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Ask questions about how to grow and care for Venus Flytraps

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By boarderlib
Posts:  1641
Joined:  Fri Dec 04, 2015 1:13 pm
#300928
uusa2000 wrote:From my own experience. I have no controlled experiment. I'm using "hydra dragon" concept. Remember from Hercules? he chop one head off two more will grow and so on. Same concept for other plants. Its not an immediate growth but it will grow. The plants really waisting its time on the dying leaf. Chop it off, feed the next trap. Thats my theory. The photos are mini clusters or new growth points after I've cut 'used up' dying traps on most of the plants
This is just nonsense! You're basing growing techniques on Greek mythology? That is a myth ( https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/myth ) to begin with, not real. The hydra dragon is a mythological beast that was made up by some story teller back in Greek, and Roman times to entertain people. It did not live and breath. The fly trap is a real, tangible item. It is can be seen, felt, and even tasted, if you want to try it. It can be sliced into and studied. You aren't going to cut into the hydra dragon.

NEWS FLASH given good conditions a fly trap will divide naturally, that's what they do. You are not encouraging dividing by pulling or cutting already dead/dying plant matter. The only thing you are accomplishing is removing dead material so there's less chances for fungal infections. That's all! You will not get an increase in number of divisions by cutting away dying growth.

Note the plant below, I haven't pulled one dead trap from this pot all season, and it continually divides. I got this plant as a single mature division February 2016. I have also given away quite a few divisions already, upwards towards 8 now. Good care is the key, not following myths that have nothing to do with plant care. Image

To add to the thread. Now if and when I do get around to cleaning dead traps out, which I've been less than vigilant about this year. I simply grab the trap and give it a gentle tug, if the plant moves you've pulled to hard. If the trap pops off it's ready to be removed, if not it stays until another day. The vein in the middle that carries nutrients to the plant will stay alive far longer than the leave itself. That's what is holding the dead traps on most of the time when they don't just pop off.



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By riveraXVX
Posts:  1099
Joined:  Sat Apr 29, 2017 5:29 am
#300942
uusa2000 wrote:
xr280xr wrote:
uusa2000 wrote:Cut the whole stem, it will trigger to grow more traps. You want more traps, right?
I disagree with this advice. It will reduce your plant's ability to photosynthesize which means it will be weaker. Matt Miller (owner of this site) also believes that VFTs will absorb some nutrients back out of their dying leaves.
Ok, the plant has plenty of energy

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I also disagree with this advice, even if a plant has "plenty of energy" why waste what it has expelled all its energy growing for no reason other than looks? let it continue to tap into that until it no longer can is my opinion. that is really not common sense fly trap knowledge more so just....how plants work period. science and all that.
By Fishkeeper
Posts:  781
Joined:  Sat Dec 03, 2016 10:59 pm
#301296
The plant won't be triggered to grow more traps by losing one. They grow new traps when they grow new traps, and not before.
By uusa2000
Posts:  425
Joined:  Fri Feb 24, 2017 10:46 pm
#327746
I still apply my concept . I'm all about cosmetics
Even though the hydra dragon was a mythical creature, that science applies to this plant. ImageImageImageImageImageImage

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By uusa2000
Posts:  425
Joined:  Fri Feb 24, 2017 10:46 pm
#327747
Trim away

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By ChefDean
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Posts:  9236
Joined:  Tue Sep 18, 2018 12:44 am
#327840
saltyop wrote:it seems that ally is a beginner so lets stick to well known methods, you dont want to confuse anyone do you
Absolute best dang advice anyone could give to a beginner or an expert. Hands down!
You can proffer what works for you, but, in the end, the other persons conditions will be different, and your advice will merely be an opinion.
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By _-SphagnumFromHell-_
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Posts:  702
Joined:  Mon May 28, 2018 5:02 pm
#327924
uusa2000 wrote:I still apply my concept . I'm all about cosmetics
Even though the hydra dragon was a mythical creature, that science applies to this plant.
But that's not science. It's literally impossible for any creature of any kind to not only completely regenerate a complex part of a body seconds after a part of it is cut, but also grow an extra part it didn't already have in the same process. I'd understand if it was just a simile, but your reasoning in the quote above leads me otherwise.
uusa2000 wrote:The plants really waisting its time on the dying leaf. Chop it off, feed the next trap. Thats my theory. The photos are mini clusters or new growth points after I've cut 'used up' dying traps on most of the plants
A plant doesn't waste energy on a dying leaf. When it's leaf is darkening, it's taking back the energy from it. The plant wouldn't be putting energy into a leaf that's dying. And if there are resources being put into that leaf, then it would still mean that the cells of that leaf are undergoing photosynthesis, and still viable to give nutrients back to the plant. Therefore the leaf is not wasting the plant's time.

Those new growth points are there because it's a part of the plant's life cycle. Adult Venus Flytraps put out new plants at their bases when actively growing regardless of how their leaves are cut. They would still divide if you didn't cut a single leaf.
By uusa2000
Posts:  425
Joined:  Fri Feb 24, 2017 10:46 pm
#342212
Just cut the dying trapsImageImage

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