Venus flytrap

[GaryE]

I have a bit of a fungus gnat problem in my white worm cultures for my fish, and since my fishroom is out in a garage, I haven't wanted to go scorched earth and restart them from zero. It seems there are always a few getting stuck on the sticky traps I have in my terrestrial plants, but they are more or less under control.
But yesterday, I saw a venus flytrap in a plant sale/clearance, and I bought it.
It should get the occasional meal with those gnats.

The room humidity runs at 60%, but I positioned it over a humidity source in bright sunlight. I water from the base. Any advice out there?

 

[Stan510]

Sundews might be better. Gnats might be too small for the Venus Fly traps to be triggered,

 

[OnlyGenusCaps]

I'll second sundews, specifically Cape sundews or one of the binata/multifida plants. They are easy to grow (assuming standard CP culture techniques are followed), and can catch fungus gnats as well as fruit flies. If you are looking for something even easier, I would recommend one of the Mexican butterwort, a.k.a Mexi pings, as another option. They tend to do well with fungus gnats, but even fruit flies can be too large for them. Good luck!

 

[GaryE]

Several of the traps are shut, so the fungus gnats are getting caught. Carnivorous plants are hard to come by around here. I have some research subjects here though. Thanks. This is something I have to learn more about.

 

[WetPetMum]

I have a bit of a fungus gnat problem in my white worm cultures for my fish, and since my fishroom is out in a garage, I haven't wanted to go scorched earth and restart them from zero. It seems there are always a few getting stuck on the sticky traps I have in my terrestrial plants, but they are more or less under control.
But yesterday, I saw a venus flytrap in a plant sale/clearance, and I bought it.
It should get the occasional meal with those gnats.

The room humidity runs at 60%, but I positioned it over a humidity source in bright sunlight. I water from the base. Any advice out there?

My mum had one and had to give it distilled water

 

[Uberhoust]

@GaryE, I keep a couple of sundews and venus flytraps. You have to look if the closed traps have anything in them. If they actually caught something the leave will develop a seal around the trap sides just below the teeth, but most often insects will trigger them and still get away. When the traps re-open the insect is still there except it no longer has any soft parts. I have found the cheap flytraps from even canadian tire are the most robust. This location sells fancy carnivorous plants, they are close to where I live, https://www.carnivorousplantstore.com/
My sundews catch mostly fruit flies, the venus flytraps catch the occasional house fly. This year in total the three venus flytraps I have only captured about 10 flys on their own. Venus fly traps have to go through a dormancy during the winter.

 

[GaryE]

The plant I got is very small. 2 of the very small traps have sealed since I got it, so I assume it has caught something. Sundews will follow though.

How do I set it up to overwinter?

I'm right on the Atlantic coast - right across the country from you. But I will explore that shop in the Spring.

 

[OnlyGenusCaps]

Several of the traps are shut, so the fungus gnats are getting caught. Carnivorous plants are hard to come by around here. I have some research subjects here though. Thanks. This is something I have to learn more about.

Perhaps unexpectedly, despite being an American I have a lot of connections to the CP growing community in Canada. If you want some help sourcing stuff, please feel free to DM me. Alternatively, hit up the forum for the Carnivorous Plant Society of Canada - it is honestly the nicest place on the Internet. I've known a bunch of the folks there for more than a decade, and they are wonderful!

 

[Uberhoust]

I overwinter my venus fly traps on a window in the garage. The temp drops to 5 degrees C in the winter and it is a bit drier. I let the sphagnum in the pots get to just damp then put a loose clear plastic cover over the plants till the end of February to keep the evaporation down but still allow a bit of airflow. I then check on them from time to time. The venus flytraps will survive one or two years without a dormancy but will be happier with one.

My CanadianTire one I bought this spring is already bigger than the fancy cultivars I have had for a bit.

A disturbing aspect of Venus Flytraps is that the flies take a long time to die in the traps. I suspect they may be alive during the initial digestion phases.