Typical - Red Line

 

Venus Flytrap - Dionaea muscipula

Growing:
B52
Big Mouth
Crested Petiole
Cup Trap
Czech Giant
Dentate Traps
Fang
Pink
Red Dragon
Red Piranha
Typical

 

Light: I grow mine outside in full sun.

Soil: I grow mine in a mix of peat moss, long fiber sphagnum, and perlite.

Water: Use rainwater, distilled, or reverse osmosis. Use the tray method. Place your VFT in a plastic water tray with 1/2" of water. I let the water in the tray evaporate and stay dry for a day or two before I water the plant again.

Humidity: VFT's should have humidity no less then 45%.

Climate: VFT's like warm summers in the 70-95°F range, and chilly winters down to 40°F. The VFT will need to go dormant for at least 3 months in the winter time. I bring mine into an unheated garage when the temperature hits freezing.

 

The Venus Fly Trap is the most recognized of all the carnivorous plants. It's origin to most peoples surprise is the coastal plain of southeastern North Carolina and extreme northeastern South Carolina.

The Venus Flytraps trap consists of 2 lobes, like a clam shell. There are glands on each lobe which secret nectar to lure insects. Inside each lobe are 3 to 4 small trigger hairs toward the center. When a insect touches 2 trigger hairs or 1 trigger hair twice within 20th of a second the trap will snap shut. The trap then presses the 2 lobes together sealing the insect inside. Then glands on the inner surface secret digestive juices which dissolves the insect. The fluid is then reabsorbed by the plant. After 4 - 10 days the trap will open again, exposing what is left of the insect, the exoskeleton.

The traps of the Venus Flytrap will only trigger a few times, so do not artificially springing the trap.

I have made successful leaf cuttings from VFT's. I gently peel the leaves from the bulb of the plant, getting some of the white base. This is were the new plants will form. I place the leaf into a pot with a mix of peat moss, long fiber sphagnum , and perlite covering the white part of the leaf with the soil. I then cover the pot with a clear dome to keep the humidity as high as possible. I keep the pots in a bright lit area. The uncovered end of the leaf will start to die and blacken. Then when I think it has not worked, I notice the little VFT plants starting to grow. Does not work 100% of the time, but success rate extremely high.
Another way to propagate the venus flytrap is to let your plant send up its flower stalk in spring and collect its seed. Most people do not do this because flowering weakens your plant and the traps usually will not be as large. So if you want a healthier and larger trapped VFT, then the flower stalk reaches 2" to 3", cut it off.

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Venus Flytrap 'Cultivars' and "Varieties"

VFT - 'B52' 7/08
Said to make the largest traps - over 2 and a half inches!

VFT - 'Big Mouth' 9/04
If I could only have 1 VFT this would be the cultivar I would want. This plant makes large red / purple traps on short leaves.

VFT - 'Crested Petiole' 7/06
The traps of this plant are separated from the petiole by a long thin stalk.

VFT - 'Cup Trap' 9/04
This is an unusual VFT because the one end of the trap has the 2 lobes connected together.
The only problem with this plant is that it is a very weak and slow grower. I never let this plant flower.

VFT - 'Czech Giant' 8/04
I got this VFT because I liked the color of the traps and teeth when I was visiting a carnivorous plant nursery. It did not take too long for the new growth to not have the beautiful color that the old traps showed. The plant currently looks like an un-spectacular Typical VFT. I currently am trying some different growing locations of filtered sun to only a short amount of direct sunlight to see if I can get the color to return to the spectacular way it looked when I purchased the plant.

VFT - 'Dentate Traps' 5/03
This plant has short, triangular teeth.

VFT - 'Fang' 8/04
This plant has long teeth compared to other VFT's.

VFT - 'Pink Venus' 9/06
This plant has a beautiful solid dark burgundy traps and leaves. This plant is supposed to keep this color when mature, unlike the 'Red Dragons' that loose some red. Defiantly a darker red then the Red Dragons.

VFT - 'Red Dragon' 5/05
This VFT has solid dark burgundy traps and leaves when young. When the plant matures the edge of the traps turn green and more green is showing on the leaves as well.

VFT - 'Red Piranha' 8/08
This VFT has solid dark burgundy leaves and traps which have short, triangular teeth.

VFT - Typical
The following Typical VFT's are named by me just to keep my records straight to characteristics that the plant shows.

"Large Traps" 8/04 - This was a seed grown VFT that has larger traps then most VFT's I grow and have seen. Typically the traps are just over 1 5/8" long.

"Red Line" 9/07 - I found this plant at Walmart of all places. The traps are a deep red color and the outside of the trap has a wide red stripe

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