A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2004 Venus Flytrap going insane

Hi!
My venus flytrap started eating my pets and-j/k
No, what its doing is its just growing insanely well. But the problem is that when a new leave sprouts, its really really big, but the thing on the end just stays closed, and never opens. A lot of them don't even grow the little spiny thingies. Plus it keeps trying to grow flowering shoots, and i was told to keep cutting those off cuz it'll die if it blooms.

Sooooooooo what should i do about my non-opening pods? Annnnnnnnd is it okay to let it flower? cuz i like flowers, and i don't like cutting them off before they bloom >.<

I don't know about the flower thing but I know there are plants that die after flowering.

Maybe you could repot into a larger pot. It might then put all its energy into putting out roots for a while instead of putting out flowers.

This is totally a wild guess though. Maybe wait until someone who has had experience gives you an answer.

oh well it doesn't have much of a root system to begine with lol. That's just the way they are *shrugs* I donno what to repot it into though, cuz its got this mossy stuff in it, and apparently it needs that mossy stuff to survive, and i donno where to get the mossy stuff. I'm also afraid to put in potting soil mixes cuz they have fertilizer in it, and that'll kill it >.o I'd looooooooooove to repot it into a bigger pot again though. I just visited it today, and its like totally huge! 3 giant leaves with giant traps on them o.O one caught something big lol. Got a leg stickin out of it. so ya ^.^ that's good that they opened finally lol.

Anywayz, hopefully someone'll help me with the flowering thing ^.^

~Phoebe

Feeeeeeeeeeeeeeed meeeeeeeeeeeeee Seymoooooore

I wish I had an insane Venus Fly Trap!!!
It would be SOOO at home here!
Fit right in!

They are so much fun ^.^ I gotta stop giving in to my cravings to feed it though lol. If you feed it, apparently it desides to concentrate on digesting whatever you fed it. So ya ^.^ it stops growing if i feed it. I'm happy with it.

Lets seeeeeeeeeee, i fed it a caterpiller a few minutes ago, cuz the big trap on it was just open and going "feed me! feeeeeeeeeeeeed me!" lol

but ya, they're like 7.50 here in one of the greenhouses. ^.^ I got it for my birthday last month.

~Phoebe

You can re-pot it into sphagnum moss (the green stuff). You should be able to get it at Home Depot or some such big box. They like the moss (the same way orchids do) because they keep their feet wet but not sopping wet. Since these guys get all their nutrition from the flies and whatever else you have been feeding them (I don't want to know!), they don't need it from their soil.

Be gentle when re-potting. I think they have fleshy roots like an orchid which can break easily. If they break, water sparingly until you think they've healed up.

Hey! Here's a great website that has all the info you could need for care, repotting, etc. Even about the flowers!

http://www.pitcherplant.com/care_sheets/flytrap_care.html

o.O oh wow! Thank you Sachis! That site has like everything i need! I went to another site (carnivorous plant club thing or something like that) and they treated me like dirt >.< This site is friendly, and apparently i can let it flower ^.^ yay!

Anywho, the caterpiller disappeared o.O I held the trap up to the light, and the little line where it was is gone! iiiiiiii hope it didn't escape o.O i hate those things! *waves hands around* ew.

But ya ^.^ Thanks again!

~Phoebe

You're welcome.

Now you've just got to try to get the thing big enough to go find it's own food or to eat tomato worms. (shudder)