SubRosa
BS Bulldozer
Needing advice while not being able to take advice must indeed be a source of great frustration to you.
TerraForums Venus Flytrap, Nepenthes, Drosera and more talk
Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!
Growing and Cloning B52 Venus Fly Traps
- Thread starter flyinthetrap
- Start date
Needing advice while not being able to take advice must indeed be a source of great frustration to you.
If basic chores like watering are too much bother, then why are you investing in a horticultural challenge at all??
Nothing wrong with growing VFTs in a terrarium if it works for you. If it doesn't work out, time to try something different. I grew my second VFT in a terrarium (actually a 1 gallon mason jar) for over 12 years until my parents let it dry out when I was away for school.
So despite what everybody says, it can be done.
So despite what everybody says, it can be done.
SubRosa
BS Bulldozer
Those plants really shouldn't be in clay pots. This is a really minor issue, and the plants are already in conditions that will make them suffer, so it won't even make that much of a difference anyway. I'm only mentioning this because it just goes to show that prior research is lacking, or prior research is being ignored. In short, when you face information that tells you that what you're doing is incorrect, go big or go home. I just hope that going home doesn't inadvertently kill your plants, even though it will.
Lil Stinkpot
Lucky Greenhorn
Heres what u need to do:
1. Repot yr VFTs in to a plastic pot or a glazed terracotta pot.
2. Make sure u have a little bowl/plate or whatever to hold distilled water in to tray water ur plants.
3. Remove the top to your terrarium...all the way off.
4. Keep the lights far enough away to keep from scorching your VFTs and over heating them.
5. Try to keep the humidity levels at an apropriate level for such plants.
6. Do it now or watch them suffer until they eventually die.
I don't rush my plants i let them do their thing and they multiply atleast 2 to 3 times every few months. My cupped trap has multiplied so much i actually have been giving them to ppl or trading for things i could use or want to study.
Plants no matter what they are require patience and a certain amount of care to receive reward for your efforts. I don't understand why you want so many b52s in such a small time period it doesn't bake Sense or safe for your plants unless you take advice on how to go about doing such things but its still not a rushed type of thing you still have to put in the effort to get the reward and if you don't wanna put in the work then you'll never end up with anything more then the same outcome you've previously been getting...DEATH!
If your truely worried about your cat put a mesh top over the terrarium or if your worried about someone stealing them if they are outside just put them in a sunny Window inside a small Empty bird cage or a terrarium with bars and a open top or mesh instead of a glass box of doom. This is why we call the plants sold at big box stores in those plastic sealed domes/cubes "death domes or death cubes"
Be safe have fun and take advice many people are very helpful on here and want to help people with their plants
1. Repot yr VFTs in to a plastic pot or a glazed terracotta pot.
2. Make sure u have a little bowl/plate or whatever to hold distilled water in to tray water ur plants.
3. Remove the top to your terrarium...all the way off.
4. Keep the lights far enough away to keep from scorching your VFTs and over heating them.
5. Try to keep the humidity levels at an apropriate level for such plants.
6. Do it now or watch them suffer until they eventually die.
I don't rush my plants i let them do their thing and they multiply atleast 2 to 3 times every few months. My cupped trap has multiplied so much i actually have been giving them to ppl or trading for things i could use or want to study.
Plants no matter what they are require patience and a certain amount of care to receive reward for your efforts. I don't understand why you want so many b52s in such a small time period it doesn't bake Sense or safe for your plants unless you take advice on how to go about doing such things but its still not a rushed type of thing you still have to put in the effort to get the reward and if you don't wanna put in the work then you'll never end up with anything more then the same outcome you've previously been getting...DEATH!
If your truely worried about your cat put a mesh top over the terrarium or if your worried about someone stealing them if they are outside just put them in a sunny Window inside a small Empty bird cage or a terrarium with bars and a open top or mesh instead of a glass box of doom. This is why we call the plants sold at big box stores in those plastic sealed domes/cubes "death domes or death cubes"
Be safe have fun and take advice many people are very helpful on here and want to help people with their plants
Lil Stinkpot
Lucky Greenhorn
Massachusetts south facing window, but there is an overhang of several feet, so not much direct intense natural light.
I think they like the extra 24 hour a day 50 Watt CFL lights.
I have 3 tiny sundews and a red dragon outside. I would put small B52s outside if I can make some.
Good call on #4 I scorched my B52s a little bit today after taking them out of the terrarium =(
I think they like the extra 24 hour a day 50 Watt CFL lights.
I have 3 tiny sundews and a red dragon outside. I would put small B52s outside if I can make some.
Good call on #4 I scorched my B52s a little bit today after taking them out of the terrarium =(
Lil Stinkpot
Lucky Greenhorn
Zath
Enthusiastic Enthusiast
Dude...
You just said in an earlier post that you were afraid people would steal your VFT's if placed outside, and yet you're putting plants outside anyway, which must mean that's a baseless claim.
Your adult VFT's would prefer the sunlight much more than germinating seedlings. It's not uncommon to raise 1st year seedlings in a terrarium or greenhouse, but the adults need as much light as they can get.
You don't transition a plant from indoors to outdoors for one day and say, "they got scorched". That's part of the acclimation process. If you don't do it gradually, the current, softened leaves will die, as the plant adjusts to the light and grows new, sun-hardened leaves.
That being said, I (not necessarily recommended) put 8 month-old pullings into direct sunlight after being raised in a terrarium. All of them but one died back to the roots. Scary stuff.....
...but they all came back, and are now thriving in full sun, with bushy collections of traps that I never could have gotten under my T8's.
The healthier your VFT's, the more leaves they'll produce, and the more pullings you can take. Or you can leave them in a sub-par terrarium. Your choice.
(Edit)
Just remembered the 24/7 lighting comment. I'm curious...are you aware that VFT's require a winter dormancy? 24/7 lighting isn't beneficial for -any- plant. The only instance of it I've heard of was for Sarracenia seedlings younger than 2 years, and AFAIK, that was mostly anecdotal.
You just said in an earlier post that you were afraid people would steal your VFT's if placed outside, and yet you're putting plants outside anyway, which must mean that's a baseless claim.
Your adult VFT's would prefer the sunlight much more than germinating seedlings. It's not uncommon to raise 1st year seedlings in a terrarium or greenhouse, but the adults need as much light as they can get.
You don't transition a plant from indoors to outdoors for one day and say, "they got scorched". That's part of the acclimation process. If you don't do it gradually, the current, softened leaves will die, as the plant adjusts to the light and grows new, sun-hardened leaves.
That being said, I (not necessarily recommended) put 8 month-old pullings into direct sunlight after being raised in a terrarium. All of them but one died back to the roots. Scary stuff.....
...but they all came back, and are now thriving in full sun, with bushy collections of traps that I never could have gotten under my T8's.
The healthier your VFT's, the more leaves they'll produce, and the more pullings you can take. Or you can leave them in a sub-par terrarium. Your choice.
(Edit)
Just remembered the 24/7 lighting comment. I'm curious...are you aware that VFT's require a winter dormancy? 24/7 lighting isn't beneficial for -any- plant. The only instance of it I've heard of was for Sarracenia seedlings younger than 2 years, and AFAIK, that was mostly anecdotal.
Last edited:
How do you know it is a baseless claim? Seems like the last time I remember somebody that had the same fears and was bullied into putting their plants outdoors where they were promptly stolen. And not a word of apology from the "dude you gotta grow them outdoors" crowd.
Last edited:
Zath
Enthusiastic Enthusiast
Okay, you're right. I apologize....
Nevertheless, he's putting out -some- VFT's while holding others back. I don't understand the reasoning behind that, is all.
Maybe that's why the plants I put outside are not looking so great. I figure the large plants would be much more tempting to steal and I would be more bummed out.
The Red Dragon and the Sundew are not as desirable as the B52s and I have many more of them.
Maybe I could work on some sort of rotation that would also allow them to feed without risking all of the plants.
Is a winter dormancy absolutely required for VFT? Won't they just keep on growing in the right conditions?
The Red Dragon and the Sundew are not as desirable as the B52s and I have many more of them.
Maybe I could work on some sort of rotation that would also allow them to feed without risking all of the plants.
Is a winter dormancy absolutely required for VFT? Won't they just keep on growing in the right conditions?
Zath
Enthusiastic Enthusiast
Sometimes you can get away with skipping the first dormancy (if they're pullings made late in the year, or possibly 1st year seedling ((someone else will have to correct me on that)))
Otherwise, as far as I know, yes, VFT's -MUST- have a winter dormancy in order to continue growing properly. I've heard of mature VFT's that were kept active during dormancy weakening and dying late in the next year.
Rotation is a bad idea. Moving a plant from artificial light, to sunlight...back to artificial, back to sunlight, is going to play havoc with them. I doubt the plant would have enough time to get hardened to the sunlight, and you'd likely only end up killing off the leaves due to shock.
