Expert: Christopher Littrell - 5/30/2007

Question
With my situation as you saw before, about how much sunlight should I be giving my vfts right now and in the future? Also, I was wondering what exactly soil corrosion was when watering on top. I also found tiny sprouts coming from only one out of the three vfts. Do you think the others will soon get new sprouts?

Answer
Hello Ryan,

Venus Flytraps need the same amount of sun that a typical rose or vegetable garden gets. All day out in full sun. If you have already stepped up the light intensity to full sun, then just keep them there. They will begin growing faster and make stronger leaves able to stand high intensity light.

Soil erosion occurs when you top water sometimes. What happens is the soil gets moved around as the water digs in and causes holes in the soil. You can avoid that by placing long fiber sphagnum moss as top soil media or by using a layer of perlite or stones or pebbles (make sure they do not contain lime, copper, or calcium deposits) over the soil around the plants. You could also do what I do. I top water very close to the soil and only pour the water slowly.

Those sprouts could be divisions from the rhizome or some seeds that were attached to the old soil your plants were in. When you repot them next year, take a look at the rhizomes and see if the young plants are attached. If so, just let them grow until they loosen from the parent rhizome and you can repot them seperately eventually. As each plant you have grows larger and healthier, they will all produce rhizome divisions. This might be only a few weeks or months from now or next year according to how old each plant is and how healthy they are. Older plants in high level light would be most likely to generate divisions.

Christopher