Newbie

[Enus]

Hello, i just bought a vft yesterday, its a purple pitcher plant.
It came with a tiny paper basically explaining how it lures bugs. It mentions to leave the cover on when its not eating.
And mentions not to give it direct sunlight. But reading these forums, it mentions to take its cover off and have it in direct sunlight...As well for feeding... Will it eat on its own. Or will i have to supply it with dead flys & mosquitoes?? Is it good to take the venus fly trap travelling? i'm going to the lake in a couple of days. The bugs and the weather should be good for it right??
Any answers will help! thanks

 

[Spectabilis73]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Enus @ June 21 2003,10:55)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Hello, i just bought a vft yesterday, its a purple pitcher plant.
It came with a tiny paper basically explaining how it lures bugs. It mentions to leave the cover on when its not eating.
And mentions not to give it direct sunlight. But reading these forums, it mentions to take its cover off and have it in direct sunlight...As well for feeding... Will it eat on its own. Or will i have to supply it with dead flys & mosquitoes?? Is it good to take the venus fly trap travelling? i'm going to the lake in a couple of days. The bugs and the weather should be good for it right??
Any answers will help! thanks[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
welcome!
a vft is not a purple pitcher plant, a vft is a venus fly trap

you shouldn't leave the cover on, as larger pitchers will be deformed when they grow too big for the cup, and it might overheat in direct sun with the cup on.
yes, take the cover off and dont put it back on... lol It will eat on it's own, but it's fun to hand feed it

what are the weather conditions where you live? heat, humidity, etc
oh, and dont water it with tap water! water it with purifyed or distilled water!
you can take a pitcher plant on travel. I've done it before, just make sure it gets some sunlight in the car

 

[Enus]

I live in winnipeg (canada). So that's both extremes of hot and cold.
Lately its been very hot and humid..
Thanks for the info it will be very helpfull.
Oh how often should i put it out to eat?

 

[sarracenialuver]

Hey Enus! Welcome to the forums,
Well, your plant doesn't need to eat at all, you could, then you would get bigger growth and lusher traps, ect. but i seldom feed mine at all. But you can place your plant whenever you want outside, just to enjoy the day. Purple pitcher plants don't like to hot of climate, so don't extend over 90*F!. How hot is it in Winnepeg these day?
Kevin