FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hey everyone! I picked up the below pictured Betta food a week ago and have been doing a test on a couple rosettes to see how they respond. I noticed today that three of my d. capillaris ‘Emerald’s Envy’ plants are putting out flower stalks - one of which was my test plant. I’ve read that feeding helps encourage larger, more abundant and more viable seed. Given the season, I’m limited in the way of bug collection. Any thoughts on whether I should feed the other rosettes with this food, hold off on feeding or purchase something else? I definitely want to give them what they need to flourish and produce some good seed. Thanks!

Giving this a quick bump. Looks like my Long Arms are beginning to form flower stalks as well! I’m probably just going to head back to the pet store and buy some flightless flies or something, but would still like to get peoples’ thoughts on the betta food I’ve got on hand. Thanks again!


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It seems lots of growers use Betta "pellets". I'm not sure about the fish food you show in the photos. The pictured fish food has lots of good stuff in it...lots of ingredients from bugs and shellfish...which will all contain chitin, which is good. I'm not sure about the "color enhancing" ingredients. For drosera I've seen where people grind the pellets up and use the tip of something small to put a little dry powder on to 2 or 3 leaves of a plant...I've also seen where they'll make a paste with some distilled/rain water and put tiny blobs on the leafs. Like I said, I can't speak for your present type of fish food, but it appears that Betta pellets and free-dried-blood-worms (FDBW) are kind of the "go to" of fish foods for CPs.

Btw, how large are your plants....seedlings, teenies, adults?

Best wishes.

Thanks for the response and info! That’s what I’ve been reading as well. Went with these flakes just because of the price point but was wondering about all the other additives and what negative effects they may have. The plants I’ve fed it to seem to be doing alright so far, but these are my first sundews and I’m not really too sure what a happy feeding looks like. I did not hydrate the flakes, just placed them on the leaves.

Given what I’ve read about the size potential of d. capillaris, I believe these are young adults. Attached some pictures with measurement reference.

Thanks again!

I'm not too sure but that you might have a flower stalk unfurling in the plant on the left in the photo where your measuring the height. It could be a leaf, but that really curved-looking stalk makes me think flower.

They do look like young adults, though nice sizes. I have some local plants that I don't think are that large...and they've been blooming for a few months now. First it was one plant, then other plants started sending flags up.

I don't think your current food will hurt the plants. I think lots of people use flakes of different kinds. The sure bets seem to be the FDBW and Betta pellets.

One thing I want to point out is that some people are allergic to FDBW. I think even Matt, that runs FTC and the FlytrapStore, is allergic to them as are other people. Just thought I'd mention that so you can be kinda careful when using it...try not to touch your face or inhale any powder that might be present while feeding it. The Betta pellets (I think the smaller ones are usually recommended) seem to pretty much be foolproof. Just take care not to drop as little food on the soil service as possible.

The plants are definitely big enough to enjoy (and probably need) some nice meals.

Thanks again! Agreed - I’m pretty sure that is a stalk coming up in the center of the left most pictured Long Arm. And certainly have stalks on the three most mature Emerald’s Envy! Pretty exciting. I’ve only had these guys for about 8 weeks. They had been growing outdoors in North Carolina before I purchased them. They seem to enjoy their new home in my grow tent! I was surprised to see them beginning to flower, and am looking forward to watching the process and collecting seed.

My capillaris are local mutts...just "capillaris". I have them in a very sandy substrate...soil from their original location. I tray water, putting roughly 1/2" to 3/4" of water in their tray and letting it dry up and stay that way two or three days, then refill...being under the lights seems to dry things up fairly quickly, though. They are definitely a small variety. What are yours planted in? I see you have the cups top-dressed with LFSM...what's down below?

I need to weed the garden...

For reference, those pots are 2-3/4" square and 3" deep.

Really cool! Love the use of their natural soil. They grew there for a reason!

When I purchased these guys, they came in a little peat ball and all I had at the time was LFSM. The cups are full of just that hugging their initial media. I was initially planning on separating them into new pots with a peat/perlite mix but decided to just leave them as they were and propagate some new plantlets by leaf cuttings to ensure a nice sterile environment.

I’m watering them basically the same way as you are but, rather than letting them soak up all the water from the basin and stay empty for a couple of days, I’ve been dumping the basins when they get low and/or discolored and replenishing after about 24-48 hours.


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I keep my environment pretty humid - around 65% - and because of this the water doesn’t evaporate quite so quickly.


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Yes. I suppose I shouldn't deride my capillaris as they are noble plants in their own right!!! Btw, evenwind, I took the chainsaw to that older flower stalk the other day. I did what you said and leaned the stalk over a piece of paper. I was afraid to shake it much and just lightly bumped it with a finger and....WOW!!! I think a gnat fart would've caused it to drop seeds!!! I quickly (carefully) proceeded to lean it over the paper and cut it down.....took a full five minutes working with the chainsaw! Anyhow, I drank a Green Bull and the flower stalk sprouted wings.

Beware the gnatulence.


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Update - replies from the Redditsphere

“I use that brand but the cichlid version and it seems to work good. I crush it a bit for sundews to prevent any mold issues. Ingredients are similar between the two so should be fine” / “Dry. I just crush it close to a powder, get some on my finger and rub it off above the sundew. Never bothered with rehydrating it”

“I've used that one with no problems. It is the insectivore one made with black fly larvae? If so, yes, I crushed it quite finely and used very sparingly and it seemed to be good for younger plants ...” / “It's very high in protein (~45%, from memory) and actual animal protein, not soy, like most fish foods, so I can't think of a better fish food to use. As long as you don't overfeed, should be fine.”

“It’s ok, but it can encourage mold growth …”

So gathering from these few replies - good feed, but beware of mold potential. Crush finely, use sparingly and be careful with application placement.


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