VENUS FLYTRAPS

DO have fun with the plant. Try fooling your plant to close by taking a toothpick and lightly tapping the trigger hairs. Tap once, nothing happens: but the leaf is primed. Tap twice and traps snap shut! Traps shut quickly when warm, slowly when cold. The trap will re-open in about a day if it is empty or does not have "food" in it. Leaves will re-open 3 or 4 times before they lose their ability to close.

Do feed your plant. On its own it will successfully trap millipedes, earwigs, flies, and medium sized bugs. Try putting one or two of these insects in the pot with the plant and watch the Venus Flytrap catch them.

Do give your plant plenty of sunshine. Place it in a sunny window, balcony or patio. If the inner surface of the trap is red, light conditions are perfect. If the inner surface is green, move your plant to a place where it will get more light.

Do provide a humid environment. Your Venus Flytrap will grow in full sun if the humidity is higher than 55%. To increasy humidity if your air is dry, leave your plant in the plastic bag with the top open, or plant your flytrap in a terrarium.

Do give your Venus Flytrap lots of water. You need to try to duplicate the bog conditions where it grows naturally. Keep the saucer under the pot filled at all times with DISTILLED WATER or rain water. Avoid tap water as it often has natural minerals which will turn the leaves black.

Don't leave your plant inside a closed plastic bag or terrarium in the sun. The heat will build up and cook your plant! Venus Flytraps prefer summer daytime temperatures in the 80-90F range with night temperatures about 10-20 degrees cooler.

Don't worry about applying additional fertilizer to your Venus Flytrap. If "fed", it will get all the nutrients from its "meals" just as it does in nature. A very dilute application of plant food once or twice during the summer is not harmful and may help the bulb grow bigger. The bigger the bulb grows, the larger the traps will be.

Don't feed your plant fatty food such as hamburger. The leaves will turn black and rot.

Don't expect a leaf to live forever. Each trap can only re-open about four times. As old leaves die, new ones come up from the bulb to replace them.

Don't panic when all the leaves blacken in the fall. The bulb is going dormant. It needs a 90 day rest. While dormant, put the pot outside, or in a place where it is cold (Mom's fridge?), but will not freeze (35-40F). With a little luck, you will be rewarded with larger traps in the spring and a display of delicate white flowers.

CARE FOR OTHER CARNIVOROUS PLANTS

Rule Number 1: Use distilled water, rain water, or water low in natural salts.
Rule Number 2: Use distilled water, rain water, or water low in natural salts.
Rules Number 3: and beyond don't matter much when compared with Rules 1 and 2!

Pitcher Plants (Sarracenia spp.) require similar care as Venus Flytraps: distilled water or rain/snow water, cool winters, warm summers. If you want to plant them into another pot or terrarium, use plain peat moss. Do not use potting mixes for tropical foliage plants as they have nutrients and lime which can kill your Carnivorous Plants. The addition of perlite (expanded white volcanic rock), sand, or acid wood barks to increase aeration and drainage is not harmful -- though usually not very beneficial either. Root systems are well developed on most Pitcher Plants, and will tolerate a monthly application of fertilizer. Use any liquid house plant food at about half strength during months of rapid growth and apply none in winter.

Octopus Plants (Drosera spp., Sundews) grow vigorously all year if kept at 70F minimum night temperature. Drosera capensis and other tropical/sub-tropical species never go dormant. These are the ones we sell in our standard assortments. However, some species, such as Drosera binata and D. filiformis, may lose their leaves in the winter. Keep them moist and cool for 90 days when this happens. Move them back to the light and warmth, and they will reward you with new growth. One application of fertilizer of any type, manure or "from the bottle," can fry these plants. Careful. Best to let these guys feed themselves.

Starfish Plants (Pinguicula, Butterworts) fall into two distinct groups: those that require winter chilling, and those that grow all year. We supply varieties that will grow all year long if kept in a warm location with minimum temperatures of 65-70F at night. Never let these dry out! Starfish Plants respond well to fertilizer applications. A couple feedings a month at normal tropical houseplant recommendations will give you monster sized leaf traps -- well, all things being relative, of course.