For you venus fly trap owners?

Question

so i wanna get a venus fly trap

do they need bugs?can they survive with just water?

i live in a climate where there are no bugs in the winter and it would be an indoor plant

Answer 1

Venus Fly Traps do not absolutely have to have insects to survive, although they will grow quicker and be healthier if they catch a few insects each month.  All you really need to feed your fly trap is lots of sunlight and clean water. If you grow your fly trap outside, and you really should so it can get sufficient light, it will catch all the food it needs on its own.

Try to give your fly trap at least 4 hours of direct sunlight a day and it will be a happy and healthy plant.  In the winter time, Venus Fly Traps go dormant, so they don't expect to catch insects then anyway.  Make sure you give your flytrap dormancy, or it won't survive long term.

You can read more about venus fly traps and their dormancy here:

http://www.flytrapcare.com

If you have more questions, feel free to join the forum on my site and ask them there:

http://www.flytrapcare.com/phpBB3/

Answer 2

Never, ever give a Venus Fly Trap hamburger... the fatty meat will kill the plant and cause it to rot.

Only feed them bugs on occasion, and never let more than half of the traps close. And make sure the insect prey is small enough to fit in the traps. Anything too large will cause the trap to rot. Rotting can cause fungus to grow, killing the entire plant.

For water, use Distilled or Reverse Osmosis water. Tap water has too much minerals that will kill the plant slowly.

They live in bogs, so you don't want them to be too humid (common misconception), but you don't want them to ever dry out. I suggest putting them in a pot with holes on the bottom. Then place the pot in a water drainage tray filled with water. Allow the water to completely evaporate before refilling the tray.

The soil that your plant should be in must be something like a 50:50 mix of peat moss and sand. Other acceptable mixes are some other combination of peat moss, washed sand, washed gravel, washed perlite, or Sphagnum.

No fertilizers either. They get their nutrients from their food.

They live best outdoors, so you want it outdoors as much as possible.  During winter time, the plant will go into a dormant state, no longer growing new traps. The plant is not dead, but don't let it freeze, and keep it in a cool, but not cold place.

If you live in a place with winters that are too harsh and cold, consider wintering your plant next to a sunny window. The plant will get sunlight, but being close to the cold window it might be chilly enough for dormancy. Folks who live in the far north are used to chilly rooms, anyway, so the plant might fit right in. The plant will need still light because it is photosynthesizing to some degree.

Answer 3

you can give it a little chunk of raw hamberger at a time