Venus Flytrap Carnivorous Plants
Venus Flytrap All About Growing And Feeding Them
The Venus Flytrap is a carnivorous plant that is a representative of the Kingdom Plantae and belongs to the Dicotyledons and Monocotyledons classes. These plants live in poor soil and can turn very healthy if they are able to get the nutrients from the insects.
They also get the nutrients from the soil and the gases in the air. Venus flytraps are seen all over the world and are native of North and South Carolina mushy areas. Its main preys are arachnids and insects. The plant uses a trapping structure seen on the terminal portion of every leaf of the plant to trap the insects. There are tiny hairs on the inner surfaces of these traps that are used to trap its prey. Whenever any insect gets in contact with a hair on the leaf, the trap will instantly close as soon as the insect contacts a different hair within the first 20 seconds of contact of the first hair. If the object that the plant traps is not food, then the trap will reopen within 12 hours and spit out the trapped object.
Growing Venus Flytraps
The Venus Flytrap can be bought as a rhizome or a bulb. It does not require special conditions to grow this carnivorous plant. Some of its requirements to grow include full sunlight, high humidity, wet roots and poor, acidic soil. You need to plant the rhizome with the root side inside the soil and the top of the bulb must be in line with the top soil. The recommended soil mixture is sand and sphagnum moss. No need to add fertiliser to the soil. Transplanting the plant to new soil once in a couple of years will keep the plant healthy.
Growing the plant indoors means that you need to create a high humidity situation. You can use an old fish bowl or aquarium and plant the Venus Flytrap plant in it with a small opening. The plant needs two hours of full sunlight to fall on it. Another option is to plant the Venus Flytrap in a pot and place it inside a large container like a bucket. Covering the top of the bucket with a piece of glass will ensure humidity.
Feeding the Venus Flytraps
Venus flytraps do not need to be fed as they catch and digest the insects to help them to grow faster. They even make use of the sunlight and convert it into sugars that are stored in the rhizomes. You should never think of fertilising the soil of the Venus Flytrap. If the plants are grown inside, then insects and bugs can be fed. It is better to cool the insect in a fridge for a few minutes by placing it in a container. This will help the insect to turn sluggish and the plant will find it easier to handle the insect and feed on it. Some of the foods you can feed Venus flytraps are dry fish foods, small earthworms and dried, live or frozen mealworms and blood worms.
