Expert: Sarracenia Northwest - 7/7/2011

Question
hi there,

thank you for writing me back, and yes i bought the plant at a store, when i bought it some of the traps have already died. the trap is a little plant its not big and it came in a long cup.

at fist i didn't use any lighting because on some of the websites that i went on it said to leave it in the dark. so i did, and then i put it out on my windowsill a couple of days ago.

for water, i boiled the water and let it cool for couple of hours and put it in a spray thing and that's how i water it.

the soil i haven't touched, its the soil in which the trap came in, i also read on websites that you cant use normal soil that it needs to be some special kind.

i haven't been growing the plant for that long its been at least 3 weeks since i have bought it.

am living in Germany, saarland, saarbrucken. it mostly rains here, but for the last few months we get couple of days where its too hot.

and for the picture am sorry i cant provide that, am using my family members computer and i don't have a camera or phone where i can take a picture of the plant.

i hope this helps on helping me, once again thank you! And yes i am new at this. :D


Sabrina

Answer
Hi Sabrina,

I'm going to link you over to a question nearly identical to this one I answered last week.  This was a lady in Canada who had just bought some Venus flytraps in the little cups also.  You'll need to do the same thing I recommended to her.  Your weather/climate in Germany is similar to the Pacific Northwest here in the U.S.  It's also important to keep in mind that Venus flytraps are North American perennials.  They are not tropical plants.  http://en.allexperts.com/q/Carnivorous-Plants-711/2011/6/sickly-venus-fly-traps....

Good Growing!

Jeff Dallas
Sarracenia Northwest
http://www.cobraplant.com

Hi Sabrina,

I wanted to follow-up as I re-read your question and realized I forgot something.  You mentioned boiling water to use on your plant.  What carnivorous plants need is water that is low in minerals.  On the volume #1 DVD we do an entire chapter on this subject.  Most municipal water is hard, so it's best to use distilled water or rainwater.  Boiling water to remove minerals is an urban legend.  It does nothing.  Simple carbon filters also do not remove minerals.  The only processes that remove minerals are distillation, reverse osmosis, or de-ionization filters.

Good Growing!

Jeff Dallas
Sarracenia Northwest
http://www.cobraplant.com