FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Greetings to all,

After a life-long love for fly traps, but a few failed attempts as a child with those little plants you used to be able to buy at grocery stores, I have finally decided to try again, only a few (ahem) decades later, to successfully grow one.

I just ordered my plant, a Dionaea muscipula "Akai Ryu" and hope to have it here in time for my birthday in mid-June. I read the general care information here on this site, which was quite helpful, but I do have one question. I have a number of "self-watering" pots, with the water reservoir below, so the roots can access water, but the soil is not constantly wet. Would that work? I was planning on using one of those, and after reading the general care instructions, I think such a pot would mimic the "water table" situation that the plants access in nature. Would a self-watering pot be a good container or am I missing something? I don't want to kill the poor plant with kindness.

Forget the self watering pot. I like to compare VTFs with grass that doesn’t like nutrients

Hello fellow Northern Californian and welcome.

I’m in South California

A user here, fishman, recommended self watering pots and has made them work.

I have become a convert to self-watering pots. I found some that have a clear reservoir, so you can see when to fill, and the planter portion lifts off easily, so I can occasionally change the water in the reservoir to keep things fresh and clean. These pots also have an inverted cone-shaped planter (no string), so I just stuffed some sphagnum moss in the tip to help suck up the moisture. It has been two months now, and the plants are doing great. They are also using up a lot less distilled water than the pots sitting in trays (less evap), so my pocketbook is happy.

spector wrote:I have become a convert to self-watering pots. I found some that have a clear reservoir, so you can see when to fill, and the planter portion lifts off easily, so I can occasionally change the water in the reservoir to keep things fresh and clean. These pots also have an inverted cone-shaped planter (no string), so I just stuffed some sphagnum moss in the tip to help suck up the moisture. It has been two months now, and the plants are doing great. They are also using up a lot less distilled water than the pots sitting in trays (less evap), so my pocketbook is happy.

That’s pretty cool. What’s the specific pot brand that you’re using and where can it be purchased ?


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There are two I really like right now. For my pings, I am using a cheap little set from Amazon. "Mkono" self-watering pots. You can get them in sets of five.

https://www.amazon.com/Mkono-Watering-P ... SS7CWC33KJ

I also really like a brand called Aquaphoric. You can find it on Amazon as well. It has a gauge you can look at to see if you need to water, vs. being able to see the water in the reservoir, but it is also easy to remove the inner basket and change the water as you feel necessary. Also, it looks a little more sophisticated than the Mkono (but costs more).

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GX ... UTF8&psc=1

Hello and welcome.

Welcome! I'm new here too, and from Monterey County.