Flytrap Growing in poor conditions – Week 6
Our experiment has entered it’s sixth week and will be shortly heading into the middle of the summer when they will be exposed to the most sun.
The test plants are looking fairly healthy but have lost some of the red colouration from their leaves in comparison to our control plant which is in a sunnier area. The maximum trap width of all of the test plants has not changed measurably so far.
Specimen A: Low light, distilled water
Specimen A, which is being watered with distilled water and grown in a low light environment is looking okay, but it’s leaf-base is weakening, causing the trap with the longest leaf-base (bottom right in above photo) to droop towards the ground. The initial angle was approximately 30 deg. from vertical, however it is now closer to 30 deg. from horizontal. This plant has grown an extra trap and a further three stems are growing. Unfortunately, one of the new stems has begun to turn black. A fly was fed manually to this plant one week ago, the trap is yet to re-open.
Specimen B: Low light, tap water
Speciment B, which is being watered with tap water was manually fed a fly one week ago, it’s trap is beginning to re-open. One of it’s traps was triggered, but did not catch a fly, this trap re-opened within 48 h. This plant still has three traps, but another trap is in the process of opening and another stem will probably be forming a trap soon.
Specimen C: Control Plant, medium light, distilled water
Our control plant speciment C, is looking nice and healthy and has caught a fly naturally and been fed one by hand, both times the traps re-opened within five days. The red colouration in the leaves is not as intense as they were at the beginning of the experiment, but not hugely so. The total numbers of traps is still six, however their leaf-bases are noticeably longer than when purchased.
Conclusion
This is early days yet, so there’s not much that can be concluded from the results so far. However initial results are showing are indicating that the control plant (specimen C) is coping with it’s new environment better than the two test plants in dim light (specimens A and B). Specimen B which has been watered with tap water appears to be slightly healthier than specimen A which has been watered with distilled water.
Information will be posted here eventually with information about the amount and composition of dissolved solids in the tap and distilled water used for this experiment and the approximate daily average light intensity that the plants are exposed to. So check back later or subscribe to our RSS feed to keep up to date with the experiments progress.
Flytrap Feeding time!
To mimic the normal treatment Venus flytraps receive in the home, I caught a few flies today and fed them to each of our test plants. Regular house flies were used. I used a pair of tweezers to place the flies in the traps and quickly removed the tweezers as the trap closed. The flies were 4-5 mm in length.
The video below is of the tap water plant being fed. This particular fly caused many problems for us, as it kept launching off before I could grab it with the tweezers. However some deft tweezer saved the day and the plant eventually got fed! For information about manual feeding of flies, please visit our ‘manual feeding‘ page.
Growing Flytraps in poor conditions #2
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.
Growing Flytraps in poor conditions #1
Many of the experts claim that growing Venus flytraps in shaded, dry indoor areas is difficult/impossible. So here at flytrapgrowing.info we are going to conduct some experiments to demonstrate what effects poor conditions have on Venus flytraps. Many complete novices report having their flytraps survive torturous conditions, out of the sun, tap water, dead bugs and occasionally letting their plant dry up and yet still their plants survive and grow big red healthy looking traps.
We are going to purchase two brand new Venus flytraps from a garden center. The plants will placed in our high tech new Venus flytrap growing facility. The facility (my bedroom) is on the third floor of an inner-city apartment block and looks out onto a wonderful concrete building which blocks all direct sunlight bar the occasional smidgen in the morning. The plants will be kept at the perimeter of the building behind a pane of glass (my window sill). Neither of the plants will be stored in terrariums, but will be left to fend for themselves in their mildly dry environment.
Specimen A will be watered with distilled water whereas Specimen B will be watered with tap water. The tap water supply here in Dunedin is treated with both fluoride and chlorine and contains large amounts of dissolved solids. It is a relatively soft water supply however, hence doesn’t contain many of the dangerous cations such as calcium and magnesium which are known to negatively affect Venus flytraps. As a control test, we have purchased a third plant (specimen C) which will be kept in a sunny location inside a glass enclosure and will be watered using distilled water.
Reports on the progress of the three plants will be posted here regularly over the next year – assuming they don’t die before hand
Water, water everywhere, but nothing for my flytraps to drink!
Most tap water supplies in first world nations is treated with chlorine and/or fluoride and often contain large amounts of calcium and magnesium. These chemicals are toxic to Venus flytraps, in fact they’re probably not much good for plants in general, but Venus flytraps are particularly sensitive to chemicals in their water supply and it’s use can slow down the growth of your flytrap and sometimes even kill it.
If your plant is kept outside and there’s plenty of rain water available then you wont have any problems. But if you are in a dry spell or your plant is kept inside, then it’s a good idea not to use tap water for your plant.
Other options instead of using tap water are:
- distilled water
- rain water – collecting from your roof is usually quite easy
- bottled filtered drinking water – expensive!
- filtered tap water – make sure it’s a good filter though
Filtered water normally contains some chemical residues, but not enough to cause grief for your Venus flytrap. Spring water often contains significant other minerals so isn’t recommended, but is still a better option than using tap water.
My traps turned black! Is my plant going to 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 are common after digestion of prey.
Dormancy | My flytrap died during winter, what did I do wrong?
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.
How big will my flytrap get? Will it swallow my children eventually?
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.
How do flytraps move?
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.
Venus Flytrap Potting Soil
There are a wide range of opinions on what the best potting mixture to use for a Venus flytrap is. However the one thing everyone agrees on is that the soil must be low quality. You can’t use rich, nitrogen filled soils as your plant will not like it at all. Venus flytraps evolved to catch bugs as a response to low soil quality and they don’t cope well when they’re out of their usual environment. And whatever you do, don’t add any fertilizer as you will likely kill your plant.
If you purchased your plant from a garden store and aren’t sure of what soil to use for repotting, it is often a good idea to keep using the soil your plant came in. Garden store workers are often uneducated in Venus flytrap maintenance, so be wary of any store assistants recommending you to use a particular potting mix. Some store assistants do know about Venus flytraps, but most assume that they are like any other plant and recommend incorrect soil mixes which can kill your plant.