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Feeding: How often?

Daecon

A Venus Flytrap newbie
How regularly should I make sure my Venus Flytrap has a bug to catch? A couple of nights ago there was a big moth on the windowsil, so I brought Diana out and held held her over the moth with the trap ready to close... and CHOMP!

Then just now there was a huge housefly buzzing about in my room, so I closed the door so it couldn't escape, and got a glass and (after several attempts) contained the fly after it had landed... and held the glass over another trap. After a few minutes the fly walked into the trap and CHOMP! :D

But I have no idea how much they should have to catch. Fortunately it's summer in New Zealand so Plant Food is flying around in abundance.

But I'm also thinking about what will happen in the winter, when there aren't really any flies around for her... would she die without enough food, so should I make sure she has plenty to eat now, or let her have an average of one bug a week...?

</n00b>
 
If it's outside it'll catch them on it's own. They don't even need bugs. If it's inside.... put it outside lol.

In winter it will go dormant and.. well it's dormant lol. Pretty self-explanatory.

If you dote over it it'll seem like it never grows :)
 
If it's inside I think about once a month per plant is enough. At least that's the consensus I have gathered. Just makes sure the bugs aren't too big - how big was the moth compared to the trap? You want bugs that are about a third the size of the trap.

xvart.
 
In my experince, Vft traps dont even really need hand feed insects, even inside, they seem to do fine without any insect captureing at all, but if its summer over there, i would definately put it outside.
 
JUst remember one thing if you are feeding a indoor VFT. DO NOT OVERFEED THEM. Mine were going perfectly when I feed each a max of 2 bugs per month....traps reopened ...nice healthy growth. On the concept of having more traps open at any time, I fed nearly each plant 5 bugs on the last cycle in january and now my plants are showing signs of over fertilization.....a short burst of irregular, deformed growth.....deformed traps, tissue necrosis etc. Its been a week and the plant has hardly nudged and 3 of them are slowly recovering.

Conclusion: DO NOT OVER FEED A VFT. Ones growing outside are under different conditions....infact better. In door plants on being overfed weaken a lot.
 
On the concept of having more traps open at any time, I fed nearly each plant 5 bugs on the last cycle in january and now my plants are showing signs of over fertilization.....a short burst of irregular, deformed growth.....deformed traps, tissue necrosis etc. Its been a week and the plant has hardly nudged and 3 of them are slowly recovering.

Your plant might be in some stage of dormancy, depending on the temperatures in the room you grow them in (you are growing them inside?). Venus fly traps shouldn't be fed at all during the winter months if the are dormant since they are trying to conserve energy and get ready for vigorous growth once the light levels (and temperatures) increase again. Fly traps don't need the extra energy since they have severely halted new growth.

xvart.
 
my flytraps are not in dormancy. They are fresh off Tc plants 6 months old now. I have decided long ago to skip dormancy this year and keep them growing till next winter. The plants are now showing signs of again growth..new leaves from the crown.

I think that was just a case of overfeeding which weakened the plants. They are resuming normal cycles after this stage of stress of digesting those insects.
 
What happens in the wild though when VFTs can have all traps closed, digesting away? There's a photo in Donald Schnell's book with a wild VFT digesting in a third of its traps - this would be a normal situation in the wild surely?
 
Yeah I've had plants like that and nothing bad ever happened...

Maybe they have an eating disorder? You know obesity is a big problem in america.
 
  • #10
How regularly should I make sure my Venus Flytrap has a bug to catch? A couple of nights ago there was a big moth on the windowsil, so I brought Diana out and held held her over the moth with the trap ready to close... and CHOMP!

Then just now there was a huge housefly buzzing about in my room, so I closed the door so it couldn't escape, and got a glass and (after several attempts) contained the fly after it had landed... and held the glass over another trap. After a few minutes the fly walked into the trap and CHOMP! :D

But I have no idea how much they should have to catch. Fortunately it's summer in New Zealand so Plant Food is flying around in abundance.

But I'm also thinking about what will happen in the winter, when there aren't really any flies around for her... would she die without enough food, so should I make sure she has plenty to eat now, or let her have an average of one bug a week...?

</n00b>


There is no need to feed them. Just give them plenty of sun, they'll be just fine. Once outside after last frost it'll get all the bugs it wants. The Sun will feed it until then.

Tom
(who is starting to wake his VFTS up now!)
 
  • #11
I dunno if you can actually overfeed a VFT. I have on many occasions seen my plants with zero open traps at all. They always just chug right along.

Its summer in NZ right now so if its at all possible I suggest you put your plant outdoors and let it catch its own food. VFTs can tolerate temps anywhere from about 0c to about 42-45c and extremely low humidity. Keeping them outside will also allow them to enter dormancy on their own and now is the time to start thinking how you are going to handle dormancy for your plants.

Good luck
Steve
 
  • #12
well...one thing is again for sure.....if they get enough sun...VFT's in wild do and have enough energy to take them through all these processes. In cultivation and especially under measley light setups...it is a problem :S
 
  • #13
Hello Daecon

As many have said, you do not have to feed your VFT. 1) They catch food on their own 2) They can live just fine without any bugs at all.

One of the best ways to have a happy VFT is to duplicate how it lives in its native habitat....sunlight, moisture, feeding, soil. If you leave the traps to catch what they will naturally, you will have nothing to worry about. It will neither be underfed nor overfed.

So...no worry about "how often" and "how much." Just set your plant outdoors (if possible) and let it do its thing. :)
 
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