my baby "venus fly trap"

[Riz]

Simply a death trap for insects, but...Like other plants, Venus' Flytraps gather nutrients from gases in the air and nutrients in the soil. However, they live in poor soil and are healthier if they get nutrients from insects. Carnivorous plants live all over the world but Venus' Flytraps live only in select boggy areas in North and South Carolina. Because of people's fascination with these plants, they collected many of them and they became endangered. Venus' Flytraps today are grown in greenhouses. The leaves of Venus' Flytrap open wide and on them are short, stiff hairs called trigger or sensitive hairs. When anything touches these hairs enough to bend them, the two lobes of the leaves snap shut trapping whatever is inside. The trap will shut in less than a second. The trap doesn't close all of the way at first. It is thought that it stays open for a few seconds in order to allow very small insects to escape because they wouldn't provide enough food. If the object isn't food, e.g., a stone, or a nut, the trap will reopen in about twelve hours and 'spit' it out.


http://botany.org/bsa/misc/carn.html

[Riz]

here is my little baby ,its been grown under a light indoors, dont know much about it, but ill try to keep it alive !!

it looks cute, but its a killer :)

ill keep you informed on its progress.....

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa300/sajid_012/venusflytrap.jpg

[Stealth]

Cool looking plant. Did You grow them from seed? how big do they grow? Many thanks.

[Sakeena]

i want a venus fly trap but a big one. however the idea of feeding it insects kinda puts me off

are they hard to re-pot? cactus can be quite tricky but all you do is wrap it with newspaper, wouldn't know how to grab a carnivorous plant :s

oh and welcome to forum, Stealth :)

[Riz]

i want a venus fly trap but a big one. however the idea of feeding it insects kinda puts me off

just think of it as a pet cat..:)

are they hard to re-pot? cactus can be quite tricky but all you do is wrap it with newspaper, wouldn't know how to grab a carnivorous plant :s

i let you know, its still in the pot it came in, i might use my cricket gloves to repot it :)
oh and welcome to forum, Stealth :)i second that, welcome :)

[Riz]

Cool looking plant. Did You grow them from seed? how big do they grow? Many thanks.

salaam,

NO, i was in B&Q and i saw them "small plants" so i bought one, i was suprised to find something as exotic as a venus fly trap at B&Q lol..

if you follow the rules on how to grow them and have a greenhouse or a room converted to mimmick its growing conditions in the wild, i think it could get pretty big... you can grow almost anything in a room in which you control all the elements,

[globalart4u]

have bought several of them but cant seem to get them to grow. have just bought another type of bug eating plant will let you know if it survices - cant remember what it is

[Sakeena]

Hi, i bought some seeds for a "body snatcher plant" (drosera capensis). Apparently it's the easiest of all carnivorous plants. it has long sting cerise flowers stand above a clump of glistening green leaves with red gland stalks. It is very good at catching smaller flies such as midges and mosquitoes, up to small houseflies.

also bought some seeds for a "sensitive plant" (mimosa pudica) i know it aint a carnivore but should be interesting, For more info click here (http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A8571963)

haven't got around to germinating either of them yet but will do soon.

Do any of you guys own either plant described above?

Below are pictures of a body snatcher which i found online

[Riz]

^ wow sakeena..

both of them sound and look very intresting, when are you going to germinate the seed?

[Sakeena]

^ wow sakeena..

both of them sound and look very intresting, when are you going to germinate the seed?

not sure, was going to plant them as soon as but seeing as spring is around the corner i may just wait a little. will keep you posted, inshallah

[Riz]

how long till the seeds germinate?
ive noticed these tropical seeds take a while !!!

[Sakeena]

the body snatcher ~what a kool name~ will take around 6-8 weeks

and the sensitive plant, hm doesn't say but it's an annual plant so will need to collect seed if what to grow it again the following year.

[Riz]

yeah awesome name !! it snatches insects from the air, so body snatcher perfect name

is it a indoor plant ?

[Sakeena]

^^ the sensitive plant is defo a house plant

it would appear to be that case with the body snatcher also, seeing as you cant water it from the top of the pot so that rules out rain. Then again i honestly don't know, i may try it out next year - learning curve and all ;)

[Riz]

it would appear to be that case with the body snatcher also, seeing as you cant water it from the top of the pot so that rules out rain.

pretty similar to my cactus plants, what i do is put the pot with the cactus on top of a saucer and water the saucer, the roots will suck up all the water it needs, probably leaving the saucer empty in around 30 minutes.

you will notice the soil is damp, so it has sucked water all the way up to the brim, i was watching with fascination last night as i filled up the bath tub with around an inch of water and left around 12 cactus seedlings in the bath, around 3o Min's later, they all had a nice drink.. the top each plant container was damp with water..

[Sakeena]

i'm so bad, i always pure water over my cactus they haven't minded so far, i'm sure they'll let me know when they do. i'll say this for cactus they are tough plants mine have had a right battering and it's still growing strong marshallah

have you notice they swell up after being watered

oops off topic

[Riz]

you shouldnt be watering them atall, right now as they are hibernating and dont need water.. not untill march

[Sakeena]

compacted soil tablets are soo kool :cool:

i've planted the body snatcher seeds, man they are tiny see below. i hope i've placed the seed near the middle but theres no way of knowing until 6-8weeks time inshallah.

I've spread sand and the seeds on the top of the soil, place it on a small saucer with water on it and place in a clear plastic bag on a windowsill.

[Riz]

wow..

cant even see them...

thats a proper tropical plant eh !!

[Sakeena]

lol, yeah. can't see em, can't feel them either and the sand made it impossible

[Sakeena]

just an update on the body snatchers: i've notice very tiny little sapplings so tiny about a 2mm in height with two 1mm leaves, about four of them intotal - impossible to see in picture!

[Riz]

^ really well done...

I am impressed, it sounded hard to germinate, what are you going to do separate them individually when they are bigger !?

[Sakeena]

i haven't the faintest idea, let me get to the that stage first - it's taken this long to get this far :/

[Stealth]

Pictures please!

[Riz]

Just an update on the venus fly trap

It just slowly withered away :(

[pwr_wrx]

were you using tap water to water it? and how long has it been in that soil?


I just got one and i was reading that you cant give it bottled or tap water...have to give it rain water and also to change the soil every 1-2 years. Use at least 50 to 60% sphagnum moss peat, and up to 50% perlite to increase root aeration.

Heres mine :)

[Riz]

yeah i used tap water and watered it too frequently and it died.. yours look healthy :)

[pwr_wrx]

It looked healthy because that was right after I bought it. But it dried up because I did not have it in a tray of water :(