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Is it too late?

I've tried to grow flytraps numerous times in my youth and failed each time...mostly I attribute to living in Texas.  So, after moving to NJ I decided to once again try my luck.  Fortunately I've had much better luck.

Here are the plants in April 2002
vft2002.jpg


Here are the same plants in August, 2003
vft.jpg


After trying to micromanage the plants in Texas, I decided to take a more hands off approach this time.  So I basically didn't try to feed it or repot it.  I just made sure it had light and watered it every other day.  So far the plant has been growing over a year and from everything I can tell is doing great.

My plants this year flowered, and again with the hands off approach let nature take its course but tried to pollinate it.  I didn't have much luck but I did get 4 tiny seeds out of it.
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And it doesn't look like its slowed down the growth of the plant at all.

So, my questions are:

1.  Does it look like my plants needs to be repotted?  If so, is it too late in the season to do it?  I've got limited space on the window sill, but I'm willing to try if its necessary.

2.  Is it too late to try to sow the seeds?
 
welcome to the forums! it's always nice to see new faces here!

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">1.  Does it look like my plants needs to be repotted?  If so, is it too late in the season to do it?  I've got limited space on the window sill, but I'm willing to try if its necessary.[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>

are there roots coming out of the bottom of the pot?  i find with my own vft's, that if i repot them into a bigger pot, they produce more off shoots, and less "larger" traps.  i have had this happen to 3 different plants this year.

generally, you don't want to repot vft's while they are actively growing, as the root system doesn't really like to be handled too much.  now, what you could do is, take all of the soil and the plant out of the old pot in one clump, and pot that into a larger pot, and fill in around the sides with fresh soil (a 50/50 mix of pearlite and sphagnum moss works great).  if there isn't a slow down in growth or roots coming out of the bottom, or an obvious decline in the health of the plant, i would leave it be.



hope this helps!

peace,
technoracer
 
</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (jhaluska @ Aug. 02 2003,12:10)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">2.  Is it too late to try to sow the seeds?[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
No, you can safely sow them now! I'll walk you through it...

• Put a 50/50 mix of peat moss and silica sand (some playsands are sterilized silica sand) in any size pot with drainage holes. TIP: coffee filters placed in the bottom of the pot work well in keeping the soil from coming out through the holes! Oh, and make sure you wet the soil plenty with distilled, RO, or rain water after putting it in the containers! The soil must be nice and moist for the seeds!

• Simply place the seeds on the surface of the soil, not buried or anything, just on the surface, evenly spaced about an inch. The seeds will send down roots from there.

• Water with the tray system the same way you would water adult plants.

• In about six weeks, you will see tiny green sprouts. Give them direct sun and plenty of water. For the first year, the traps will only grow to be a few millimeters long! When your seedlings have around five fully developed, fully functioning traps, you can transplant them into different pots, if you're planning on it. You can just leave them in the same pot if you want.

What I did with my seeds (I'm growing 60 seeds from two plants right now! ) was: I first collected fifteen clean Mott's Applesause plastic containers and burned drainage holes in the bottom of each. I put a trimmed coffee filter in the bottom of each, to keep soil from falling through, and put a 50/50 mix of peat and silica sand in the containers and put four seeds in each container on the surface of the soil. I put all the containers together in two huge watering trays and I put distilled water in each tray. I give them a couple hours of direct sun each day, and I keep them out on my screened-in back porch, where the wind isn't so strong (I'm soooo paranoid!!! I'm afraid the seeds will blow off if they aren't sheltered from strong winds). Once they sprout and start growing well, I'm going to transplant them all into one huge pot! Niiiiiiiice!!!

Good luck and I hope this helps!
                                        FTG
 
about the seeds, I know you should cold-stratify them to make them viable. That involves wrapping them in a damp paper towel and sticking them in the fridge for about a week, right? Please correct me if I'm wrong.
 
As far as I know VFT seeds don't need stratified.

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The plants looks pretty good. Try leaving it outside though. Your plants seem deprived of light. Is it a green dragon? It would grow very vigorously with the full exposure to the sun. The plant could even go all red, if its a green dragon.
 
</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">The plants looks pretty good. Try leaving it outside though. Your plants seem deprived of light. Is it a green dragon? It would grow very vigorously with the full exposure to the sun. The plant could even go all red, if its a green dragon.[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>

Thanks.  Unfortunately, I just moved to an apartment about 2 months ago, and my only outside consists of a little balcony and is shaded by some very tall trees.  
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 I didn't have a lot of places to put it so I put it in my room that got the most sun mid day for a pretty lengthy time.  Having it in my room also helps me remember to water it.  I had some periods where I knew it was too dry because the leaves started drooping.  Fortunately I caught it both times and they sprang back up in the same day.

Yes, I believe it is a green dragon.  I picked it because the website said it was an hardier aggressive grower.

I did notice that my VFTs have a lot longer leaves than most people's.  Is this typical of the variety or is it an indicator that the plant isn't getting enough light?
 
Oh, thats fine. The plants is still looks great and looks very healthy. Oh yess and do feed you plant spiders, flys, and other insects. The more the plant eats the bigger it is! Just about 3 fat insects a month would really do the trick.
 
</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (jhaluska @ Aug. 02 2003,9:23)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">I did notice that my VFTs have a lot longer leaves than most people's.  Is this typical of the variety or is it an indicator that the plant isn't getting enough light?[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
No, it actually means that your plants are healthy. Your plants are very healthy, and your lucky to have some so big and beautiful!
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  • #10
i didnt know that
so what you are saying the short leaved ones that sit on the ground are not helthy
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  • #11
</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Oh yess and do feed you plant spiders, flys, and other insects.[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
Nope, again I'm taking a hands off approach (ok ok I'm lazy
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).  I've learned the plant does a better job at catching bugs than me trying to feed it.  Although it is indoors it does catch the occasional bug.  At least 3 traps have remains of bugs still in them.
 
  • #12
</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Jmenprkr @ Aug. 02 2003,10:54)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">i didnt know that
so what you are saying the short leaved ones that sit on the ground are not  helthy
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[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
No, I'm saying that it's normal for VFTs to produce long leaves in this part of the year. During the dormancy season, they have short, ground-level leaves, while in the growing season, they have long, sometimes upward leaves. Of course, there is one exception. The het (I can't remember the rest of the word... it's a VFT with no red or pink pigment) VFT never grows long leaves. But all other VFTs, if I'm not forgetting any, have long leaves in the growing season and short leaves in the dormancy season.
 
  • #14
3 closed traps, that's great.
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  • #15
i wonder what poked its head in there and got it choped off?
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  • #16
FTG- I have the type that produces short prostrate leave:A prostrate clone and a bigmouth.
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  • #18
Ok, I ran over to Lowes and Walmart.  At Lowes I saw six sad looking VFTs for $2.97 each and it took all I could muster not to bring them home for them to have a fighting chance.  
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But alas, I've got a single income and 20 mouths to feed!
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Now, I did see some Canadian Spagnum Peat Moss and some Perlite, but no Silica Sand.  Would these be sufficient for repotting my plants and for seedlings?

I also saw at Lowe's an attractive Self Watering Pot.  But I wanted to check with you guys first to make sure it was safe to use with VFTs, because I'm no expert just a guy who got lucky.
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  • #19
yes, the peat moss and the pearlite you saw should be good for your cp's. just mix it up 50/50 with plenty of distilled water.

as for the self watering violet pots, the general concensis is that, no, they aren't good for cp's. i have one (for an african violet! ) and from my experience, they won't keep the soil damp enough for cp's.

technoracer
 
  • #20
Darn, it was a pretty green one too. Oh well....are there any kinds of pots I should avoid?
 
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