventative measure. This is only my third growing season with Venus flytraps and even though I am not seeing damages caused by mites yet, if the previous 2 seasons are anything to go by, I am 100% sure that I will get mites this year again. This time, I am not willing to wait until I actually start seeing damages before I treat. I know they will be there!

Same experience with DCXL, one of my most vigorous and hardy VFTs.

Just a small update. It's my third growing season with these plants and these are the best I've seen them yet! Needless to say, the past 2 years have been a constant learning experience with these plants.

Wow, those look AMAZING, Francis!! Great growing

New plant day! It's been a year since I last bought new plants! 2019's growing season was uneventful. The plants were just chugging along but not really progressing much. I know this is from a lack of sunlight. I've been growing them in our apartment's covered balcony and they only get a few hours of direct sunlight each day. In that condition, it is my experience that the young plants that I buy from FTS would reach adult size in about one growing season. After it reaches adult size, it has a much harder time getting more progress, which I assume is the result of insufficient light. We finally bought a house earlier this year and I now have all the space I need with full sunlight for all the plants! I'm really excited to see what the plants will do this year. It's only March and the Purple Ambush already has a much more intense color than I've ever seen it had in the apartment balcony since I bought it in 2016. The only plants I've lost so far are 2 separate purchases of Coquillage last year. I was going to try again since I can now provide full sunlight but at the last moment, I decided I'd like to have other varieties more than another Coquillage. I might try again later once I get my confidence back and see what the plants will do with more sunlight.

Here is the space for the plants at the front of the house. Three of the pots don't have plants yet because I'm waiting on another shipment of more VFT's tomorrow! This is a temporary location for the plants (or maybe not) and I will move them to the backyard later on. There are 4 raised beds in the backyard but it was neglected by the previous owner. They're full of weeds and the liners are all torn up. I want to tidy it up a bit before I use it.

After a bit of tidying up, those raised beds could make excellent bog gardens!

sanguinearocks101 wrote:After a bit of tidying up, those raised beds could make excellent bog gardens!

Yes... I probably have to leave one for the wife though... for her herbs and vegetables