INTRODUCTION AND CARE:
Common Name:
Venus Flytrap
Latin Name:
Dionaea Muscipula
Year Discovered:
1763
CARE SHEET:
POT SIZE:
3-6 inches
SOIL MEDIUM:
1/3 1/3 1/3
Peat moss, Sand, Vermiculite, And a pinch of Perlite
WATERING:
Pure Distilled, Melted Snow, (melt to room temperature) and Rain Water (ordered from best to worst)
WARNING: NEVER, EVER GIVE YOUR FLYTRAP TAP WATER! IT WOULD KILL IT!!!
LIGHTING:
Very bright light to full sun. a week or two of cloudy weather will not harm them. A great plant for the windowsill. Or you can give them around 80 watts of plant grow lighting, suspended about 1 foot over the plant.
HUMIDITY:
The higher the better, at least 60%, but you can grow them in very low humidity. (just make sure to mist them several times a day)
DORMANCY:
Will be added on here in a couple of days, check back soon!
More Info:
The Venus Flytrap (Dionaea Muscipula) Is a carnivorous plant. (of course lol) It is the most popular and most inspiring of all carnivorous plants. It is an 'active' (as opposed to 'passive' ) carnivorous plant. Although there is only one species, there are many varietys-- (or 'mutants' ) from the Red Dragon, with red lobes and red petioles, to the Dente with short, stubby cilia, to the Dingley Giant, with traps up to 5 cm (centimeters) long! Every single one is fascinating.
The size of the Venus Flytrap (whole plant) varies from less than 1 mm (millimeter) to 1 foot in diameter. The trap size can vary from less than 1 mm. to 5 cm. The seed of the Venus Flytrap is smaller than the head of a pin.
The Venus Flytrap catches it's prey in a very unique way. Each trap has 4-7 'trigger hairs', usually 6, 3 on each lobe. When two trigger hairs are bent once, or one trigger hair bent twice, SNAP!!! The trap closes in 1/10th of a second, capturing the victim. Before I go on, I should tell you this:
There must be two bends on the trigger hairs or the trap will not close. This mechanism keeps inedible objects such as a rain drop or a blade of grass from false triggering the trap. If two hairs are bent by an inedible object, it will close, but will re-open within 24 hours, it somehow 'knows' the object is not edible!
Okay, back to the capturing:
When the living creature triggers the trap, it will close, but not all the way, leaving the cilia looking like prison bars, letting small creatures like black ants out and keeping larger creatures trapped inside. Small creatures are released because it would take more energy to digest the small creature than the amount of energy the Flytrap would recieve from the small creature. If a large creature triggers the trap, it still stayes halfway closed.(to make sure it didn't just catch a small creature.) As the creature struggles to escape from the cillia, (which it cannot get through) it stimulates the trap to continues to close. After the trap closes completely, It seals, to prevent rotting of the trap while digestion. The victim still continues to struggle, stimulating the trap to excrete dijestive enzymes. after about an hour, the creature dies. In approximately 1-3 weeks, after digestion, depending on the size of the victim, the trap re-opens, revealing the undigested exoskeleton, which is blown or washed away by the wind or rain-- then the trap is ready for the next meal.
Common Name:
Venus Flytrap
Latin Name:
Dionaea Muscipula
Year Discovered:
1763
CARE SHEET:
POT SIZE:
3-6 inches
SOIL MEDIUM:
1/3 1/3 1/3
Peat moss, Sand, Vermiculite, And a pinch of Perlite
WATERING:
Pure Distilled, Melted Snow, (melt to room temperature) and Rain Water (ordered from best to worst)
WARNING: NEVER, EVER GIVE YOUR FLYTRAP TAP WATER! IT WOULD KILL IT!!!
LIGHTING:
Very bright light to full sun. a week or two of cloudy weather will not harm them. A great plant for the windowsill. Or you can give them around 80 watts of plant grow lighting, suspended about 1 foot over the plant.
HUMIDITY:
The higher the better, at least 60%, but you can grow them in very low humidity. (just make sure to mist them several times a day)
DORMANCY:
Will be added on here in a couple of days, check back soon!
More Info:
The Venus Flytrap (Dionaea Muscipula) Is a carnivorous plant. (of course lol) It is the most popular and most inspiring of all carnivorous plants. It is an 'active' (as opposed to 'passive' ) carnivorous plant. Although there is only one species, there are many varietys-- (or 'mutants' ) from the Red Dragon, with red lobes and red petioles, to the Dente with short, stubby cilia, to the Dingley Giant, with traps up to 5 cm (centimeters) long! Every single one is fascinating.
The size of the Venus Flytrap (whole plant) varies from less than 1 mm (millimeter) to 1 foot in diameter. The trap size can vary from less than 1 mm. to 5 cm. The seed of the Venus Flytrap is smaller than the head of a pin.
The Venus Flytrap catches it's prey in a very unique way. Each trap has 4-7 'trigger hairs', usually 6, 3 on each lobe. When two trigger hairs are bent once, or one trigger hair bent twice, SNAP!!! The trap closes in 1/10th of a second, capturing the victim. Before I go on, I should tell you this:
There must be two bends on the trigger hairs or the trap will not close. This mechanism keeps inedible objects such as a rain drop or a blade of grass from false triggering the trap. If two hairs are bent by an inedible object, it will close, but will re-open within 24 hours, it somehow 'knows' the object is not edible!
Okay, back to the capturing:
When the living creature triggers the trap, it will close, but not all the way, leaving the cilia looking like prison bars, letting small creatures like black ants out and keeping larger creatures trapped inside. Small creatures are released because it would take more energy to digest the small creature than the amount of energy the Flytrap would recieve from the small creature. If a large creature triggers the trap, it still stayes halfway closed.(to make sure it didn't just catch a small creature.) As the creature struggles to escape from the cillia, (which it cannot get through) it stimulates the trap to continues to close. After the trap closes completely, It seals, to prevent rotting of the trap while digestion. The victim still continues to struggle, stimulating the trap to excrete dijestive enzymes. after about an hour, the creature dies. In approximately 1-3 weeks, after digestion, depending on the size of the victim, the trap re-opens, revealing the undigested exoskeleton, which is blown or washed away by the wind or rain-- then the trap is ready for the next meal.
