Dionaea Muscipula aka The Venus Flytrap
This plant was originally bought from B&Q (hardware store) and I must say it did look pretty awful. However for just under £3.00 I thought I'd give this Dionaea a chance to thrive.
The first port of call was to re-pot into Irish Moss Peat, mixed with sharp sand (not beach sand!) The next step was to stand in a 2cm/1inch deep tray of purified water (NOT tap water, tap water is a killer of many carnivorous plants)
The original location of this plant at B&Q was under a shelf in a very humid environment, so I thought I'd treat it to some bright summer time sun shine! I initially left it outside (south facing) spraying it in the evening with purified water.
After a just under a week new growth started to appear, healthy growth! However strange bronze markings began to appear on the leaves (petiole). This was basically the Venus fly trap telling me that it was shocked with it's new environment. To ease the transition between lousy conditions to optimal I decided to move it into a part shaded area, so it received morning sun light and early afternoon, then more or less shaded after about 1pm. Instead of the evening spraying to maintain humidity I simply covered the plant with a clear bottle cut in half. However the thought of growing such a beautiful plant under cover didn't sit right with me at all...so I only covered it in the day then after 3 weeks I removed the cloche altogther.
The Dionaea flourished so well, I really was taught just how hardy these plants can actually be! The picture above is about 4 months after purchase. I have bought a few more of these from the same place as they are so cheap and with a bit of attention they really do get their act together!
More detailed information on the optimal care of these plants will be posted soon!
The first port of call was to re-pot into Irish Moss Peat, mixed with sharp sand (not beach sand!) The next step was to stand in a 2cm/1inch deep tray of purified water (NOT tap water, tap water is a killer of many carnivorous plants)
The original location of this plant at B&Q was under a shelf in a very humid environment, so I thought I'd treat it to some bright summer time sun shine! I initially left it outside (south facing) spraying it in the evening with purified water.
After a just under a week new growth started to appear, healthy growth! However strange bronze markings began to appear on the leaves (petiole). This was basically the Venus fly trap telling me that it was shocked with it's new environment. To ease the transition between lousy conditions to optimal I decided to move it into a part shaded area, so it received morning sun light and early afternoon, then more or less shaded after about 1pm. Instead of the evening spraying to maintain humidity I simply covered the plant with a clear bottle cut in half. However the thought of growing such a beautiful plant under cover didn't sit right with me at all...so I only covered it in the day then after 3 weeks I removed the cloche altogther.
The Dionaea flourished so well, I really was taught just how hardy these plants can actually be! The picture above is about 4 months after purchase. I have bought a few more of these from the same place as they are so cheap and with a bit of attention they really do get their act together!
More detailed information on the optimal care of these plants will be posted soon!
1 comment:
Carnivorous plants generally come from areas where their roots are unable to obtain enough nutrients from the soil, so they have developed a way of absorbing nutrients from animals, live or dead. Plants such as dionaea feed on small insects by trapping them and then digesting the contents of their bodies.
Dionaea Muscipula Droseraceae Venus Flytrap Plant Care Propagation
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