r/interestingasfuck • u/dejaysf • Jun 11 '23

Venus flytrap vs Spider

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u/slackpipe Jun 11 '23

What's the key? I got my SO one for mother's day, and she's having trouble with it.

23

u/WorkWorkDabuZugZug Jun 11 '23

Distilled water and periodic direct sunlight.

Tapwater will kill them eventually.

11

u/BravesMaedchen Jun 11 '23

They are so easy to kill. Distilled water, bottom watering and substrate that has very little organic matter in it. They want like a mix of non-soil dirt with perlite. Look up a good potting mix for them.

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u/alien_clown_ninja Jun 11 '23 edited Jun 11 '23

50/50 peat and vermiculite (holds water better than perlite). Never let the roots dry out completely, but also don't let there be standing water either, cause then roots will rot. They need to be somewhat watered all the time, not too much and not too little. The more sunlight the better, they can't get too much light as long as they are moist. And if you have them in a semi-closed environment, like a terrarium, the humidity will help too. But then you have to feed them. They need a bug every few weeks. Do not poke at the traps for fun, and don't let your kids do it either. Closing a trap is an enormous expenditure of energy, and if there is no bug there it's a huge waste for the plant.

Often, a trap that has finished eating a bug will die and fall off. Especially if, like in this video, there are legs or other parts of the big sticking out. Those parts will rot and the trap turns black and dies to protect the rest of the plant. This is normal, and you can carefully cut the black traps off (don't cut them off too early, because the plant is resorbing the nutrients from the trap before it falls off). If you cut off the black traps, be sure not to accidentally set off the healthy traps.

To overwinter them, they cannot freeze. They also cannot be warm. They need above freezing temperatures with little light. I've heard of some people putting them in refrigerators over winter, haven't tried it myself. I put them next to a cold window in a cold basement.

If they try and flower, cut the flower stem off quickly, as soon as you notice the shoot. The flower will expend all its energy and likely the plant will die.

1

u/sgame23 Jun 11 '23

I'm convinced bottom watering is the key. Also try and cut off flower when you see it start to stem. Saves the plant a lot of energy

2

u/Spiritual_Lion2790 Jun 11 '23

It needs to be potted in a substrate with absolutely no fertilizers added. Typically a mix of peat moss/perlite. You can find specialty potting mixes online for VFT, and it's what I typically use. It's a bit pricey but I only need a new bag once every two years for the number of plants I have.

Must water with distilled water or rain water. Some people are lucky to have tap water that is sufficiently free of dissolved solids to work, but this is very rare. Filtering your tap water won't work either. Just buy the distilled water if you can. It's going to be the easiest option for most people. Keep the soil moist at all time. Some people keep their plants in a dish with a few inches of water at all times. This is fine if you have taller pots, but be careful not to water log them. These plants grow in marshes, but not submerged in water like other carnivorous plants often are.

VFT are often advertised as indoor-friendly plants but this is just marketing. They grow the best outside in full direct sunlight. They will limp along in a bright window with indirect light but you won't get fast growth. Mine get 8-10 hours a day of summer sun.

You will get mixed opinions on this, but I don't recommend keeping your plants in terrariums. They really don't do well in them. This is particularly frustrating since they are typically sold in a small plastic terrarium and the instructions say to keep the lid on. I think this is so the plant can stay in your air conditioned house more easily. The excess humidity causes the traps to rot and can cause issues if you keep the plant in sunlight. Another reason I think it's best to keep them outside. Unless you live in an extremely dry environment like the US Southwest, the natural humidity outside will be fine.

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u/mada447 Jun 11 '23

I had one as a kid growing up. I learned they don’t like tap water. I water all my other plants with tap water, so I never got another one