TerraForums Venus Flytrap, Nepenthes, Drosera and more talk
Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!
<span style='font-size:12pt;line-height:100%'>I cut mine off after I've pollinated them and they have set seed. I cut them off to harvest the seed. I love seed.
For total candor: When I was still quite young (early teen) VFTs were the first CP I became aware of and attempted to cultivate. When I was a newbie at CP, many VFTs did not survive my care. In fact, I often wondered if I would ever be able to keep one alive for more than a few months. These days, other than spider mites, ($%^&* bless their souls) I rarely have any trouble with VFTs at all. I now consider them one of the easiest, least demanding of CP. Even when I've done something disastrous culture wise, I have learned what works to restore their health. So, for those of you having difficulty with VFTs, don't despair, it gets easier with patience and practice.
However, I never did cut off the flowers until they were seed except to see if it made a difference as I was told it would. For me --- it made no difference. I still lost most of the VFTs I attempted to cultivate, with or without flowers. I figured that with flowers I at least had the opportunity to produce seed and attempt growing replacement plants that way. And I believe my VFT care skills improved with the experience of germinating the seed and growing plants from seed to maturity. Once I had accomplished this feat, successfully cultivating VFTs became a great deal easier.</span>
For total candor: When I was still quite young (early teen) VFTs were the first CP I became aware of and attempted to cultivate. When I was a newbie at CP, many VFTs did not survive my care. In fact, I often wondered if I would ever be able to keep one alive for more than a few months. These days, other than spider mites, ($%^&* bless their souls) I rarely have any trouble with VFTs at all. I now consider them one of the easiest, least demanding of CP. Even when I've done something disastrous culture wise, I have learned what works to restore their health. So, for those of you having difficulty with VFTs, don't despair, it gets easier with patience and practice.
However, I never did cut off the flowers until they were seed except to see if it made a difference as I was told it would. For me --- it made no difference. I still lost most of the VFTs I attempted to cultivate, with or without flowers. I figured that with flowers I at least had the opportunity to produce seed and attempt growing replacement plants that way. And I believe my VFT care skills improved with the experience of germinating the seed and growing plants from seed to maturity. Once I had accomplished this feat, successfully cultivating VFTs became a great deal easier.</span>
