Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
venusplantman

any tips on growing vft's so they thrive (i live in pa) please he

venusplantman
17 years ago

Any tips and everybody says you should use rain water can i use filtered water or aged water

Comments (5)

  • bugman
    17 years ago

    Give vft's a lot of light because they will grow better. Full sun is best, but a bright cool white fluorescent light about 40 watts will work for a while although two of these is more ideal. Always keep the soil moist and grow it in either non-fertilized sphagnum peat moss with non-fertilized perlite, about 50/50 peat/perlite or you can grow it in long fiber sphagnum moss which can usually be found at Lowe's or Home depot or Walmart. Make sure there is no fertilizer in the soil as this will kill your plants. Also, if you feed them, don't feed them anything larger than 1/3 the size of the trap or the trap can rot. And as for the water you must use water with no minerals in it like distilled water or reverse osmosis water(RO water). Distilled water is cheap and can be bought by the gallon and Aquafina brand bottled water has gone through reverse osmosis so it should be safe to use. Rain water is also good. filtered water will not work because not all of the minerals can be taken out. Hope this answers some of your questions:)

  • clay_in_iowa
    17 years ago

    "filtered water or aged water" .. No and No.

    Both still contain minerals. The build up of minerals in the soil of CP pot is a major reason for their demise. It's distilled, rain, RO, or dehumidifier water or nothing.

    After that give them what they want and they will grow. That's high humidity, sun, well drainded acidic moist but not constantly water logged soil, an occasional bug (don't overfeed), and a good 3-5 month winters nap. Finally leave them alone. Constant futzing with the plants wears them out. It's easy :-p

  • petiolaris
    17 years ago

    Rain, distilled, deionized, and reverse osmosis are the most recommended. Some people also use dehumidifier and AC water. Those are just a tad less recommended.

  • tommyr_gw Zone 6
    17 years ago

    As others have said, rain or distilled water only, full sun, dormant period in fall/winter. I place mine in the fridge when outside temps get in the low 40's until the first or second week of February as I have no other place to put them. Works great! Mine are out of the fridge in a south window right now until last frost date, the end of May where I am. GREAT PLANTS! I also love Sarrs, treat them the same way.

    Tom

  • wildbill
    17 years ago

    Also, a 6 or 8 inch pot works best.

    I do force feed my plants bugs quite a bit in the spring (every open trap, every week). Many of the traps and leaves turn black and die off, but boy, by late summer the plants get so big you would not even think it was the same plant.

    WildBill
    New England Carnivorous Plant Society

    Here is a link that might be useful: NECPS

Sponsored