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Carnivorous Plants/venus flytrap leaf cutting

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Expert: - 12/17/2009


Question
well I've only heard that you have to take out the plant and separate the leaf. i wanted to know if there was another way to do this if there is can you tell me. if there isn't tell me what to do right so i don't kill my plant.im really scared about killing it!

Answer
Hello Miguel,

I typically do not use leaf-cutting, or in Venus Flytrap cases, called leaf-pulling, as I generally just wait for seeds each spring and separate the plants when they form clumps from root division, which Venus Flytraps do constantly every few years.

Leaf-pulling can be done when you repot your Venus Flytrap every year or two. When the plant is uprooted, clean it off with some distilled water spray, then select an adult open leaf in prime health. Pull down towards the roots with the leaf pinches lightly, but firmly between your fingers. It will split down the side of the plant until it pulls off a sliver section of white rhizome material with it. You can place this leaf pulling on moist sphagnum peat or in damp pelite under a bright florescent light or in a well lit window and keep up the humidity with a dome or clear top over the container you place the leaf in. If mold does not attack the leaf and if it does not die off, you may begin to see tiny plants growing along the edges of the leaf in a few weeks to a couple months time. Only take a maximum of one to three leaves from a parent plant at a time as the parent needs enough leaves to survive on too.

Christopher

Carnivorous Plants

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Christopher Littrell

Expertise

I am capable of answering questions about the most common carnivorous plants found in cultivation. I have no personal experience with Byblis, Drosophyllum, Aldrovanda, and Heliamphora. I have not cultivated gemmae forming pygmy sundews nor tuberous sundews. For information regarding those aforementioned species, I would suggest contacting other experts. I can answer questions regarding most species of Nepenthes, tropical and temperate Drosera, Mexican Pinguicula, Sarracenias, and Dionaea. I have some limited experience with growing Utricularia, Cephalotus, and Darlingtonia.

Experience

I have grown carnivorous plants off and on for about 27 years. I have made the same mistakes and suffered the same mishaps that many growers make as they attempt to separate the myths from the realities of growing these plants. Currently, I am successfully growing a variety of tropical sundews, a Nepenthes, several Venus Flytraps of varying ages, and Sarracenias. I have been successful in stratifying Sarracenia seeds and providing artificial dormancy requirements for my temperate plants when needed.

Education/Credentials
I hold a Master's degree in Educational Psychology. Over my lifetime, I have constantly read books involving the growing conditions of carnivorous plants. I hope to incorporate the educational aspects involved in psychology with teaching other people how to cultivate carnivorous plants.

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