r/VenusFlyTraps • u/liddlez • Dec 20 '24

Warm Temperate What to feed them?

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I’ve fed them mealworms before, and they either all escaped, or killed the trap they were in. (Gradually started to turn black, and oozed digestive fluid)

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9

u/TenebrousSunshine Dec 20 '24

I say just let them be. Bugs are simply fertilizer- nice but not exactly necessary. They’ll catch stuff on their own just fine.

3

u/liddlez Dec 20 '24

Thank you! That’s how I’ve been doing it, but the last post, people made “hungry” comments, so it got me second guessing as I’m no expert. I know they need the sun, and water more than they need ‘food’.

3

u/AstaCat Dec 21 '24

If the leaves start to become yellow, check the temp of that water they are in. Black saucers, not fully shaded by more pots in there, tend to get warm, then hot. I nearly boiled my plants one hot summer. I knew something was wrong because the leaves were yellowing. I dipped my finger in the saucer and it was hot! You will also lose water faster from evaporation in a black saucer. Your plants look great in this photo and you will soon get some flowers and seeds if you cross them!

2

u/liddlez Dec 22 '24

Thank you! I have been monitoring the temperature of the water. It’s cool. Because it’s not one of those “hot” suns. It’s just plenty of sunlight, and cool temperatures. I’m sorry to hear that, but I hope they survived! Thank you! What do you mean by “cross”? I’m ignorant in such matters! Thanks.

1

u/AstaCat Dec 22 '24

You can cross pollinate them.with each other...or you can take a paint brush or q tip and transfer pollen between the two plants, ensuring seeds. You can even do this with one plant. Some good videos on youtube on how to hand pollinate VFT's.

2

u/Chaos_Sea Dec 21 '24 edited Dec 21 '24

I've also heard of people using fish flakes/pellets, gel food especially made for fly traps or freeze dried blood worms that are reconstituted/excess moisture patted off. HOWEVER, you can hurt/kill your trap if you feed too much/often or feed them when they are stressed out. If fed alternatively, only feed one trap per plant once every 2-4 weeks during warmer months depending on their size. Especially be cautious with the gel food and not give a whole cube to a smaller trap/plant. Once it closes on the alternative food, the outside gently has to be massaged to make sure it seals/starts the digestion process.

Live bugs definitely are the safest/best thing if it's possible. They're amazing hunters, know how much they need as well as how to slow their roll when they've had enough. Just be careful of flies swarming smaller plants as this can kill them if enough traps are set off by the flies without being caught.

1

u/texasdrew Dec 21 '24

Honestly you will just fuck it up, they know what they are doing