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Hambuger

I just ordered my first flytrap after reading a copy of The Savage Garden by Peter D'Amato. In his book he notes that it's ok to sometimes feed the planet hamburger yet I read on this website that peoplefood will kill your plant. Who's correct?

carl
 
Hi Carl and welcome to our forums! Please don't feed hamburger to VFT's or any CP's. The salts alone are bad for them. Living, flying critters, except for beetles are the best. Also, more important than live food are: light, water (not tap), air circulations, and dormancy.
 
Goodness gracious! Do not feed your VFTs hamburger! The trap will most likely turn black and rot away pre-maturely (they die and rot away eventually, tho'). Just feed your VFT little bugs and such
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Speaking of which, VFTs do not actually need very many bugs. From what I understand, 1 or 2 bugs per month is more than enough.

Oh ya, welcome to the forums
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Welcome to the forums!

I have heard it both ways, some people say that it is possible to do it with no ill effects, and others say it will always die. I myself am somewhere in between. I think it may be possible but that it will usually cause rot. The plant would benefit much more from insects though. The fats and salts in hamburger are usually the cause of the rot. VFTs just don't have the enzymes required for digesting those "ingrediants".
I won't go into "how to grow VFTs" as you said that you had read the Savage Garden which is where most all of us learned to grow CPs(except those of us who were around before the book, they learned from other books! LOL). But something I might add, if something in the Savage Garden doesn't work, there are about a hundred other ways to try again! We've all been there and done that, so we've had chances to learn new things. So if you ever need anything, that's what we're here for.

Keep growin'
~Wes~
 
One thing to consider about carnivorous plants is that they are plants - they derive most of what they need as any other plant - light, water, possibly dormancy... It is our species that want to see them eat more than they can possibly handle.
 
No hamburger. It's a common misconception that you can feed them hanburger.. I don't want to discredit D'Amato, though.. I figure it would be okay only once in a great while. But otherwise, no people food, just bugs.. and no beetles or other hard-shelled bugs. Really, they don't need bugs.. bugs are simply a natural fertilizer.
 
You will always do best to mimic nature in growing CPs. If a plant doesn't eat hamburger out in the wild, then I'd stick to what they DO eat which is bugs. Let them catch their own...they'll do fine. And they'll do fine even if they don't eat.
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AND...WELCOME TO THE FORUMS!
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I don't remember it saying hamburger was okay in Savage Garden...

What I do remember is him quoting an inept hardware store employee saying "just feed it a little hamburger once in a while and it'll be fine"
 
Well that explains alot. I was just going by the fact that someone on here said D'Amato said you could, since I read The Savage Garden, but it was a long time ago, so I don't remember much of it. I was wondering why such an expert as D'Amato would say that.
 
  • #10
You could but who wants to touch and cut apart raw hamburger? (Rhetorical)
It's not a really good idea.
 
  • #11
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]I don't remember it saying hamburger was okay in Savage Garden...
[b said:
Quote[/b] ] I was wondering why such an expert as D'Amato would say that.
It actually does say that in the 'Feeding' section in the begining of the book. In the copy I have it is on page 20

[b said:
Quote[/b] ]Carnivorous plants will also sometimes eat human food. (I am not suggesting you feed your plants humans, since this is highly illegal....) Some CPs will accept and even drool over tiny bits of raw hamburger, cheese, powdered milk, and even chocolate (female plants).
But the next sentence says
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]But these food products may be harmful to your plant, especially if they are overfed.
 
  • #12
[b said:
Quote[/b] (jimscott @ April 30 2005,11:39)]Also, more important than live food are: light, water (not tap), air circulations, and dormancy.
Air circulations are important? Care to elaborate on that? For example, my VFT spends its time on my window-sill, right next to a big window that is open all year round, and the curtains (drapes) are pretty much closed all the time too.
 
  • #13
DO NOT EVER FEED HAMBURGER MEAT TO ANY CARNIVORUS PLANT!!!
*Sorry if i came accross as rude.
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*
 
  • #14
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Darwin @ May 17 2005,9:10)]
[b said:
Quote[/b] (jimscott @ April 30 2005,11:39)]Also, more important than live food are: light, water (not tap), air circulations, and dormancy.
Air circulations are important? Care to elaborate on that? For example, my VFT spends its time on my window-sill, right next to a big window that is open all year round, and the curtains (drapes) are pretty much closed all the time too.
Hi Darwin,
Air circulation is important because it discourages the growth of fungus. Fungus is a problem with CPs anyway because their soil is kept moist or damp constantly. Add to that high humidity and stale(calm) air such as you find in a covered terrarium and you have fungus heaven. That's why air circulation is considered important. An open window will provide plenty of are circulation.
 
  • #16
In the PBS documentary Death Trap, they fed a VFT a small piece of meat. After that, the plant had a growth spurt. Pretty cool! I say, try it, if you have more than 1 plant. If this does cause the leaf to turn black, just cut it off immediately. Not much harm done to the plant, and you'll know whether they can be fed raw hamburger or not
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  • #17
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]You could but who wants to touch and cut apart raw hamburger?
Wow, you're a wuss.

[b said:
Quote[/b] ]and even chocolate (female plants).
LMAO
 
  • #18
[b said:
Quote[/b] (cebryan @ April 30 2005,6:17)]I just ordered my first flytrap after reading a copy of The Savage Garden by Peter D'Amato.  In his book he notes that it's ok to sometimes feed the planet hamburger yet I read on this website that peoplefood will kill your plant.  Who's correct?

carl
as I reccall he didnt say that, but simply told the story on where that theory came from(he afterwards said its best not to feed your plants hamburger)
I wouldnt feed them hamburger or any other meat you can buy in supermarkets(except for bugs from petshops)
 
  • #19
I think the moral of the story is that D'Amato said that VFTs WOULD ACCEPT people food, not that you SHOULD USE people food. Just like small children WOULD ACCEPT junk food, not that you SHOULD USE junk food.
 
  • #20
Tanya, I dont agree, you would be very lucky for the trap not to rot and die and for the plant not to suffer any damage as a result of feeding it hamburger
 
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