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New here and boy do I need help, Flowering Venus Fly Trap

Hey, so I have a bit of a problem I think. I'm pretty new to carnivorous plants, I've had some luck with various pitcher plants but my VFT leaves a lot to be desired.
I got back form vacation and when I looked at my VFT, I noticed this large flower stalk that is almost fully developed. Nothing has bloomed yet but it probably will soon. I'll try and get pictures up ASAP, but I have a few questions.
1. how long until the flowers bloom?
2. since I have the flowers, might as well try self pollination or something right? I don't have any other fly traps to cross with or anything sadly.
3. how long till seeds develop and what should I do to plant them? how many should I expect.
4. on a scale of 1-10, 10 being the worst, how screwed am I with this plant right about now? lol
Thanks for the help in advance guys, I'll try and do a more proper post later on, but this just came up now.
 
It's common to cut off the flower stalk, as flowering drains a lot of the plant's energy. The cutting can then be planted and you can get a new flytrap from it. That being said, you can try pollinating if you'd like to. The seeds should develop in time for winter, and they'll need a cold stratification. You'd sow them next spring. Don't worry too much about your VFT though, mine flower sometimes and I've never lost a plant because of it.
 
I let all mine flower out harvested the seeds then cut and planted the stalks lol
 
I agree with punpkinface, if your VFT isn't too big, I definitely recommend cutting off the flower stalk. If you it's a big plant and nice n healthy, then go for some self-pollination. your seeds should develop pretty quickly, probably within 2-3 weeks. I can't tell you exactly how close the flowers are til blooming without seeing the plant, but probably in a week or so if the stalk really is close to being fully developed. I don't think your screwed at all. Your safe option is to cut the stalk off, but nothing beats the experience of growing your own plants from seed you've collected from your collection. It's entirely up to you.
 
If you are new to the hobby the nI would cut the stalk and plant it and hopefully you will get a clone of the mother plant. Otherwise, it mightnot KILL the plant but it will weaken it severely. I know my justina davis clone is still shrunk and not so healthy lookng from flowering this spring.
 
I let mine flower, harvested the seeds, and got a high germination rate. They plants that flowered are still making huge, well formed traps. If they're kept in good conditions they should be fine.
 
Mine right now from what I understand is more or less beyond the point of no return as far as the effectiveness of cutting the flower bud. Its way above the rest of the leafs and has tons of little buds.

By the way, perhaps this is unrelated but can anyone tell me why my plant has been throwing out a mixture of regular sized traps and super small (almost look like what seedling plants look like) traps? I've only had the plant for a few months so I'm still rather new to this. Plus, I should probably re-pot it at some point...
 
By the way, perhaps this is unrelated but can anyone tell me why my plant has been throwing out a mixture of regular sized traps and super small (almost look like what seedling plants look like) traps? I've only had the plant for a few months so I'm still rather new to this. Plus, I should probably re-pot it at some point...

My vft did that when I first got it. I think it's a result of tissue culture; the plant is still feeling the effects of the chemicals and has many little plantlets forming around it. I would leave it be for a year or two, I divided mine and the stress killed them.
 
1. how long until the flowers bloom?

probably within a week or so.

2. since I have the flowers, might as well try self pollination or something right? I don't have any other fly traps to cross with or anything sadly.

No, I wouldnt bother..just cut the flower stalk off at the base.

3. how long till seeds develop and what should I do to plant them? how many should I expect.

Its really too late for this season..the seeds wont have time to fully develop before dormancy..
the plant will be (or should be) fully dormant in 1.5 to 2 months, and seeds generally take about that long to mature.
as the plant goes dormant in the coming weeks, it will "slow down" in growth as the days get cooler and the photoperiod decreases,
and the seeds probably wouldn't mature fully anyway..its just the wrong time of year.

4. on a scale of 1-10, 10 being the worst, how screwed am I with this plant right about now? lol

Zero, not screwed at all..
just cut the flower stalk off, the plant will be perfectly fine.

Scot
 
  • #10
Mine right now from what I understand is more or less beyond the point of no return as far as the effectiveness of cutting the flower bud. Its way above the rest of the leafs and has tons of little buds.

Thats a total myth..there is no such thing as "beyond the point of no return"..
you can cut the flower stalk off even after flowers have opened, and it will have no impact on the plant..
in fact, cutting off the stalk at *any* point in its development will be good for the plant overall,
because it halts the production of seeds, which uses up a fair amount of energy for the plant..
but *when* you cut off the flower stalk is totally irrelevant..earlier is better, but there is no such thing as "too late"..

Scot
 
  • #11
If you cut off the stalk, at the stage it's at there won't be any real detrimental effects, however in the future, cut it off as it's still just starting to grow, and the plant may just send up anohter. RIght now, however, it would probably be best to cut it off. If you let it flower, make sure it stays moist, in full sunlight (harden it off first if it's been in one of those death cubes), adn give it an insect or two a week to keep its energy up. And if it does flower, you actually should have enough time to let seeds ripen, as warm temps last until mid October in most of the country here, and seeds only take a couple weeks to ripen.
 
  • #12
And if it does flower, you actually should have enough time to let seeds ripen, as warm temps last until mid October in most of the country here, and seeds only take a couple weeks to ripen.

Probably not enough time..
seeds take 4 to 6 weeks to ripen..not "a couple"..
and its irrelevant how long "warm temps last"..
because the plant wont be "growing normally" this time of year, like it would be in April, May, June, to aid seed production.
VFT's are actually in the middle of the "going dormant" process right now..its a slow gradual process..
its not like "growing normally, growing normally, then one day BOOM in October "im dormant now!".. ;)
thats not how it works..
There is not enough time for seeds to ripen now..growth should be be dramatically slowing even now..
VFT's *are* going dormant right now..
there is a reason most plants flower and set seed in the spring..they need the spring and summer "optimum growth" months to set seed..

a normal VFT wouldnt flower this time of year..the fact that this one is is probably because its a recent TC plant..
its "internal clock" is screwed up..but allowing it to go dormant this fall, then coming out of dormancy next spring,
will probably straighten it out..

Scot
 
  • #13
what do you mean by a recent TC plant? I'm not sure what that is.

I only bought the plant a couple of months ago as well, and I am noticing that the bud is taking forever to even do anything noticeable, and since I plan on eventually bringing it indoors or something I'm going to just cut the thing. Maybe if it flowers in the spring I'll try. Where should I cut the flower stem, I'd assume closer to the bottom right?
 
  • #14
A recent TC plant means it is fresh out of tissue culture, plants in this stateoften act very strangely and produce growth that is often abnormal or extremely vigorous.
 
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