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this post was submitted on 09 Jun 2023
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Nature and Gardening
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That’s so fascinating! I always wanted a Venus fly trap when I was younger but I looked into their care and it seemed way more complicated than tomatoes.
Yeah they can seem intimidating if you don't have houseplants. I have over 170 in my "indoor garden" so it's not bad for me since I have the setup, but the amount of light they need is kind of annoying. Luckily I have an extensive cactus collection so I have lots of lights. Don't ask me why I'm crazy enough to collect cacti in zone 4....
The other thing with carnivorous plants is they get their "fertilizer" from insects, so fertilizing it otherwise is actually bad. Likewise watering it with anything but rainwater or distilled water can kill it.
I have a rain barrel set up for all my plant watering so I'm all set! But when people get VFT's sometimes that mistake is made for a while and they end up dying. Like I said... they require specialized care but they're very rewarding when you see your VFT with a ton of huge hungry traps :)
Yeah from keeping it germinating in a fridge (correct me here I’m going off memory) to distilled water it seemed nuts but good to know they take rainwater as well!
How do you keep track of all those plants? You should post that collection here sometime!
"Fridge dormancy" is the term for doing that. Basically giving them a period of lower light (some is still necessary, so a glass door minifridge with backlight is what I use) and lower temps is what they need. In higher growing zones they can just stay outside during the winter since they tolerate snow well.
I use an app called planta to keep track of them, but honestly when I buy a plant I get used to it and research it a bit if needed. Once you get used to the main species they are similar in care needs. I'll certainly post my collection soon!