I've felt this frustration all too many times in my early days, when my high enthusiasm turned to equal disappointment. Since the dawn of the Internet information has become readily available, forums, blogs and YouTube videos have sprung up nearly on any subject. The use of forums has been of great help in developing my interest in carnivorous plants, and continues to be my most valuable tool and resource.
Here are 12 Top growing tips for cultivating Venus flytraps
Light
forget all the rumors and misconceptions that Venus flytraps don't like light, they love it and the more they get the better. You should at least be trying to provide minimum 4 hours of good strong direct sunlight a day. For good healthy growth try and provide a minimum of 6 hours.
A Good Watering Routine
surly by now you know that Venus Flytraps won't live for long if your giving them normal tap water, unless your lucky enough to live in a place that provides water at a low TDS but normally tap water is pretty hard (High TDS) and the dissolved solids contained within will certainly kill the plant. No, apart from making sure you only use distilled, RO, or rain water a good watering routine is essential. Making sure not to keep the plants overly wet and not letting them dry out either. You want to be aiming for Moist but not Wet, letting the surface slightly dry out between watering's. A Must Read Article from long time Venus flytrap cultivar Steve Doonan explains more on this subject Venus Flytrap Care Routine
Flushing
this has become almost a religious routine since my plants started suffering mineral build up. What happens is that TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) slowly starts to build up in the soil from evaporation and after some time can become pretty dangerous. I try to give my plants a real good watering every 2 months with a few litters and let the water flush out of the bottom taking any built up minerals and so on with it. Ill repeat the process until the water coming out of the bottom reads under 30ppm with my TDS meter, which brings me to my 4th point.
Buy a TDS Meter
its true a TDS meter isn't an absolute essential but I wouldn't know what I would do without it, pulse on eBay you can pick one up pretty cheap. I've found it a valuable tool for testing my RO water filter so I can see how the filters are doing and the quality of water coming out. That helps me gauge then how often ill flush my plants to remove any build up of minerals. Also what I use it most with is along with the flushing process, measuring the water draining off my plants so I can see when I'm done, otherwise it would be just guess work
Feed Me Seymour
a great article I read just the other day was on feeding Venus Flytraps bloodworms, how you can greatly increase your Flytraps growth rate by giving it a regular feeding of freeze dried bloodworms. Check out this in depth article on how to do it and watch the YouTube video below.
Water from the Top
I've found for me watering from the top to be also a great way to help keep your soil TDS down, I never have my plants sitting in trays of water. When its time to give them a watering, I do it from the top and let the excess drain off.
Deep Pots
Venus Flytraps like deep pots, they grow long roots. So give them room to stretch out, obviously for young small plants you can start them in smaller pots. I have my adult Venus Flytraps growing in a 23cm (8inch) deep pot, my small divisions in a something smaller "7-10cm" (3-4 inch) but still adequate to allow their roots to grow for a year or two before I re-pot them. Take a look at the photo on the left and you can see more or less how long flytrap roots can grow.
VenusFlytrap.info Steve Doonan
Insulated Pots
choose your pots carefully, not only does your plant like deep pots but they like pots that are going to offer some insulation from the elements. Thin black plastic pots will work but they offer no protection, they can become very hot when the sun is out and you can end up damaging the roots by basically cooking them. Hard white plastic pots work great, also cheap styrofoam cups are excellent and you can buy them in large packs and different sizes just use a hot nail to burn in some drainage holes. They are a great cheap solution if you are wanting to propagate lots of plants. Glazed Pots are good too, make sure they are not air dried clay pots as they can leach minerals into the soil. They have to be fired, hard baked clay. Also choose light colors, dark colours absorb more light and heat as a result. If you do have a dark glazed pot it's not a problem, what I do for my glazed pots, is for the summer months when the light here is very strong and intense I wrap a bit of tin foil around the pot, it's amazing how that bit of foil reflects off the heat. I suppose it's all relative to where you live, I have to deal with incredibly hot summers and I keep my plants outside all year round.
Cut Your Flower Stalks
VenusFlytrap.info
If your not planning on harvesting seed, cut that flower stalk off. It sucks a lot of energy from your flytrap and it can suffer if it isn't in strong healthy condition. You can use your trimmed flower stalk to try and propagate a clone which is great fun and a effective way to increase your plants, which then once grown you could use to trade for other cultivars to add to your growing collection. See here and read how to make clones from leaf and flower stalks, see the part of the page under Vegetative Propagation
Preventative Sprays
summers great, but it brings a lot of little pests along with it. The bane of all banes is Spider Mite, Spider Mite can settle in unnoticed, when you actually do notice it and see the signs its often too late and it has caused sever damage to the leafs. To combat this I bought a good Anti-Spider Mite and a good general insecticide and mix them together and give them a spray every other week during those summer months when the pests seem to be at their most active. but before you go running off with your spray bottle in hand, I suggest you read a little more about insecticides first read more on insecticides here
Join A Good Forum
forums are a great tool, surrounded by people that have been involved with the hobby for years you'll find their is nothing new under the sun. Join up and get involved, don't feel silly asking questions. An old saying "Ask a question and feel silly for a day, Never ask and be silly for life" Everyone starts out as a noob. To start go and join a forum now, I highly recommend the ones below that I have been a member of for the past few years. I have found both forums to be an incredibly invaluable tool. Join up and introduce yourself, before asking a question just spend a few minutes searching to see if your question has already been asked
Read, Read, Read
There is so much information available on the web today and though job is often finding reliable good information. Check out the list below of the links that you want to be reading up on as soon as you finish reading this post!
So their you have it, Please if you found this blog post helpful like and share with your friends, that helps me out writing new posts and getting my blog noticed. Also I'd love to hear from you in the comments section, Happy Growing,
Dr Green Thumb
ordinary, it’s never enough, it’s what leads some people ever deeper into the crazy world of horticultural madness. Eventually you’ll find me, in a basement somewhere, keeping some rare Orchid, where I have to blow on it with my own breath for 3 hours a day… No I don’t think I'll ever get to that level, I'm happy with my Venus Flytraps, it been a learning curve but I think I’m there now, their growing, their flourishing, its all become too easy and routine. N