Frank Hesse wrote:
>>I'm not sure wether this is the right newsgroup for my question.
>I have a venus flytrap at home for about 3 days. Together with
>the plant I got only a little paper, which recommends to keep
>the flytrap cool during winter and to put it into a cup with
>a little water. I don't know much about this plant, so what
>do I have to do to keep the plant healthy? On the pictures
>I have found, the inner sides of the traps are red, but my plant
>tends to have green sides, is this because of the winter period?
>I hape, you have some hints for me.
>>Thank you very much
>>Frank
Venus fly traps must be watered ONLY with distilled (i.e., deionized)
water. Do not use tapwater because the chlorine and fluorine will be
destructive. From November through March reduce the amount of water... do
not let the plants or the medium dry out but do not allow it to get as wet
as the bog. Also, keep the plants cool in winter.
In Spring, move the plants outdoors in full sun and make sure they have
LOTS of water... as in the bog. Rainwater is best or you can supplement it
with rainwater you have collected or water from a dehumidifier or deionized
water from your lab or supermarket.
Janice Glime is correct in saying that the red color is produced when the
leaves are mature and in full sun. There is also a genetic factor... some
leaves tend to be more red than others, even in the same conditions.
DO NOT FEED THE PLANTS GROUND BEEF! This is too much protein for the plant
and the meat will rot followed by the leaves rotting. The leaves will
capture enough insects to get the nitrogen they need... another reason for
moving them outdoors in the Spring. Don't worry about nitrogen level in
winter... if you lower their metabolism as suggested above.
You can find lots of information about these plants (and vendors that sell
them!) on the WWW:
Carnivorous Plants
Carnivorous plants Carnivorous Plants [Deutsch] Diese Seite gibt es
auch in Deutsch. There are more than 500 different species in the world
with various and very interesting catching methods.
http://www.cs.uni-magdeburg.de/~isenberg/fleiengl.html
Cherryhill Carnivorous Plants
Carnivorous plant WEB sites, carnivorous plant sources
http://vaxxine.com/ccphome/cpsites.html
Steve Lanham's Carnivorous Plant Page
Steve has posted lots of interesting information with links to
other WWW pages.
http://www.gardenweb.com/forums/load.cgi/sources/msg021316009402.html
Carnivorous Plant Societies
Carnivorous plant society archives. The largest carnivorous plant
society is the International Carnivorous Plant Society (ICPS). But there
are many others.
http://www.indirect.com/www/bazza/cps/arch/archive.html
Good luck!
Dr. David W. Kramer
Department of Plant Biology
Ohio State University at Mansfield
1680 University Drive
Mansfield, OH 44906-1547
(419) 755-4344 FAX: (419) 755-4367
e-mail: kramer.8 at osu.edu
