Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
liam1011

!confused! vft help!

liam1011
16 years ago

Ok, so i bought some vft seeds for the first time, i planted them like 2 3 weeks ago? and at the moment, they are in a small pot (about 2 inches diameter?) in a saucer full of water. with a clear plastic bag loosely covering the whole thing

I used filtered water from my tap...i now realise after some research this is not the best idea!!

My pot is sat on my windowsill at the moment, it gets lots of light, but no direct sunlight

i can see a small green dot in the soil, am i getting somewhere?

am i doing good?

Theres so much about it going dromant and stuff about artifical lights and things, IM CONFUSED!!! help :)

Comments (10)

  • liam1011
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    Oh, i was thinking about transferring it into my conservatory where it is warmer and slightly more humid during spring/summer?
    however it would then be in direct sunlight? is this good or bad??

  • icenine
    16 years ago

    Well, did you stratify the seeds? Optimally,you should put your seeds in a cool spot for three-ish weeks, to mimic winter. Though, this isnt 100% nessesary, from things i've read, and so you might be in the clear, although, you might not get as high a yield as you wanted.
    Also, give it more light, lots of light. The more the better. They're use to growing in full sun.

  • mutant_hybrid
    16 years ago

    There is no real need to stratify VFT seeds. They drop early to mid growing season and begin sprouting in a couple weeks. The tiny sprouts are winter hardy just like the parent. I instantly sowed mine right from the pod last year and they sprouted in 2-4 weeks with no difficulty. It does take them a long time to get big enough to catch anything bigger than an amoeba though.

    Just keep watering them with distilled, rain, or reverse osmosis water that is not softened with salt or that has any mineral additives. Full sun is great for VFT though sprouts can survive quite well on 12000 lumens of florescent light or window sill light from a south facing window until they get a couple inches tall. Keep them moist with a tray of water under the pot, up to 1/4 the pot depth in water, and do not worry about humidity bags unless you live in a desert. They will sprout with no added humidity and will have the added benefit of not succumbing to mold and be resistant to low humidity upon sprouting. Just lightly mist the seeds each day to keep them moist so they can absorb water and spout.

    When November comes, you can choose to keep them in natural conditions and give them dormancy from fall photoperiods (daylenth of natural light), or you can keep them growing until next winter by keeping them under 14-16 hours of strong florescent light a couple inches over their leaves.

    Wait till winter to worry about the exact nature of dormancy if you are going to try a simulated dormancy inside. If you do it the natural way in a cold window or outside, nature will do it all... you just need to ensure they do not totally freeze solid or dry out too much.

  • liam1011
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    OK!
    Thank you, big help!!

    i can see a glimmer of hope at the moment, i can see some tiny green sprouts, im getting little excited really!!

    i suppose i accidentally stratified my seeds! I didnt want to grow them until they would get more hours of daylight so i left them for a few weeks through the winter!

    With regards to my bag i suppose i should gradually take it off now, so it gets slowly introduced to the humidity of my room?

    Oh and does it matter if it gets a little cold overnight sometimes?

  • liam1011
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    HAHA!
    I have just thought of another Question,

    (instead of making another post i thought i would just see if someone would stumble here to help!)

    If my VFT gets big enough to get some traps open soon, as its inside, is there anything i should NOT feed it?

    I know it needs to be smaller then the size of the trap itself, but is there anything that it wont like?

    I live in the UK so, nothing too crazy living here!!

    Thanks
    Liam

  • mutant_hybrid
    15 years ago

    There is no need to feed Venus Flytraps. The young plants usually attract and catch gnats and sugar ants. Older, half grown plants can handle fruit flies and small spiders. So long as the prey is about a third the trap size, it will be fine. that said, if you notice your plant has not caught anything in several weeks and are interested in watching it catch something, you can give it flies, ants, spiders, beetles, caterpillars, mosquitos, etc. Just make sure the plant has planty of light and that the traps close quickly. Underlit Flytraps do not have the energy to catch and digest prey, often resulting in dead traps when they are force fed. Such plants will naturally catch their own fertilizer when they need it. I had one that caught 5 flies in one day by itself and it suffered no indigestion.

  • liam1011
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Cheers mutant
    all is going well so far! i have a few small green sprouts! woo!!
    There is no humidity bag anymore,and it seems to be ok, so far.
    there are black teardrop shaped, seeds?? on the end of some of the sprouts.
    This is ok isn't it?

  • breeindy
    15 years ago

    water it with rain water and dont feed it!

  • liam1011
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Another Question

    What should i do with the seed like things on the end of one or two of the sprouts? should i leave them just to naturally fall off? (they are small black teardrop shapes)

    Still going good!! :D :D
    i haven't managed to collect enough rain water to keep it going but, filtered water that i have left out for a few days is doing the trick ok, but when it rains, I'll be there!!

    any other advice would be cool! :)

  • petiolaris
    15 years ago

    Thwy fall off eventually.

Sponsored
Hoppy Design & Build
Average rating: 5 out of 5 stars9 Reviews
Northern VA Award-Winning Deck ,Patio, & Landscape Design Build Firm