As a kid growing up in North Carolina I purchased VFTseeds by mail order.When they arrived I planted them in any pot using soil from the backyard,watered from the tap,and placed on the back proch.Not long after I had VFTs happily dining on the local insect life.Come late fall the plants went dormant and next spring came back with gusto.Flytrap cultivation-no problem.
Fast forward to Oregon 40+ years later and it is a much different story.A VFT outside of a protected environment in the high desert(humidity usually = <20%) has a life expectancy measured in hours. I learned this by bitter experience.
I am now attempting to grow a single plant and for about a month it seems to be doing well.Time will tell. I have it planted in a sand/peat mixture in a flat rectangluar bonsai pot.The pot stays inside a small animal terrarium (18x8'x12'
I found at Petco.It has a mesh screen top that allows aircirculation but does appear to keep the humidity up to an acceptable level.
The bonsai pot sits atop 4 inches of pea size aquarium gravel which allows a place for the excess water to drain and keep the humidity up.The whole thing sits on my brillant East facing windowsill.
Fingers crossed I hope to see it develop to a point where I need to consider how I will give it a peroid of dormancy.As of today it is about the size of a silver dollar and has 32 open traps and 5 developing.
I just ran across this board the other day and I am finding tons of usefull informantion.When I have specific questions it is reassuring to know there is a place with such accumulated knowledge to resort to.
Fast forward to Oregon 40+ years later and it is a much different story.A VFT outside of a protected environment in the high desert(humidity usually = <20%) has a life expectancy measured in hours. I learned this by bitter experience.
I am now attempting to grow a single plant and for about a month it seems to be doing well.Time will tell. I have it planted in a sand/peat mixture in a flat rectangluar bonsai pot.The pot stays inside a small animal terrarium (18x8'x12'
The bonsai pot sits atop 4 inches of pea size aquarium gravel which allows a place for the excess water to drain and keep the humidity up.The whole thing sits on my brillant East facing windowsill.
Fingers crossed I hope to see it develop to a point where I need to consider how I will give it a peroid of dormancy.As of today it is about the size of a silver dollar and has 32 open traps and 5 developing.
I just ran across this board the other day and I am finding tons of usefull informantion.When I have specific questions it is reassuring to know there is a place with such accumulated knowledge to resort to.