Question
QUESTION: I am from the Philippines and it's October. I bought seeds
from ebay and will arrive first week pf November. Assuming
that the seeds are still ok, how should I grow it given that
I am in a tropical country? Also, if ever it grew after 2
weeks, should I put it in dormancy right away and how?

Also, no sphagnum peat is available around. If I use
cocopeat, what are the guidelines. If I can't find cocopeat,
what are other alternatives?

Thanks!

I'm quite a new grower and needs lots of advice. thanks!


Dionaea-in-coir   ANSWER: Hello-- These are perfect questions for the carnivorous plant forums on the Internet, because there are people from all over the world including your area of the world at those forums who can better answer questions such as yours. I would recommend the FlytrapCare.com Forum and the CPUK Forum

http://www.FlytrapCare.com/phpBB3/

http://cpukforum.com/

Briefly, Venus Flytrap seeds can be sown at any time of the year so long as they are kept warm, and they do not need stratification (cold, damp treatment) before sowing, although if it is necessary to store them for later sowing, refrigeration keeps the germination rate higher. The young plants will want to enter dormancy some months after they sprout (perhaps 6-8 months) but the time is variable, and sometimes young Venus Flytraps can skip their first dormancy.

Coir (coconut husk pith) can be used instead of sphagnum peat moss, but it must by soaked thoroughly to remove almost all of the soluble minerals, many of which often come from the processing of the coconut husks with sea water. Although the level of soluble material in coconut husk products may be low enough when it is used merely as a garden supplement, they are usually much too high for coir or other coconut-husk products to be used as a primary ingredient in a growing mix, and especially so when the growing mix is intended for carnivorous plants.

When I prepare coir for use as a potting material (with silica sand and/or perlite) for Venus Flytraps and other carnivorous plants, I soak the coir for 8-12 hours, in pure distilled, reverse-osmosis or rain water. I then drain the water completely and soak the coir again, repeating the process 8-10 times. I measure the drained water every time with a TDS (total dissolved solids) meter, until it is consistently below 50 ppm (50 parts per million) of dissolved material. If one does not have a TDS meter (they are cheap, if they are available in your country or region), then I would recommend at least 10 soaking and draining cycles for the coir before use.

I have attached a photo of some of my Dionaea muscipula (Venus Flytrap) seeds germinating in coir.

I highly recommend joining one of the carnivorous plant forums mentioned above for a greater variety of helpful answers from growers all over the world including your area or country.

Best wishes,
Steve


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: In your picture, it is said that it is growing on pure
cocopeat. is it ok if I mix dry beach sand with it? I will
just then have to drain and soak it to remove possible salt
content?

Also, how do I feed the baby venus flytraps and what
possible dormance method should I use for those little
vft's?

Thanks a lot for the helpful answer previously.

Answer
I would ask about dormancy in semi-tropical and tropical environments at the carnivorous plant forums I mentioned.

Regarding using beach sand, it may or may not be alright to use. Much beach and river sand is composed of many types of rock, not just inert silica (quartz). The other types of rock and minerals that are slowly soluble in water can poison Venus Flytraps and other plants.

One method to determine whether any particular sand is alright to use in a growing medium is to look at the grains of sand closely, with a magnifying glass or jeweler's or rockhound's loupe (small, handheld multi-element-lens magnifier, typically 10x power; the Belomo triplet 10X is my favorite).

If almost all of the grains of sand are translucent (semi-transparent, allowing light to pass through) then the sand is almost pure silica and is fine to use. If many of the grains are opaque (do not allow light to pass through) then those grains of sand are of different types of rock and the sand may not be suitable as an ingredient in growing medium.

The color of the grains does not matter; it is the transparency (translucency) that matters. Silica can have yellow, purple or brown tints and still be almost 100% silicon dioxide.

If you are unsure whether the sand you would like to use would work, you can experiment and plant several plants in a growing medium with well prepared (soaked and drained repeatedly) sand in it. You will have to observe the plants' growth over several weeks or months to determine whether they are suffering from salt burn (poisoning by the soluble minerals) or not. The symptoms of salt burn are learned by comparison with growth of plants grown in good medium, and by one's experience growing plants and knowing how they should grow and when they deviate from good, healthy growth.

Salt burn can cause growth to slow, leaves to be stunted, can cause traps to be insensitive (not close when triggered), and if allowed to happen for too long, can cause the death of the plant. Even if it is transplanted into new and good medium, the minerals it has already absorbed can continue to poison the plant and cause its death, depending on the severity of the poisoning. Some plants can outgrow salt-burn poisoning if it was relatively mild, as they sequester the harmful minerals in their leaves which then die, allowing some healthy, new growth to happen in the presence of less of those harmful minerals.

Please join the FlytrapCare.com Forum or the CPUK Forum for a wide variety of good answers and comments to your questions.

Best wishes and happy growing,
Steve