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4 seasons in singapore?

B

bomberway

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Hi plant jocks out there! I'm from Singapore, plus I'm a total newbie at plants, and I just got a cute Venus Flytrap.

I'm wondering if I need to put my plant into the refrigerator for around 3 months to make it think it's winter time (dormancy period??) since Sing is in the tropics and the VFT is a temperate plant? I'm just worried that the continual hot weather would throw it's "planty internal clock" outta whack or something :>

I would be eternally grateful if somebodie could help me with this!

PS. anybody from Sing knows any good plant shops specialising in carnivourous plants?
 
Hi! Welcome to the forum.

There is no need to put your Venus Fly Trap (VFT) in the fridge unless it is in dormancy. Mine does fine out in the open under the full sun.

You need to be careful with the watering though. Both my VFT are standing in a tray with one cm of distilled water and I never let them dry out. I personally use distilled water to water the plants, but I know someone in Singapore who gets along fine with using tap water. This is because most CPs are very sensitive to minerals that may be found in water straight from the tap. Mineral water is totally unacceptable!
 
Hello Bomberway, nice to see that the Singapore community is growing.

I don't grow VFTs myself, so no comment.

Far East Flora is so far the nursery that sells the widest range of CPs. They regularly carry sarracenias, VFTs, sundews (capensis) and the occasional nepenthes. The Queensway location sells more neps at better prices. The Thomson branch will occasionally yield the odd Ping.

The stretch of Thomson nurseries is a good source for neps (which is what I grow mainly). Island sells N. Ventrata and N. Gentle, SPA (next to FEF) sells N. Rafflesiana and possible Rafflesiana hybrids, and Hawaii apparently has some neps, though I don't know what varieties those are.

There are also other local growers such as Woon Leng and the Mandai nurseries, but these are more remote.

Welcome to the forum and I hope you have a good time with CPs!
 
Welcome to the foums Bomberway!

Did u get ur VFT from Far East Flora Ridout Park near Queensway? As Colin said, that place has the best selection of CPs in Singapore. Another option will be seeds. Yes, seeds. These may be slow and almost agonisingly so but they are the most economical and practical way (unless u don't mind paying hundreds of dollars for papaerwork) to bring in different types of CPs.

Anyway, if u did get ur VFT from Far East Flora Ridout Park, did they have any Pings/Butterworts left? The butterworts look like this:  

butterwortlarge1.jpg


>>Image taken from Petflytrap.com shopping page<<
 
Welcome Bomberway and hi guys
For VFT care, there was already a well written care sheet posted on PFT Here
Basically VFT likes: direct sunlight, high humidity, clean water and wet soil

My first VFTs was purchased 11 months ago, it shown signs of going into dormancy 2 months ago; slower and smaller grow, traps does not close when triggered, at its prime, it measured 20 cm across with multiple plant. I have not decided to place it into the fridge as yet, will watch how it goes.

Visited Thomson stretch recently. Island still sells N. Ventrata and N. Gentle, SPA no longer has neps to offer, and Hawaii has some smaller Ventrata. Far East still offer capensis and Sarracenia purpurea hybrid.

Happy growing
 
Thanks for the invaluable advice guys.. will keep all those things in mind! I'm just worried that my plant might get indigestion or something cos I've been feeding it things like ticks (the massive white ones) from my dog, and fruit beetles..
Leaving a few traps unmolested to show off to people though! :>

guqin: you really leave your plant out in the open? Cos one of the innumerable articles on the internet suggested that the VFTs are grown in the tropics, the full sun is too much to take or smth... read another article too that they don't like to be watered top down, so I was worried that the rain might disturb them... ah... maybe I'm just paranoid!

eBeyonder: sorry eBeyonder, I got the plant through the horticulture society in my school, so I didn't visit Far East
 
A horticulture society in your school? That's very interesting. Any details on that?

VFTs do not grow in the tropics, they grow in a seasonal climate (can't remember much O Level Geography
smile.gif
) The other growers will have additional VFT information.
 
Whatddya wanna know colin?
Well, it was just that the horticulture soc in my school(VJC) was selling plants for teacher's day, for the teachers, and a couple of my friends (and moi) decided to get the VFTs for themselves too, as a novelty..

btw Jalan kayu, hope you're reading this:
I saw the picture of your VFTs and my! they are simply HUMONGOUS! it's totally crazy!
wow.gif
How didja get them to spout so many heads, and how long have you had them? Any flowers of some sort? With such vibrance, I'm sure you can field a whole bouquet! no problems!
 
No worries bomberway, I went to FEF Ridout Park today. One sad little Ping left. Frankly, mine looked better when it was close to dying! Then again, it's dead now and the one at FEF's alive. Anyway, my other Ping yielded me 4 little Pings by division, so now I have 1 big Ping and 4 small Pings. I have they survive the repotting. And I hope the numerous leaf cuttings I took sprout too!
biggrin.gif


Anyway, for those who want to know, FEF Ridout has new VFTs. $25 each, apparently becos each is in a large pot with many large traps and growth points.

With regards to VFT care, I put mine out in full sun all day in a tray of rainwater or distilled water. I used tapwater for a period of 3 weeks before I knew of its ill-effects to CPs, but the VFT survived. I guess 3 weeks' too short to be indicative or anything, so try to use rainwater or distilled water. I have no idea how to provide for their dormancy (which is coming soon&#33
wink.gif
though... perhaps I'll chuck them into a fridge or something. But I've heard of one experienced local growers who simply leaves them outside. Still alive apparently.
 
  • #10
Although I leave my VFT outside, it only gets half a day of full sun. So, it is still okay. However, it still in a pot of water all day and I try to water it (distilled H20) everyday. This is because there is a nice piece of Marchantia (liverwort) is growing in the pot and it is prone to dessication.
biggrin.gif


I think eBeyonder's VFT probably gets more sun than mine. Anyway, if your VFT is one of those totally red varieties, it will need all the sun it can get to become red. Without sufficient sun, the red VFT will look like an ordinary green one.
 
  • #11
Yes, Jalan Kayu's a great grower, you should see his collection of nepenthes.

bomberway, I'll PM you.
 
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