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Discussions about anything related to Venus Flytraps, cultivars and named clones

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By francisfaustino
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Posts:  201
Joined:  Thu Sep 01, 2016 3:46 pm
#350653
Here are up close photos of the plants I received today from FTS. As I did in the past, I transferred the plants to a bigger pot without disturbing the LFSM it came potted in. I just filled in the extra space with more LFSM. So it's technically not a re-pot per se. I just find it easier to control the moisture in a bit bigger pot. I like taking photos of new plants like these because it is always fun to look back a few years from now and see the progress the plants have made!

Alien
Alien
Alien
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SD Kronos
SD Kronos
SD Kronos
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Big Mouth
Big Mouth
Big Mouth
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FTS Maroon Monster
FTS Maroon Monster
FTS Maroon Monster
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By Benny
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Posts:  530
Joined:  Thu Jan 16, 2020 9:46 pm
#350656
Cool! Great looking plants. I enjoyed looking through all your updates and seeing the progress of your plants. Really good job and hope the new house allows you to grow them even better!
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By francisfaustino
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Posts:  201
Joined:  Thu Sep 01, 2016 3:46 pm
#350690
I received 3 more plants today. These were not purchased from FTS as they did not have these plants in stock in the sizes I was looking for at the time of the order. This is my first shipment of bare root VFTs.

Low Giant
Low Giant
Low Giant
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B52
B52
B52
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Pink Venus
Pink Venus
Pink Venus
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By Benny
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Posts:  530
Joined:  Thu Jan 16, 2020 9:46 pm
#350693
They look great considering they just came out of shipping. I am just staring at your pots and staring at them jealously. :cry:
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By francisfaustino
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Joined:  Thu Sep 01, 2016 3:46 pm
#351296
Three of my fairly recent acquired plants waking up from dormancy. All are still quite small.

G16 acquired 2018
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Trev's Dracula acquired 2018
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Big Mouth acquired less than 2 weeks ago
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By francisfaustino
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#364357
It's almost time for dormancy again! Time for an update! I've read Venus flytrap experts say time and again that "these plants can't have too much sunlight as long as the soil remains moist". I'm not trying to knock anyone who says that but in saying that, I think a greater emphasis really needs to be put on heat management. Naturally, more direct sunlight comes with more heat. I put my plants out in front of the house and they were getting direct sunlight from 10 am all the way to sunset at 8:30 pm. It's obviously too much heat and sunlight. They're still doing well but a few plants show considerable heat damage. I transferred them to the backyard close to the house so they're only getting direct sun in the morning and late afternoon. That was only a few days ago and they're already showing improvements. With each season, I learn something new with these plants!

'Big Mouth' - This cultivar has really surprised me. I bought it earlier this year not expecting too much from it. It has became my favorite cultivar this season. It's not the biggest but it's one of the more colorful cultivars and I like its short growth pattern.
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'Alien' - Another acquisition earlier this year. The heat has taken its toll but the plant continues to persevere putting out baby divisions.
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'Low Giant'
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'Pink Venus' - Another one of my favorite this season because of its growth pattern. It's relatively slow growing though compared to the others.
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'Royal Red' - Acquired 2016
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'SD Kronos' - This cultivar has been a disappointment so far. It's supposed to be colorful and grow big traps. So far, it's neither of those. The plant is still new, so maybe next season.
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'DC XL' - This is the first plant I bought in 2016. The heat has really taken its toll on this plant. It's alive though and has multiplied so much to fill its pot. Directly to the right is 'Trev's Dracula'.
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'Royal Red' - chugging along showing heat damage.
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By Matt
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#364368
francisfaustino wrote:I think a greater emphasis really needs to be put on heat management.
That is a very good point! The problem is that far too many "lay growers" skew much too far to the point of not giving flytraps any direct sunlight. Thus the emphasis on them needing direct sunlight but not mentioning the heat management aspect (most people can only digest one thing at a time!)

Your flytraps look great! And you are spot on...if you can keep the temperatures moderate, ideally in the mid-80s during the day and the low 70s at night, flytraps thrive with only a few (4-ish) hours of direct sunlight.

Great growing, Francis!
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By francisfaustino
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#375049
It's Venus flytrap season 2021! Being able to provide full sun for the first time last year resulted in very productive plants. I started re-potting my mother plants and getting divisions and I'm getting 3 to 7 baby divisions in addition to the main rhizomes. I retain 2 or 3 of the largest rhizomes in the mother pot and anything extra gets a smaller pot. In our apartment balcony in the past, the plants were still dividing but not nearly enough for me to comfortably take divisions. Most of the time when I re-pot, all of the rhizomes just go back in the same mother pot.

I've had this Jaws for almost 2 years now.
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I also re-purposed our old plant rack as a work bench. It's so much more ergonomic and comfortable working on the bench rather than on the ground!
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By francisfaustino
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Joined:  Thu Sep 01, 2016 3:46 pm
#375402
Yesterday, I finally finished re-potting and taking divisions of all my VFT pots. Out of 14 mother pots of different cultivars, I got 43 baby division pots. Most of the small pots only have 1 rhizome but some have 2 for those that I felt were too small to get their own pots.
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By francisfaustino
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Posts:  201
Joined:  Thu Sep 01, 2016 3:46 pm
#385813
Venus flytraps loving the Georgia summer sun! After 5 seasons, I think I'm finally getting the hang of the care for these plants. This is the best season so far for me with these plants in terms of vigor and health. I'm quite surprised because in the previous years, I would have been on the second or third treatment for spider mites at this time of the season. This year though, I did a preventative mite treatment early in spring but other than that, I have not seen reason to re-treat. Last year, I've also had slugs and insects constantly taking chunks out of the plants. This year though, I've noticed that there is abundant population of tiny frogs and lizards hanging out in the watering trays. Seems like they have taken care of the slugs and chomping insects.

I'm still trying to decide which one I'm going to put in a big pot but some my favorite ones are the Big Mouth, Royal Red, Jaws, and Trev's Dracula. This is based on vigor, growth pattern, trap sizes, and ease of care. It seems some cultivars do better than others in my particular climate and the care I provide them.
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By francisfaustino
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Posts:  201
Joined:  Thu Sep 01, 2016 3:46 pm
#385984
Few more photos taken today.

Big Mouth - Quickly became one of my favorites last season. It's not the biggest but I love it's growth pattern, color, and vigor.
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Purple Ambush - One of my first plants. Although it has never been one of my favorites, it has really surprised me this season! The cultivar has really exploded in growth this season. This is my main pot in addition to 5 other small division pots. Although the traps are not as big as the Big Mouth, it has a similar growth pattern.
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DC XL - The first plant I ever bought from FTS. I was initially very excited about this plant, but the more I learn and experience other cultivars, it's just a "meh" cultivar now. It is still my most vigorous grower by far with the largest traps out of any cultivars I have and I'd still definitely recommend this to someone starting out and still getting the feel for these plant but it's just not one of my favorites. This photo is pretty typical of how this plant looks during the growing season. It is certainly impressive how quickly it can fill out a pot when it comes out of dormancy but it just looks a bit unkempt to me.
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Trev's Dracula - Still on the fence with this one as I'm experiencing some wildly different growth patterns from what is expected and described by the cultivar's originator.
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My wife holding the DC XL and Trev's Dracula :D
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Last edited by francisfaustino on Mon Aug 02, 2021 10:47 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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