Expert: Christopher Littrell - 5/30/2009

Question
QUESTION: i just got 3 new vft 3 to 5 years old. i got them bar root so i have to plant them. i was wondering if i should put them outside.i live in pa. also when can i feed them. how often and what tipes of bugs. in the winter it is 30 to 50 degrees and in the summer 65 to 95. i also never had any vft live inside for more then 3 months and never did  dormancy. i use 1part peat moss and 1 part perlite

ANSWER: Hello Clara,

You can place your Venus Flytraps outside in your area for most of the year if not all year long. The main concerns for you will be making sure they get plenty of sunlight, clean mineral free water from reverse osmosis, rain, or distilled water, acid soil from the 1/1 perlite sphagnum peat moss you have, and that they get a winter dormancy for 3-4 months each year. In your region you will have to ensure that the plants do not freeze dry in winter since the zone in Pennsylvania is lower than the natural area the plants grow in. Flytraps are natural to North Carolina which is zone 7. Your zone is 5. You would need to bring the plants indoors into a cold window or garage with a window or provide mulching and insulation around their pots to keep their roots from dying in cold weather. Pots simply make poor insulation in winter.

Venus Flytraps being grown outside will catch their own flies with no difficulty. Grown inside, they will have trouble getting enough light to trap anything unless you place them under the most intense florescent lights and in the brightest window you have. My suggestion is to grow them outside if possible. If you are simply interested in watching the plants trap insects you can give a trap a small fly, beetle, large ant, or spider. In general, you really do not have to feed Flytraps. They are more than capable of catching a variety of insects and other critters on their own. Even if they trap few insects they will be just fine. They do not need many to get enough nitrogen to live on.

Christopher

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QUESTION: when you say most of the year long what months are that? i have a spot that get sun all day is that ok? ones i plant them are they able to get food without dyeing? can they eat grubs or slugs? I also got a butterwort and two sundews can they be with the vft? I never had them before.Can the have the same soil? when a got them they were not sticky is that ok? I already planted them with my vft. right now there inside with the window open. Do they need humidly and dormancy.

ANSWER: Hello Clara,

The winter months of dormancy, from about November to February are the months that you will need to ensure that the plants do not die in winter. Venus Flytraps need dormancy, but if their roots freeze dry, they will die.

There are many species of Sundews from different countries and climates. Some require full sun, some do not, some require more water or higher humidity or different dormancy or even no dormancy accordingly. What kind of Sundews do you have? If you can determine the species, or post a picture of them, I can help you determine the best situation for them.

The same with the Buterwort. Butterworts tend to like more mineral content in their soil, so they can be potted in 1 ro 2 parts sphagnum peat to 1 part perlite and 1 part vermuculite. They like much less water than Venus Flytraps and Sundews as their roots are fragile and susceptible to rotting in standing water. Keep their soil moist all the time, but never allow standing water to remain in their tray. A little runoff water that dries within a day is fine. Butterworts cannot stand full sun. They require more sunlight than an Ivy, but less than other carnivorous plants. Place the Butterwort in an east window inside. where it can get some morning sunlight for a few hours but not be burned. Butterworts can be easily burned by ultraviolet light from sunlight, even in a window. Closely monitor the Butterwort for blistering and damage to the leaves and move it farther from the window a few inches until it gets enough light without burning.

Humidity requirements are generally the least of your concerns with carnivorous plants as most species can adapt to your reqional humidity if it is done slowly. If the plants were already grown in low humidity, they will be fine, but if they came from a grower that had them in a greenhouse or terrarium, they will need slow adaptation to slightly lower humidity every few days until they have acclimated to low humidity. You can do this by placing a dome or clear plastic bag over them and punching holes in it or lifting one side a fraction of an inch a little every 3 days for two weeks or so until no humidity is contained inside the cover. After that you can just remove the cover and let them grow open pot.

Each species of Sundew and Butterwort is different, so you will need to find out the exact species of each and let me know so you can determine if they need dormancy or not.

I would suggest repotting the sundews and butterwort so you can get the soil requirements for the butterwort right (just sphagum peat and perlite is OK for now, but more drainage and a little minerals from vermuculite is a good idea) and so you can keep watering and dormancy requirements easy to manage for each species.

Christopher

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QUESTION: i have 1 Drosera Capillaris 1 Drosera Spathulata and 1 Pinguicula Primuliflora. should i pot them soon because i just did and don't what to get that too strest.

Answer
Hello Clara,

You can just repot the Butterwort. I would suggest just scooping up the soil around the butterwort's roots and taking the entire soil plug to reduce stress on the plant. With the differences between Butterworts and the other plants, finding a happy medium of light and watering would place stress on one group of plants or another. The Butterwort simply needs less water and less light than the other plants. Repotting it alone would provide you the ability to place the Butterwort in more amenable conditions for it.

Both of the Droseras can be left with the Flytrap for now. The Drosera capillaris will die within a year as it is an annual. The Drosera spathulata does not require dormancy and can be repotted before winter when the Flytrap is ready to go dormant. Just bring the D. spathulata inside and place it in the brightest window and under some additional florescent lights of up to 6000 to 12000 lumens and it will be fine over winter. I find that window light alone is sometimes not enough for many carnivorous plants. At least not my window light.

The Butterwort will go dormant as per North American species as it is found around Florida and Mississippi enjoying zone 8-9 weather. It must be kept above freezing temperatures in winter and kept drier in general than the Venus Flytrap when dormant or it may rot and die. Basically just water the plant every few weeks and let the soil remain just barely moist in winter. You will want the plant to remain in cool weather down to 45 degrees to about 60 degrees most of winter, so a cold window might be the best place for it during winter dormancy. Once you get the Butterwort situated you will want to keep it stable and not repot it. Butterworts hate root disturbance and bare root repotting can sometimes prove fatal. Once you get a good pot for the Butterwort, just leave it there. If repotting is necessary to get the plant to a larger pot, just take the entire soil plug out and fill in new soil around the plug with minimal disturbance to the plant.

Christopher