Venus Flytrap growing

That mega-famous outstandingly accurate online encyclopedia has a stunning article on Venus flytraps … visit the article here

The article has many, many pieces of information which will be of tremendous help to growers of Venus flytraps. Here are a few selected quotations from the page:

… The Venus Flytrap is a large man eating monster. Each leaf reaches a maximum size of about three to seven meters, depending on the time of year … Flytraps that appear to have more than 10 leaves are generally colonies, formed by by aliens underneath the ground. …

The article then bleats on about all sorts of interesting things

… The mechanism by which the trap snaps shut involves some big ass muscles, steriod abuse and generally massive ass chompers…. are very popular as cultivated plants and are often used for catching burglers and other unwanted people on your property. They are difficult to grow as they often eat their owners …

And yet people still feel the urge to criticise Wikipedia

According to the encyclopedia article, the photo above is what will happen to you if you fall into your plant!

The International Carnivorous Plant Society (ICPS) maintains a list of registered cultivar names for Dionaea muscipula Soland. ex Ellis (aka Venus flytrap).

From Wikipedia: A cultivar is a cultivated plant that has been selected and given a unique name because it has desirable characteristics (decorative or useful) that distinguish it from otherwise similar plants of the same species. When propagated it retains those characteristics.

Here is a complete list of all of the current Venus flytrap (Dionaea) cultivars registered with the ICPS.This list does not include those cultivars which are not fully registered with the ICPS such as Dionaea ‘Clumping Cultivar’, Dionaea ‘ Big Mouth ‘, Dionaea ‘Kinchyaku’, Dionaea ‘Red Rosetted’, Dionaea ‘Royal Red’ etc.

Dionaea ‘Akai Ryu’ – aka Dionaea ‘Red Dragon’

The most common red form of the Venus flytrap. Is known for it’s intense dark red colouration.

Dionea ‘B52′

Currently considered to the largest Venus flytrap cultivar. Optimal growing conditions are required for these plants to reach their full size. Poor growing conditions will result in a plant the same size as any other.

Dionaea Clayton’s Red Sunset

Red with long skinny petioles (particularly during winter) whereas other red cultivars have quite wide petioles. They often lose all of their leaves during dormancy.

Dionaea ‘Cupped Trap’

The traps are joined at one end, creating a cup shape. Despite their warped appearance the traps still function correctly.

Dionaea ‘Dentate Traps’

The spines of each trap are short and triangular like a sharks tooth instead of long and skinny as in ‘regular’ varieties. The spines of small/younger plants do not shows these properties as prominently.

Dionaea ‘Fused Tooth’

The spines of the traps are bent out of shape, fused together by webbing. The traps usually look normal during spring however.¹

Dionaea ‘Green Dragon’

This is believed to be a mutation of the ‘Red Dragon’ cultivar, but the edges of the traps do not turn red, even when exposed to intense sunlight.

Dionaea ‘Holland Red’

A red variety which is often green when growing in insufficient light.

Dionaea ‘Jaws’

The traps are very big and have short, pointy spines.

Dionaea ‘Justina Davis’

The traps are always green, even when exposed to intense sunlight.

Dionaea ‘Louchapates’

The spines of the traps are split and found at the ends of the trap lobes.

Dionaea ‘Petite Dragon’

Has the same deep red colour as Dionaea ‘Akai Ryu’ but is not as large and has bifurcated flower stalks.

Dionaea ‘Red Burgundy’

A red variety which is known for having rapid growth characteristics (for a red variety).

Dionaea ‘Red Piranha’

Has short, triangular spines like Dionaea ‘Dentate Traps’ but the intense dark red colouration of Dionaea ‘Red Dragon’.

Dionaea ‘Sawtooth’

Similar to Dionaea ‘Dentate Traps’ but with trap spines which are modified into short, sawtoothed edges.

Dionaea ‘Wacky Traps’

The leaves are incompletely developed. This is an extremely slow grower that also has strangely distorted flowers. Known in some circles as “Bart Simpson”, but this name has not been established and might even violate some trademark laws.

Cultivar Groups

From Wikipedia: Under the botanical nomenclature of the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants (ICNCP), a cultivar group is any gathering of cultivars designated by common traits.

Dionaea Dentate Traps Cultivar Group

This cultivar group contains all plants with short, triangular shaped spines.²

Photos of ‘Fused Tooth’ and ‘B52′ courtesy of Corrosive Halo. Photo of ‘Red Dragon’ courtesy of Cobalt Crow.

Check out this video of frog vs Venus flytrap …

Although your Venus flytrap is able to catch small frogs, lizards, worms and any other bizarre animals you may choose to feed it, you shouldn’t! There are too many nasty nutrients in these animals than your plant can handle. You plant should only feed on bugs, bugs and more bugs.And here for your viewing pleasure is some footage of the type of animal your Venus flytrap should be feeding on …

The Venus flytraps for “Growing in poor conditions” experiment have been purchased. We purchased them for NZ$10.99 from the “Red Barn” garden center in Dunedin, New Zealand. They have nice big red traps and are looking relatively healthy at the moment.

Specimen A: Distilled water

The total number of traps was five, three of which were elevated, two were sitting at soil level, plus two stems were forming new traps. The largest trap was 27 mm across. The maximum stem length was 80 mm.

Specimen B: Tap water

The total number of traps was four, two were elevated and two traps were at soil level. The largest trap was 29 mm across. The maximum stem length was 70 mm.

Specimen C: Control plant

The total number of traps was six, all were sitting at soil level, plus there were two new stems beginning to form traps. One of the traps had a black spot. The largest trap was 27 mm across. The maximum stem length was 28 mm.

The mechanism by which a Venus flytrap moves is poorly understood. When the trigger hairs on the trap are stimulated, an action potential (mostly involving calcium ions) is generated, which propagates and stimulates cells. Exactly what this stimulation does is not clear. Cells in the flytrap may rapidly secrete protons into their cell walls, thereby loosening them and allowing them to swell rapidly by osmosis. Alternatively, cells in the flytrap may rapidly secrete other ions, allowing water to follow by osmosis, and the cells to collapse. Once the trap has rapidly shut, the bug will continue to stimulate the inner surface of the trap, causing a further growth response forcing the the edges of the trap to close and eventually sealing the trap ready for digestion.

Contrary to popular belief, Venus flytraps do not make acids. The digestion process is in fact caused by enzymes secreted by glands in the trap. The enzymes reduce the protein in the bug, reducing it to a skeleton. The trap then reopens, ready for reuse. Traps typically only open or close three times before dying.

More detailed information about the movement process can be found on the Venus flytrap Wikipedia page.

Photo courtesy of Jamie Duke.

So … you want to grow your fly trap into a child swallowing monster eh?

Well I hate to break it to you, but you can’t! The largest a Venus fly trap leaf can grow is about 3 cm across, that’s barely large enough to fit a mouse let alone a human! Also, that is the largest they can grow, most plants rarely get anywhere near that size. The average size of a house hold Venus fly trap leaf is about 1.5 cm across.

The best way to grow large traps is to follow the advice here on this blog. The largest plants are usually the healthiest plants, so make sure you follow all the tips on here and hopefully your plant will grow to a healthy size eventually. But alas, that child swallowing monster isn’t going to happen – except maybe in your dreams, or nightmares depending on your perspective on life.

Argh, it’s winter an my plant is dying! What do I do?

Don’t panic, that’s what! Venus fly traps normally go into dormancy for the winter months and that is probably what it happening. During dormancy the plant will stop growth and some of the leaves may dye off, this is entirely normal.

What you shouldn’t do, is take your plants out of dormancy, they really don’t like it! Some experts claim to have more luck by avoiding the dormancy period, but most growers are better off putting their plants into dormancy as not doing it places your plant at risk. The best way to deal with dormancy is watch your plant, if it is late summer and your plant is growing more slowly and less traps are being formed then it’s likely your plant is heading into dormancy. If this is the case, then you should make sure your plant is moist, but not soaking with water. If possible you should place your plant in a chilly spot during the dormancy period.

If you live in a moderate climate (above freezing temperatures) and usually keep your plant inside, a simple way to place your plant into dormancy is to move it outside for the winter. The cooler temperatures outside will place your plant into a healthy dormancy.

If you live in a colder climate (below freezing temperatures) then place your plant in a cooler part of the house. Against a window in a cooler room works good, the window will hopefully keep the plant cool enough for dormancy to occur.

A more drastic solution which may work, is to place your plant inside sealed bag and stick it in your fridge for the winter. This is somewhat risky as your plant will enter into a total dormancy which is not a natural state for them. But this technique has had a lot of success for those who have tried it.

Whatever you do, don’t put your plant somewhere out of the sun apart from in the fridge. Refrigeration places your plant into total dormancy so it does not need to photosynthesise. However if you don’t cool the temperature down to zero and/or remove all light, the plant will still attempt to photosynthesise and will likely die.

It is entirely normal for a healthy plant to have dead traps. Traps normally die because of digestion rot, although old age will kill them off too. In general, the healthier your plant is the less likely your traps are to die. But don’t worry about it too much, dead traps are natural.

Those black, hideous looking skeleton filled traps are a part of your plants eco-system, so there’s no reason other than for cosmetic purposes that you should remove them. Sometimes I clip them off with a pair of scissors to get them out of the way of knew growth, but I always leave the leaves in the pot as a bit of natural nutrients for them. You can remove them from the pot if you really want though.

Small black spots like that shown in the image above is common after digestion of prey. Photo courtesy of Canon Fodder.

If you are growing your Venus flytrap outside, then chances are you will never need/want to feed your plant as it will happily catch enough bugs on it’s own. However, if you keep your plant inside and particularly if it is in a terrarium, then chances are it may never catch it’s own prey and you will need to consider manually feeding it There are two main approaches to manually feeding your plant.

Shoving the bug in the trap

You can either poke a bug into the trap with your fingers or a pair of tweezers, this can potential be harmful to your plant as you can damage the surface of the trap with the tweezers or your fingers, however if you are careful this shouldn’t be too much of a problem. The video below demonstrates the process of feeding by tweezers.

Placing the bug near the trap

If you have your plant inside a terrarium, then one of the easiest ways to feed your plant is simply to place a few bugs inside the terrarium and wait for your flytrap to do it’s thing. This removes any risk of you damaging the plant by poking it with tweezers or your fingers. The video below is of a Venus flytrap catching it’s prey the old fashioned way.

Temporary stunning

This is a slightly more time consuming method, but it works quite well. Although you may be able to capture bugs in a jar, you may have difficulty in grabbing hold of a wing, leg etc. to feed them to your plant by. This is a particular problem for flies which can be quite difficult to catch without losing them.

The most common (and usually most convenient) method is to cool the bugs down by placing them in the fridge. This will knock them out (or at least slow them down) so that you can grab hold of them properly.

A more exotic method and that which we use for our own plants here at flytrapgrowing.info, is to stun the bug with chemicals. Do not soak your bug in any random chemical you happen to find as whatever you expose the bug to you will also be exposing to your flytrap! Venus flytraps do not like chemicals so it’s best to avoid exposing them to anything nasty. The most convenient way to stun them with chemicals is to place bug in a jar containing a small amount of diethyl ether, this will very promptly knock out your fly ready for you to grab hold of them, they will wake up approximately 30 seconds later. Do not let your bug touch the diethly ether liquid as it is the fumes which will knockout the bug, not the liquid itself. Exposing the bug to the liquid will kill it which isn’t the aim here (bugs need to be alive to trigger the trap). Diethyl ether is extremely volatile (boiling point of only 30ºC) so the chemicals will quickly evaporate from your plant and cause no damage to it. You could also try other solvents such as acetone, methanol or dichloromethane. Remember to always be careful when handling volatile solvents and follow safety guidelines appropriately.

Once you’ve got hold of them, you can either place them directly into a trap and hope that they’ll wake up shortly and trigger the trap, or keep hold of them until they do wake up then use the same method described above in the “Shoving the bug in the trap” section.

If you can only find dead bugs

Dead bugs are no good for your plant. You must have live bugs to trigger the trap. Not only does the trap need to close, but the bug needs to repeatedly trigger the trap after the initial closure to ensure that the trap does not reopen.

If you are living in some freakishly clean place where no bugs live, or you are just plain lazy and/or need a quick bug eating fix, then make sure that when you drop your dead bug in that you manually manipulate the traps with your fingers for a few minutes afterwards to make sure that the trap did indeed get triggered properly and isn’t going to cough the bug back up after a day. Be very careful not to damage the trap in the process. This is far from optimal however and you really should be feeding it live bugs.

And remember, your plant will normally survive perfectly well with no bugs, so don’t panic if you or your plant can’t find any.

Photo of Venus flytrap digesting a bug courtesy of FlickR2sea and the photo of an already digested fly is courtesy of Ovas.

The video below nicely demonstrates the motion of a Venus flytrap being triggered.

If you have read our “How do the traps move” article you will already know that the movement of a Venus flytrap is poorly understood but is likely related to the flow of ions inside the plants leaves.

However, this only explains the initial motion of the trap. The aggressive fly trapping strength is gained from far simpler means … the secret to the Venus flytraps speed and strength does not rely in muscles or flows of ions, but the geometry of the traps.

Imagine a tennis ball which has been chopped in half and inverted. The tennis ball is quite stable in it’s inverted state, however if you bend the ball even slightly back towards it’s usual state, it will snap back into place very quickly. This is similar to the process occuring in a Venus flytrap. The traps are effectively in a constant state of inversion just like the tennis ball, when the trap is triggered, the plant pushes it’s lobes inwards triggering the snap and consequent consumption of it’s tasty prey.