FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

i dunno how say this but, can i fertilizer the flytrap ? but before that I wanted to ask you first about this, if you are the experter, i am in the right track , i have recently visit the website about the carnivore plant which say the these carnivore plant can be fertilize by apply the the extreme diluted fertilizer inside the trap with great caution can enhance or add the bright red color in the traps, florist who sale these plant to me also said so to me these carnivorous plant can be fertilize by dip or bath the live insect with a diluted fertilizer solution (he say the orchid mixture solution also work) and fed to the plant but i never try it to my plant since i buy it two month ago, I'm afraid that I will put it into the risk and kill my innocent pet carnivore plant who is grow happy now. any ideas

Fertilizer in the soil will burn the roots of the plant and kill it. Fertilizer in the soil is usually strong so it is bad for a venus fly trap.

BUT venus fly traps can be fertilized via the traps and leaves, though I don't know any more than that. I'll let someone with more experience tell you how to fertilize them and what is best to use.

vagabundos 91 wrote: can i fertilizer the flytrap ?

Yes! You can fertilize VFT! BUT! You must be very careful the fertilizers that work + how much to use. There are a couple active threads about fertilizer on the forums now: http://www.flytrapcare.com/phpBB3/one-o ... t9374.html http://www.flytrapcare.com/phpBB3/my-ce ... t9365.html

vagabundos 91 wrote:he say the orchid mixture solution also work

Orchid mix is a good fertilizer for CP's!
Good luck, I hope someone can help give you more names of specific fertilizers!

Wow I thought you could only fertilize nepenthes and cephalotus!

But you learn something new every day so yeah!

I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND FERTILIZING ANY CARNIVOROUS PLANT TO BEGINNER GROWERS! It would be very easy to kill your plant(s).

That being said, yes, all plants can benefit from fertilizing if it's done properly.

It should left to those who have lots of experience.

vagabundos 91 wrote: apply the the extreme diluted fertilizer inside the trap with great caution can enhance or add the bright red color in the traps

That may not be true. Usually, within the genetic capacity of the individual Venus Flytrap, simply strong light (lots of direct sunlight) and time will make the inside of the trap as red as it can be. However, the trap becoming red seems to stop when the trap is closed, so if it closes soon after it matures, or is closed several times by insects, wind or other things, it may not turn as red as other traps on the plant that were exposed to equal amounts of light but have never closed.

Young plants often seem to develop more color than older, mature plants under the same conditions, for some reason.

Thank you for posting at the FlytrapCare Forum! You can also post in Spanish if you like, and we can translate for forum members who can't read or don't know Spanish.

Regarding fertilizing, the part of a Venus Flytrap that is designed to absorb nutrients is the trap, so you could, if you want, dip a tiny bit of something such as a small piece of sponge into a weak fertilizer solution and place that in the trap to close it. Be sure not to have the sponge too wet, or some may leak out of the trap as it closes tightly and squeezes the sponge.

As an alternative, you could feed your Venus Flytraps small pellets of fish food or pelletized fertilizer (fertilizer that is encapsulated into little balls of gelatin or other soluble material.

Good luck, best wishes and happy growing!