Hello everyone, I wanted to start getting carnivorous plants. I really would like a Venus fly trap however I’m nervous about killing it. I understand that it needs to eat bugs as well as being high humidity. Does anyone have any suggestions? It would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
Now I’m not the best at taking care of Venus fly traps but I do have some info that helps my other carnivorous plants. Always used distilled water and do not overwater I highly recommend getting one from a local nursery or greenhouse as the ones at big box stores do not survive Make sure they are living in a good carnivorous plant soil or sphagnum moss
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hello!!! i am just starting as well, i have a vft and a north american pitcher. IMO, they're outside plants. that's the easiest way to go about it. they need full sun, so outside or fancy lights it is. being outside also means you don't have to feed it, they'll do that themselves. they need constantly wet and non-soil medium, mine are in sphagnum and sit in a tray of water. no tap water!! it kills them. distilled, reverse osmosis, and rainwater are all okay. they also need winter dormancy, but if you get frost where you live, they have to come inside. freezing temps kill them. they can sit in your fridge for the winter and go back outside once it warms up.
2 likes OH ALSO, traps dying seemingly at random can be totally normal!!!!! traps will naturally die and crisp up after about 3 or 4 open-close cycles. so be careful not to trigger the traps if you're not feeding it, it's a huge energy drain
2 likes I plan to have them in doors under a grow light do you happen to know how to keep them humid
2 likes keep the pots in a plastic or glass tray with sitting water in it. it'll stop them from drying out. i don't think they need super high humidity, they only need like 60% to thrive, which is only a little above the average house humidity levels
3 likesHonestly I didn’t really have an issue with the humidity once I started bottom watering it. Didn’t make any adjustments other than that.
1 likeHi!!! I was nervous about that too, but it’s not as hard as it seems. Buy some carnivorous plant food (it’s like clear gel cubes), make sure you have a grow light (or they have access to A LOT of sun), and bottom water it (put the pot in a tray of distilled water). If you do that and have it in a proper substrate (sphagum moss, etc) it’s pretty easy to take care of actually!
2 likesSundews and butterworts are often recommended for newbies at carnivorous plants because they're a bit more forgiving on care than flytraps. I have yet to figure out how to keep a butterwort alive, but mine has been really trying to survive for me
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The humidity is a plus for vft, however they don't need it. They get their energy from the sun they're very picky at first but once you get the hang of it they're so beautiful to look at. They will catch food on their own. Don't stress about that. Never let them sit in sunlight over 85 degrees or they will get sunburn. If you plan to keep them outside on really hot days find a shady spot for them and make sure to keep the water tray full. Also it's also good to let the soil somewhat dry up but not fully dry, it promotes the plants to have their roots get stronger and grow bigger traps
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