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Keep it sunny and wet?

G

GeekHunter

Guest
I just got my first VFT and I'm intrigued by your suggestions to keep it outside BUT also keep it wet. In S. California, things dry out in a day if left outside so I'm really not sure how to do this. Is keeping it inside on a window ledge OK? Will light filtered by the window glass be enough?

Also, it came in a little plastic pot with a cup-like clear cover over the plant in moss. Should I discard this container and go for something else to improve growth?

Finally, I wet it by putting the pot in the sink filled with enough water to just reach the pot's upper edge. Didn't water it from the top. How important is it to use distilled water rather than tap using the method I just described(just read that on the forum also)?

So many questions I don't know where to start!
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Thanks!
 
Take my advice with a grain of salt--I'm just starting myself.

You will want to put the plant's pot (assuming it has drain holes) in a deepish saucer of distilled water. This will control water level. It will do fine on a sunny windowsill if you remove the dome and keep the saucer wet.

Let it get a few hours of bright sun (direct sun) a day, though it should get plenty of indirect light all day. Outside in CA, I'm betting that partial shade would be ideal.

A lot of people are going to tell you not to repot, and they are right and have much more experience than I. BUT I think that a large pot helps keep water and temperature under control--so I'd consider it, at least for next year.

Fret over it a lot--mine seem to like that.

--Steve
 
in from CA but in San Fransisco. Just place the pot, bettter have drainage holes lol , in a water saucer fille with distilled or rain water. you can occasionally spry the vft for increasing humidity, but i have found that if the saucer of water is bigger then pot, the water wil levap from it and humidfiy the vft. i have mine outdoorsalso.
 
Only use distilled, RO or rainwater. From what I understand it is the minerals in the tap water that kill the plants. People with really good tap water can get by letting it set for a day or so to allow the chemicals to dicipate. This however will not remove the minerals. Unless you want to take a chance on killing your plant, I would not use tap water.
Buckmaster
 
Thanks for the suggestions. If I do decide to repot from this cheesy plastic cup it's in now, do I just move the entire ball of moss into a larger pot? Finally, I just want to be sure I understand this... you do recommend removing the plastic dome and just leaving it outside, uncovered, in partial sun, in a deepish plate with distilled or rain water. Right?

Phew! That should cover things!
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Todd
 
The plant with the ball of moss can be potted in a soil mix of peat:sand 1:1. I grow my flytraps outdoors in an 8in pot without any covering in southern CA. The plants are kept on the tray system and I usually use about a gallon of water per week for these pots.
 
Cool, more S. CA people
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We're taking over!
Put the plant outside, no dome, and distilled water only.
It will grow great! And welcome to the forum.
 
</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Quote: from GeekHunter on 4:51 pm on April 6, 2002
Thanks for the suggestions. If I do decide to repot from this cheesy plastic cup it's in now, do I just move the entire ball of moss into a larger pot? Finally, I just want to be sure I understand this... you do recommend removing the plastic dome and just leaving it outside, uncovered, in partial sun, in a deepish plate with distilled or rain water. Right?

Phew! That should cover things!
wink.gif


Todd
[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>

Right--if you move it to another pot, you should try to disturb the roots as little as possible, so move the whole magilla when you do.  (When I move plants, I cut the pot away, wasteful as that is.)

(By the way--plastic is the preferred pot, or a glazed pot. Unglazed clay will harm the VFTs, and keep them too dry to boot.)

Take off the dome, even if you leave it on a windowsill, since direct sunlight coming through the dome will dehydrate and overheat the plant.  Keep water in the saucer at all times, deep enough that the pot's drain holes are always immersed but not so deep that the pot is flooded.

Partial sun, both direct and indirect.

-Steve



(Edited by steveo at 3:33 pm on April 7, 2002)
 
Everyone's right about leaving the dome off for the most part...but don't forget that it can get cold on some nights. I've grown my VFT in both Burbank (So Cal) and Arcata (about as northern CA as it gets) so I know that temperature can be a huge factor.

When I was in No. CA I left it in a dome on a windowsill on a typical rainy day...and the sun came out when I was at school. Boiled VFTs resemble boiled lettuce
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. Luckily, my plant (barely) survived.

The VFTs seem to prefer 40F min - 85Fmax (with air circulation). In a dome, I kept mine 50F - 75F (with lots of humidity) and it was at its happiest.

I recently have been having the problem with my plant going into half-hibernation because it doesn't get quite cold enough here, so keep in mind that you might have to pop your plant in the fridge next winter.
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Personally, rainwater almost killed off my plant (when it actually DID rain) so keep a keen eye on how your VFT reacts when it rains.
 
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