FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hello! I have a Venus Fly Trap that I got for Christmas (Yes, a few months ago) her name is Athena, and she has been doing well. I recently put her into a bigger pot, but I didn't seem to have enough sphagnum moss to fill the entire pot, I have some soil coming soon to fill in the rest of the space. How would you suggest I do that? Mix it? Put it on top? Put it on bottom? Also, I seem to have a lot of tiny gnats right by Athena, but she cannot catch any of them because they are so small what do I do? Also (Sorry so many questions) My Sphagnum Moss is kinda turning green why is that? One more question, I saw I tiny worm inside the Sphagnum Moss I mean REALLY TINY little worm thing in the moss what would that be? Ok I lied I still have another question, how would I feed my Venus Fly Trap if it can't catch the tiny stupid gnats, and the supplements I find are EXTREMELY ridiculously expensive? My Venus Fly Trap has only caught ONE tiny fly today and none other than that, in December when I first got her I fed her two House Flies so in her entire lifetime, only two house flies and one gnat.

Thank you for your help, Jasicorn

Hello and welcome to the forum. As far as the potting question goes, if you could attach a picture, we can better answer it. Regarding the gnats, they sound like they are fungus gnats. The wormlike thing you found is a gnat larvae. Neither are a problem for a mature flytrap. They are only problems for seedlings. As far as supplementing the feeding of the plant, you do not need to worry about it. They don't need to be fed to grow well. If you really want to feed them, you can get some dehydrated bloodworms that are fish food. Add some water to rehydrate them and add a glob about 1/3 the size of the trap and trigger it.

I agree with panman on fungus gnats. Another possibility is shore flies. The sphagnum is turning green because of algae growing on it. Alternatively to bloodworms, I hear you can use the fish food flakes.

Welcome to the forum!

As long as your FlyTrap has enough light, don't worry too much about it not catching prey.
Those can be caught with Drosera or Pinguicula. (Hint, there's a Seed Bank here and we have seeds for those species, free for a self-addressed-stamped-envelope [SASE])
The ADMIN has posted some good care and feeding info here: www.flytrapcare.com .
The tiny wormlike thing is probably a Fungus-Gnat larva, quite harmless.
The green is probably algae growing on your Sphagnum, you might want to cover it with a top dressing of silica sand.
Repotting should be done so that the white part of the plant is below the media level, the green or red part is above the media level.
Media should be peatmoss and perlite or peatmoss and sand, but avoid "Miracle Gro" brand products due to its added fertilizer.

Always remember the Big 4.
1) Lotsa, Lotsa, Lotsa, light
2) Very Pure Water! Rainwater, Distilled Water, Reverse-Osmosis Water, with TDS under 50ppm (total dissolved solids - parts per million)
3) Nutrient poor/Nutrient free acid growth medium like peatmoss/sand or peatmoss/perlite mixes. Some growers use long fiber sphagnum moss.
4) Respect dormancy with a season of lower temperatures, lower photoperiod, less water.

As always, just my 02¢ worth.

Whoah- Thank you all for your help! So, um I don't have that fancy kind of sand... I have play sand from Home Depot and I am going to ask for some soil for my b-day (My b-day was last week) This is the soil I am asking for- How do you suggest I get rid of Algae? Here is a pic of Athena.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07HN ... SIOS&psc=1

Jasicorn wrote: ↑Fri Apr 29, 2022 7:24 pm Whoah- Thank you all for your help! So, um I don't have that fancy kind of sand... I have play sand from Home Depot and I am going to ask for some soil for my b-day (My b-day was last week) This is the soil I am asking for- How do you suggest I get rid of Algae? Here is a pic of Athena.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07HN ... SIOS&psc=1

Pool Filter Sand, used for Swimming Pool Water Filters is good.
Play sand from Home Depot must be tested for alkaline content before it can be used.
Your Carnivorous Plant media from Amazon is OK, but it sometimes doesn't want to absorb water at first. Put some media in a bucket and add water, then knead it in like you're kneading bread dough. Once it absorbs water, then it's ready to use.
As always, just my 02¢ worth.

To add on to what Mike said, test the sand by pouring vinegar on it. If it fizzes, it is NOT cp safe. If it doesn't fizz, it's CP safe. And you might want to use low TDS water when re-wetting soil.

Thank you all so much you were very helpful!

Welcome