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Observation: Red VFT's are small and don't flower

jimscott

Tropical Fish Enthusiast
Title says it all. Why?

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only the shadows know.... OOOo! ooOOooo! oooooOOH! (scary ghost noise)
 
Im pretty sure the reds are smaller ( i think ts that they grow slower but can get as large) because their color makes their photosynthesizing less efficient. That is what I've read before. Also, They can flower, but I would assume that the same reason for their growth slowness is the reason they dont often flower as much as the green cultivars. I know red piranahas that have flowered so red ones can definately flower. Those are as red as it gets lol/

Try to feed them alot.
 
The red generally acts as a sort of sunscreen for the plants, when it gets lots of light... so if the plant is forced to have that color, the solution is probably more light.
 
I like your pine needles :)

My 'Royal Red' and 'Pink Venus' did fine all of last year and I think they'll do fine this year too.. the color of yours looks like the color of mine, so the only thing you're not doing that I am is going to rip up some cricket parts to feed them with (I feed *every* trap once a month).
 
I like your pine needles :)

My 'Royal Red' and 'Pink Venus' did fine all of last year and I think they'll do fine this year too.. the color of yours looks like the color of mine, so the only thing you're not doing that I am is going to rip up some cricket parts to feed them with (I feed *every* trap once a month).

:puke: I could never do that!
 
My 'Akai ryu' flowers every year it usually is a monster compared to my others. This year it seems to be struggling though. It flowered earlier but aborted. I've found 'Akai Ryu' to be very vigorous.

Here's a close-up of a double flower stalk from 2009
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Flower stalk from 2010
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Here's one grown by another LACPS member from last year. There's a quarter at the bottom of the picture to give an idea of scale. Who sez you can't grow 'em in terrariums?
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"Here's one grown by another LACPS member from last year. There's a quarter at the bottom of the picture to give an idea of scale. Who sez you can't grow 'em in terrariums?"

I think peoplecan grow them in terrariums, i just think that most of the people that tries to use a terrarium are normally newbies with the lack of knowlegde about VFT's that think they would live good in a terrarium. But once you know how exactly the plant works and watering, soil..etc then you might be able to grow them in terrariums. And if it is someone experience then he/she knows how to handle watering and all that.


By the way nice pics from the first post, and your pics! :)
 
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  • #10
My issue is... my flytraps get easily 8 hours of direct sun a day and every cultivar I have is bright green . I cannot... for the life of me... get them to color up (was this way last year as well). Yet my flyraps inside under T5s are blood red.
 
  • #11
I like your pine needles :)

My 'Royal Red' and 'Pink Venus' did fine all of last year and I think they'll do fine this year too.. the color of yours looks like the color of mine, so the only thing you're not doing that I am is going to rip up some cricket parts to feed them with (I feed *every* trap once a month).

Remind me not to tick you off . . .
 
  • #12
Red cultivars will flower, but their seed yield usually isn't worth it. Our Akai Ryus produced a staggering 3 seeds this year....
 
  • #13
My issue is... my flytraps get easily 8 hours of direct sun a day and every cultivar I have is bright green . I cannot... for the life of me... get them to color up (was this way last year as well). Yet my flyraps inside under T5s are blood red.

I also have never gotten good color outside, but even under t8's get deep reds. /shrug
 
  • #14
Could it also be a function of age? My red flytraps flower every Spring and achieve a very dark color while grown outside; and often attempt a second round of blooming by Fall -- but they are also several years old . . .
 
  • #15
My D. 'Akai Ryu' gets nice and dark with only 4-6 hours of direct sun. Try a little dappled shade. Some plants give their best coloration with some shade, others don't.
 
  • #16
I like your pine needles :)

My 'Royal Red' and 'Pink Venus' did fine all of last year and I think they'll do fine this year too.. the color of yours looks like the color of mine, so the only thing you're not doing that I am is going to rip up some cricket parts to feed them with (I feed *every* trap once a month).

Question for you!

How do you rip em up? I was thinking of doing this so I could use 1 cricket per however many traps. So I was just wondering. I'm imagining you chopping them up with a knife all chef'd up and serving them to your VFT. :lol:
 
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