marleyishystericalanduseless

[marleyishystericalanduseless]

Dionaea Muscipula

Hello all!! Today I’m going to be talking about Dionaea Muscipula (Venus Fly Traps)! I recently bought one of these plants and am waiting for it to germinate, however I have done extended research to learn about this magnificent plant!!

Now to introduce you, Dionaea Muscipula is a carnivorous plant. The plant is a native to the subtropical wetlands on the East Coast of the United States in North Carolina and South Carolina, where it has become extremely endangered. Most of the reduction in numbers is due to habitat loss, pollution and techniques of fire suppression. Habitat has been lost to commercial, agricultural and residential uses and fire suppression has made areas of habitat dense with competing flora. Poaching is also a serious threat, and it is a felony in North Carolina to remove these plants from the wild. Fortunately, most of the plants we purchase for our homes are grown commercially and do not affect the native populations, however buyers should avoid plants that have a weedy look of wild collection.

Light:

Strong direct light is crucial to maintaining a healthy plant. Full, direct sunlight for at least 6 hours per day. Owners may need to consider supplementing with artificial light (uv light), especially in the low light months of winter. If you choose to grow your plant with a dormancy period in winter, light requirements will differ.

Winter Dormancy:

There are differences of opinion regarding whether winter dormancy is necessary. In their native habitat, these plants do become dormant in the winter and it is a natural way for the plant to rest and restore itself. If you have trouble offering the plant the light it needs to continue healthy growth in winter or if your plant seems as though it could use a rest, you may want to give it a winter of dormancy. Dormancy will occur naturally as the hours of sunlight diminish in the winter and temperatures get cooler. To give your plant a period of dormancy, allow the light to dwindle naturally and gradually reduce temperature to about 45 to 50 degrees, stop feeding and limit water to keep the growing medium just barely moist so that the plant can take a rest. Around November, your plant's leaves will begin to die, however they will grow back. You should cut off the leaves once they are completely black. It will be ready to resume growth around March and you can ease it back to its usual habitat and routine.

Water and Humidity:

Venus Flytraps like to grow in moist, acidic soil in full sun. Sand and sphagnum peat moss sixed together will provide the best drainage. If you’re growing your flytraps in pots.you should place the pot saucer or tray of water to keep the soil moist, another method to achieve this is put your plant in a dome like container (hemispheric lid), this allows condensation and creates a moist environment, just make sure that there are air vents. This plant needs to be kept in potting medium that is like its wetland native habitat, always moist but never soggy. If you choose to grow your plant with a dormancy period in winter, care requirements will differ. Dionaea muscipula is very sensitive to the type of water you use to care for it. Use distilled water, rainwater or reverse osmosis water. Tap water and even bottled or filtered water will probably have too much minerals for the plant and cause root burn which will can kill it. Need for added humidity is very specific to your home growing environment. Often, no additional misting is needed as long as you are careful with water. The moist growing environment will create some very localized humidity for the plant. If the dryness of your home, particularly in winter, causes the water dish to dry too rapidly, or you plant is showing signs of needing more water, you may choose to mist it.

Temperature:

Normal home temperatures in the 65 to 75ºF. range are appropriate. Keep this plant  away from heat and air conditioning vents and drafty doors and windows. If it gets cold in your home, the plant will slow its growth and eventually become dormant.

Feeding:

You should never fertilize the soil of your Venus flytrap. The soil of its natural habitat is low in nutrients and fertilizers will slowly kill your plant. Because of this low nutrient environment, the Venus flytrap has adapted to an unusual feeding strategy. It catches its prey- primarily insects with its traps, which is triggered by tiny hairs called trigger hairs or sensitive hairs. When a contact is made with a hair, the trap prepares to close. The trap will only shut if another contact occurs within 20 seconds of the first strike. The reason the trap doesn't close on the first contact is because the plant doesn't want to waste energy. Plants can survive for extended periods without being fed but they will grow more slowly. If your plant is being kept outdoors in the summer, it should be fine catching prey on its own. However if conditions are otherwise you should feed your plant around once every one-two weeks.  In its natural habitat, Venus flytrap consumes mostly ants and spiders as well as grasshoppers, beetles and other insects that crawl across its traps. Live meal worms or crickets purchased from the pet store are a great option. Ants may not have enough nutritional value as a steady diet and sometimes come into contact with toxic substances as they scour your home. Anything that can escape the trap quickly or eat their way back out of the trap (caterpillars) are not a good choice. Do not give a trap any food that is bigger than about 1/3 the size of the trap; larger insects take too long to digest and can cause bacterial rot that kills the trap. When the insect is placed in the trap, the insect's movement will stimulate the trap into the digestion phase, sealing itself for the process. The plant’s trap will likely stay closed from a few days up to several weeks while digesting its dinner. You don't need to feed each trap on a plant every time you feed, just one or two. It is fine to feed the same traps repeatedly. They will eventually die after repeated digestion but that is natural, new ones will replace them.

Flowers:

Mature Dionaea grow white flowers on a stalk in early spring. It's best to remove them before they bloom, because flowering takes a lot energy from the plant and can reduce the number of leaves being produced.

Re-potting:

When you notice that the plant has filled the entire container or new traps are failing to grow, it is time to re-pot. Spring is the best time for re-potting. If you have a slower growing plant, it should still be re-potted every two years so that the growing medium is refreshed. Make sure that you use a pot with multiple small holes in the bottom and tall enough to keep the planting soil surface a minimum of three inches above the water line in the dish. The right potting medium will help your plant live a longer life. It should be half, good-quality (horticultural), sphagnum peat or peat moss and half coarse, horticultural sand. The wrong type of peat can have too much mineral content and the wrong sand may have mineral and clumping problems. You can add ½ inch of the sand on the top so that only the roots and bottom of the bulb are in the potting mix. The sand layer will keep most of the plant out of contact with moisture to reduce the chance of rotting and discourage fungus gnats from making themselves at home.

Sources:

https://www.nwf.org/Educational-Resources/Wildlife-Guide/Plants-and-Fungi/Venus-Flytrap

[marleyishystericalanduseless]

First Post!!

Hello all! I am so excited to begin posting on this blog. I will likely be posting about wildlife, dinosaurs, plants, Halloween, theatre, books, films, etc; whatever interests me that day. I absolutely adore talking about and educating others on topics that I am interested in and can’t wait to share some cool facts, opinions and theories with you all. I’m not sure quite how often I will be posting, probably just whenever I feel like it, however I will try to post minimum once a month.