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To flower or not to flower?

i already cut one flower stalk off my dente plant and now both of the little buggers are putting up stalks. i'm definitely cutting the stalk off the hardier dente trap (i like it the way it is!!!) but now i'm toying with the idea of letting the typical flower to see if i can get some seeds. i'm fairly confident there's a few plants in that pot, i'm just waiting til they go dormant in the fall to separate them. is it worth experimenting, or should i count my blessings at having them live this long and chop the thing off again?
 
i healthy plant will make seeds and get over it.

i hate it when people say if you let them flower they will die; if that's true then there would be no vft's.
 
Hey there, Heather! (Always wanted to say that) Is the plant that you are hoping to experiment with, one that has experienced a dormancy period this past Winter. Also, do you plan to keep it outside, now that Winter is finally biting the dust? If yes to both, I would wholeheartedly say "go for it". Otherwise, it's a little more risky. Dormancy gibes them rest. Direct sunlight gives then maximum energy. Predicting, when things are lest than the best, is chancy.
 
Well I am leting a couple of mine flower after dormancy and it seems that on one the traps are all dying off. The other seems okay though. Odd
 
Let them flower, they'll grow great as long as they are healthy. If you feed them lots of bugs while flowering you won't even notice any growth differences.
 
And after they flower they usualy split into several plants:) I`m letting my 'dentate traps' and 'akai ryu' flower this year. I`m not letting my typicals "green dragon" or "clumping" blossom this year but if they flower again when they go outside I will.
 
2 of my typicals(likely same clone) appears to be putting up a flower stalk. Woujld it be worthwhile trying to get seed? The plants are very nice looking and have put out the largest traps I've seen yet.
 
I don't see why Venus Flytraps flowering is such a big deal... It will rarely kill your plant.  The most is just weaken it alittle if it isn't too healthy.  I've had little vfts the size of my pinky flower with no problem and still survive, so that just goes to show that flowering is waaaaay overrated!

Here are some picks for proof-


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  • #10
*Assumes this is the same midget one you posted about a while back*

did you ever get seed?
 
  • #11
jimscott- these guys are actually still out of TC and growing like mad since last august. i decided to skip their first dormancy and they really don't seem to have noticed at all...

lol no they're not going outside, crazy weather. they're currently on tons of nice, warm, predictable flourescent lighting and they seem quite happy. the typical puts out smaller traps than the dente but they're still growing, and nice red traps too. actually you can see for yourself:

dioneamuscipula005.jpg


and while i'm at it, here's the other: (both of these are from about two weeks ago, there are two new stalks since... the dente had already had one cut off)

dioneamuscipula001.jpg


I'm thinking of flowering the typical just to say i tried ;) i'm planning on scrounging up some sand/peat mix to try some pygmy drosera gemmae over the summer anyway so maybe i'll try a few VFT seeds too, assuming i get some... can't hurt to try right?
 
  • #12
Hmmm...praps we could trade seeds. I'd love the genes of both of those plants!
 
  • #14
Very nice looking plants. Wish I had your digi-cam!
 
  • #15
Fergit the digicam! I'll take dem PLANTS!!!!!!!
 
  • #16
I always pinch off the flowers. With healthy plants, the flowering will not kill the plant. Plants that flower do not get big as quickly as plants that have the flowers removed. I did an experiment once; I had about 20 plants sending up flowers, so I pinched off half and left half to bloom. This was far from being a valid scientific experiment, but it was obvious that the plants without flowers were more robust and larger in size by mid summer. The plants that I allowed to flower were perfectly healthy, but they were slower to really get growing. Also, it is fun to grow CP from seed, but for VFT it is painfully slow compared to leaf pulling or division.

Steve
 
  • #17
I'm only letting half of my stronger VFTs this year flower, that way if something does happen and the flowering ones die (not likely) ill still have a few left, so far the ones that i am letting flower are producing considerably smaller leaves, but theyre still alive
 
  • #18
hehehe thank you
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Nflytrap- assuming i can get the typical to flower (i don't think i want to chance it with the dente this year), and assuming it gives me seeds, i'd love to trade
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  • #19
I have heard you should wait til the first flower just opens to pinch off the inflorescence; otherwise, the plant just sends another stalk right up.

Is this true, or should you snip the stalks right off as soom as you see them?

Almost all my VFTs from last year are sending up flower stalks.  I will let one or two flower, but I'd like the prevent the rest from doing so.

Or should I not worry, let nature do its thing, and see what happens? The flowering VFTs are currently in my growing chamber, but I'm about to move them outside. They did great outside last year, and caught plenty of insects on their own.
 
  • #20
[b said:
Quote[/b] (SarraceniaScott @ Mar. 22 2005,11:29)]I have heard you should wait til the first flower just opens to pinch off the inflorescence; otherwise, the plant just sends another stalk right up.

Is this true, or should you snip the stalks right off as soom as you see them?

Almost all my VFTs from last year are sending up flower stalks.  I will let one or two flower, but I'd like the prevent the rest from doing so.

Or should I not worry, let nature do its thing, and see what happens?  The flowering VFTs are currently in my growing chamber, but I'm about to move them outside.  They did great outside last year, and caught plenty of insects on their own.
Sometimes they will send up another stalk. If you wait till the first flower opens then you might just as well let them all open, the "damage" is done. As Steve L said, it generally wont hurt the plants, but they will not grow as large or as quickly as if you clip the flowers right away.

If it sends up another stalk, just clip that one too.

Cheers
Steve
 
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