Venus Flytrap

Rebel=UK= · 30 May 2006 at 11:39

Has anyone ever grown a Venus Flytrap from seeds, ive had mine i bought from B&Q 7 years ago and now its looks like its dead

So i was thinking about growing a new one from seeds

Liverpool-Lad · 30 May 2006 at 11:43

I did manage to grow them to a point but they died off after a few months. The seeds are best sown when fresh from the plant. B&Q sell them for £2.99 so you may as well buy a new one, remember to give them only de-ionised or rainwater, NEVER tap.

Rebel=UK= · 30 May 2006 at 11:46

Liverpool-Lad said:
I did manage to grow them to a point but they died off after a few months. The seeds are best sown when fresh from the plant. B&Q sell them for £2.99 so you may as well buy a new one, remember to give them only de-ionised or rainwater, NEVER tap.

Yeah mine lasted ok with tap water for 7 years looked healthy had planty of traps, but i think i will give the new one de-ionised or rainwater.

basmic · 30 May 2006 at 11:52

For a start, I never water mine with anything else other than rainwater.

I own a VFT, and managed to get it to produce seeds.

I can make these seeds grow, but I'm not sure if I can get them to grow into a plant or not. My seedlings are only about 2-3 months old.

Just make your own mini-greenhouse. It's dirt easy and cheap.

Lid from a 50/100 (I use 100) CD cake tub. 11w lightbulb. Put the lightbulb in an old tin (ie: massive celebrations tin).

Make sure you keep it check to keep watered every day.

Rebel=UK= · 30 May 2006 at 12:09

I used to also give it water that i took out of my tropical fish tank aswell when i cleaned it, as i heard that water is good for plants aswell.

basmic · 30 May 2006 at 17:16

Rebel=UK= said:
I used to also give it water that i took out of my tropical fish tank aswell when i cleaned it, as i heard that water is good for plants aswell.

How long did it last with that?

geeza · 30 May 2006 at 17:22

can you just buy the traps fully grown. a couple in our kitchen wouldnt go a miss!

Liverpool-Lad · 30 May 2006 at 17:24

B&Q or some centres.

7 years old? Was it ever put into dormancy over winter?

Rebel=UK= · 30 May 2006 at 18:16

no i just left it on the window sil in the kitchen

Pho · 30 May 2006 at 18:44

How long did it take you to grow a decent sized one from seeds? I could do with a few

basmic · 30 May 2006 at 18:47

Pho said:
How long did it take you to grow a decent sized one from seeds? I could do with a few

I'd say 2 years, and 3-4 years for a mature VFT which will flower.

Pho · 30 May 2006 at 18:57

basmic said:
I'd say 2 years, and 3-4 years for a mature VFT which will flower.

Wow much longer than I thought, think I may buy a ready-grown one then

basmic · 30 May 2006 at 19:11

Pho said:
Wow much longer than I thought, think I may buy a ready-grown one then

I'm hoping if I can grow my own VFT from scratch, then there's some self-pride in it for me.

It's nice to stuff a mature VFT's trap with the odd bluebottle, though.

FeFiDoh · 30 May 2006 at 19:14

was on about these other day i want one :cool:

basmic · 30 May 2006 at 19:16

R5Rich said:
was on about these other day i want one

If you want a seed or two, give me a call. I've only got 4-5 left, and I want to keep some for the near future.

Tachyon · 30 May 2006 at 20:34

I've a few VFT and for whats it's worth they never get watered as such, they should stand in a tray of water so that the soil is wet all year round or damp in winter.

If you're going to grow from seed use a sand/peat mix and keep them humid.

It's also recommended that you don't let them flower as this can produce smaller traps the following season. I let one of mine flower last year just to see the flower and I'm watching how the traps do this year. So far they are coming on well, I just had a quick look and see some flower stalks starting to come up at the minute.

Hope your seeds come up well for you, I haven't taken any VFT's from seed but I've some sundews which came on well for me which I grow from seed. They're another excellent carnivorous plant.

FeFiDoh · 30 May 2006 at 20:50

basmic said:
If you want a seed or two, give me a call. I've only got 4-5 left, and I want to keep some for the near future.

Might just do that m8 if ya dont mind

rlm · 30 May 2006 at 21:08

All the ones I see at garden centres seem to be the smaller varieties, any idea where I can get hold of some of the larger ones?

Tachyon · 30 May 2006 at 21:55

rlm said:
All the ones I see at garden centres seem to be the smaller varieties, any idea where I can get hold of some of the larger ones?

Here's where I get my plants, different varieties & sizes.

Little shop of horrors

Meatball · 30 May 2006 at 22:06

How big do they tend to grow? And do they eat anything that goes into their mouths or is it just flys and.... crap? Can we have some pics of you venus fly traps? I want to grow my own now!