Venus Fly Trap

The mysterious Venus fly trap lives in boggy areas of North and South Carolina. These boggy areas often have poor nutrients and this why the plant has to resort to capturing insects for needed nutrients. The trap works by triggering small short sensitive hairs on the inside of the two lobes of the “trap”. If these are triggered the trap will shut in less than a second and trap any unsuspecting prey inside. The trap constricts tightly around the insect closing out bacteria while it slowly secretes digestive enzymes inside, much like the ones found in your stomach to digest the insect. The trap usually opens in anywhere from five to twelve days and the tough indigestible exoskeleton refuse easily blows away in the wind. The trap will recognize if in its trap is also a rock or an insect and will reopen in about twelve hours. If you wish to grow one for yourself you will probably need some sand and sphagnum moss in order to plant the bulb. Do not add fertilizer or lime at all and this is probably a tip that is not at most sites , use distilled water for watering because the chlorine and fluoride in most city water will kill them. In order to provide high humidity for your plan put them in a glass container with a small opening. Often old aquarium fish bowls work excellent for this. During the summer the aquarium can often get too hot and if the plant starts to wilt or turn brown then the aquarium will need to be removed from exposure. If it is especially cold in the winter in your area you may need to keep them covered though they often go into a dormant period during the winter and less hours of sunlight. Hanging out in the summer outside a plant will capture all the insects it needs. A few small insects a month is all it will ever need so don’t try to force feed it by giving it hamburger or several insects in one trap.