FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hi all. I am a new keeper of VFTs and have a healthy one that has been growing for a while now (maybe 2 months?). It currently has 3 traps and a 4th still growing, and I have this urge to start feeding it insects but (and this may sound silly, forgive me) the inside of the traps are still green, not pink as I see on VFTs everywhere else. Trigger hairs are visible, soil mixture is moist and it gets 4-5 hours of sunlight per day. Should I begin offering food or is it still too early? I have searched and can't find a direct answer to this - just steps on how to feed.

tl;dr -> Can I offer my VFT food even though the inside of the traps are still green, not pink?

Thanks!

Hi, welcome to the forum!

Venus Fly Traps need a very high light level to develop that nice Red color inside the traps. Direct sunlight is optimum. It is very difficult to achieve this light level if you're growing them inside. But if the traps are fully developed, and don't look etiolated, then you have enough light for them to survive. A South facing window is not too bright for them. The more light, the better.

How big are the traps on your plant? If they're a 1/4 inch long or more, they're big enough to fungus gnats and fruit flies. If they're 1/2 to 3/4 inch, they can trap flies.

I don't feed mine. I put them outside in Spring until Fall and they catch plenty of prey on their own. The plant can photosynthesize if given enough light.

If you're going to feed it, make sure the food is not more than 1/3 the trap size.

Good growing,
Mike

They are mayyyybe 1/4" or less, so maybe I'm just being a little too antsy.

Welcome ponyta. IF you just got the flytrap, and if you bought it from the store, they are probably not pink on the inside because they don't give them nearly as much light as they need. so keep it in very bright spot and over time, if everything else will be optimum, they will develop nice pink or even red traps in full sun, but that depends on type of VFT.

now about the food. IF you keep your plant inside, you should probably feed it 3 or 4 times a month with fairly big flies or other insects. but if it can catch it's own food, don't feed it because it will catch it's own.

Have a nice day,
Luka.