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How to grow big traps

I've heard that there are two ways to gain bigger traps:

1.) Feed as much as possible so that the plant has all the nutrients it can get, enabling it to grow more and bigger traps.

2.) Starve the plant so that it grows bigger traps in an effort to catch a greater number, as well as larger prey. However, it is is starved for too long, it will struggle to produce bigger traps through lack of nutrients.

What are people's opinions on this?

(Edited by Alvin Meister at 5
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8 pm on April 26, 2002)
 
I think letting them go on a diet is the key IMO. Since when I go to a local garden shop and see some decent VFT's that are getting "OK" care they are usually covered by the dome thing and nothing can get in nor out (esp. little curious kids hands
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) But you see I see that the traps are significantly larger than my personal plants! Kinds bugs me a little!
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But nothing can get in to get caught by them so I think starving them is the key. I could be wrong though. i also think the palnting media has something to do with it also. You notice that almost all company's use Spahgnum moss to plant "hardware store" VFT. I still am pondering about the soil mix for VFT's in my other topic. But that could be a possiblity as the Sphagnum may allow larger roots and larger roots mean larger plants! Right?
 
I would guess that trap size is effected by genetics, soil, feeding and light at least. More food might mean bigger traps until you overdose your plant, or it might not if the traps get bigger in low prey environments. More light means healthier plants but might mean slightly smaller traps because of the increased need for photosynthesis in lower light conditions, or it might not. Bigger roots for bigger plants? quite possible, i do not know. An interesting subject for an experiment! Let us know how it turns out!
 
trap size is mostly affected by age thats a fact, and i believe feeding it large juicy insects.
 
</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Quote: from chinski000 on 3
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8 pm on April 27, 2002
trap size is mostly affected by age thats a fact, and i believe feeding it large juicy insects.[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>

How is it affected by age? As it gets older larger traps? The opposite?
 
Flytraps grow larger and larger traps each year until a certain age(varies). But older healthy plants tend to have larger traps than young mature plants.
 
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