Question
QUESTION: I bought a venus fly trap yesterday and en route, all the traps closed.  I thought
it was because they were shutting down for the night but they have not opened
this morning.  What caused them to close?  stress?  What can I do to make it less
stressful?

ANSWER: Hello Sara,

Venus Flytraps close their traps for a variety of reasons. If the plant trapped several insects then the traps would stay closed for a week or two. If the traps were triggered by drops of water, dirt, fingers, or other objects that are not edible, they would reopen in about a day. If temperature and humidity changes occurred drastically then the plant might also close its traps in reaction.

Make sure the plant is in a stable environment where the temperature and humidity do not change quickly. Make sure the plant is getting as much light as possible as that is the source of its energy for opening and closing its traps.

If you took the dome off of the plant when you got it, that would produce a drastic humidity change. Replace the dome and then slowly take the dome off by raising it a fraction of an inch every three days, bracing it up with a pencil or some object, and finally removing it after two weeks after the dome is raised a couple inches. That will give the plant a slow adaptation period to lower humidity.

If the plant was in a store, it has not been getting enough light to begin with. Venus Flytraps are full sun plants that need direct sunlight all day to thrive. Window light and shade will slowly starve the plant to death. Best bet would be to place the plant in the sunniest morning sun window you have for now and then weekly change it to a brighter window after the dome is off. When it is in the brightest window you have, usually a south window, you should place the plant outside on a sunny patio or protected spot in your yard. If that is not possible due to extremely dry desert conditions or very hot, over 100 degree weather, you will have the arduous task of caring for a temperate garden plant indoors. Make sure to augment the brightest window light you have with florescent shop lights about 4 inches above the plant and of the cool white 3000 lumens or greater 40 watt tubes. Use 12000 lumens total, that would be four tubes in a row, for best results. Without such light the plant would have a difficult time even surviving indoors.

In a few days, the plant should reopen its traps after it adapts to your environment so long as it remains in stable conditions.

Christopher

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

QUESTION: Thank you very much.  Your response was very informative and resourceful.  I
think the heat shocked them so they closed up.  Tonight, I see that a few of the
traps are starting to open.  I do have a couple of other questions if you don't
mind... will all the traps close when only one gets a bug?  can the venus fly trap
co-exist in a glass bowl with an octopus plant in close perimeter?

ANSWER: Hello Sara,

Only one trap will close when it is triggered by an insect or by movement inside the leaf wedges. If you look close inside the leaves you will notice that their are three or four tiny trigger hairs sticking out of each wedge. When they are touched a couple times quickly enough it tells the plant that something is moving inside the leaf and it triggers rapid growth and water transfer between cell layers making it look like the trap is moving when it is actually just very rapid growth in some parts of the leaf. Each time a leaf traps and reopens it will be a tiny bit larger until it gets old and dies.

Venus Flytraps can coexist with a variety of other carnivorous plants, however; I would only place it with a temperate plant so they can be kept in the same conditions. Some carnivorous plants are tropical and some are winter dormant and hardy temperates like the Venus Flytrap. In cool, low light winter months your Venus Flytrap will go to sleep for 3-4 months in a dormant state in which it will not grow much and will close its traps in cold weather. Tropical plants would die in such conditions. Most of the "octopus plants" as they are called are actually classed as Sundews. Some are tiny and some are quite large, but all use hundreds of tentacles covered with drops of sugary glue to trap insects. Try to find some pictures of your Sundew at sites like cobraplant.com so you can find out what conditions they need to survive and what type of plant they are.

A glass bowl might look pretty, but is one of the most deadly ways to grow carnivorous plants since they need open air, usually like lots of water, and need high levels of sun compared to houseplants. A terrarium would increase the likelihood of mold infections, root rot from standing water and no drainage, and keep the plants from getting good sunlight or air. I would grow them as potted plants and just plant them together if they are similar in their cultivation needs.

Some sundews, like Drosera rotundifolia and Drosera filiformis are North American plants like Venus Flytraps and actually are distant cousins of that plant. They all like similar enough conditions that they could be grown in the same pot.

Other sundews, like Drosera capensis (often called the octopus plant though others are too), Drosera binata, and Drosera spatulata are tropical or sub-tropicals that do not need dormancy and might be damaged or killed by very cold weather (though sub-tropicals can survive some freezing, they don't necessarily like it). You can grow those in a pot indoors as a houseplant in a very a sunny window or outside in the growing season and inside in winter. You might still need additional light from florescent lamps if the window light is not sufficient to produce good coloration and dew in sundews. I typically give my sundews a south facing window and 6000 to 12000 lumens of light 4 inches over their leaves. When they flower I try to tie the scapes back so they grow slanted out away from the lamp so they won't get cramped or burned.

Christopher

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

QUESTION: Thanks again.  Sorry to keep this ongoing and hopefully this will be my last
question.  I put a bug on the octopus plant (Droseraceae, Genus: Drosera,
Species: D. capensis; adalae) and it did not do anything.  I felt the leaves where
the 'glue' should be and noticed it was very dry.  Can you tell me what I can do
to help the plant?  What kind of bugs do they prefer?

Answer
Hello Sara,

The "octopus plant" you described as being Drosera capensis or Drosera adelae will need a bit of work to figure out properly. Those are both different types of Sundews... one is a plant from Africa called a Cape Sundew with long, thin, strap-shaped leaves that grows like a tiny bush about 4-6 inches across (Drosera capensis). The other is a plant called a Lance Leaf Sundew from Australia (Drosera adelae) which grows about 4 inches across and tall with long triangular or wedge like leaves that are broad at the base and narrow to a point near the tip. Both species have hundreds of tiny tentacles across their leaf surfaces that produce dew to trap small flying insects.

Do you have both species of sundew or just one that says both names? In any event, try finding out the exact species as it is important for the amount of light those plants like. The Drosera capensis can take full sun like the Venus Flytrap while the Drosera adelae cannot take full sun and would burn to death in high levels of ultraviolet light (they can't develop a good tan like the other plants I guess).

Other than that, both species of sundew are tropical to sub-tropical and can grow all year long in room temperatures and good light. All of the plants you have need large quantities of distilled or reverse osmosis water or, if possible, rain water. Tap water contains too many minerals that can build up in peat bog soils that these plants live in... such a build-up leads to bacterial growth and changes in Ph from acidic to neutral or alkaline. These plants require acidic soil found in sphagnum peat bogs. Use a large tray for water with 1/4 the bottom of the plant's pot submerged in water to keep the plants moist all the time. You can leave them for several days between waterings and just add some water to the top of the pot to percolate through the soil and refill the tray.

In any case, sundews need light to produce their dew. Changes in temperature and humidity can cause them to dry up and wilt for a time. Get them in stable temperatures of about 75-85 degrees, slowly adapt them to low humidity as needed as I described before, and keep them in a good, sunny window for now. They dry up and wilt in environment changes, but can only produce that dew in good light.

For now, let the plants recover from being in that store. After a few weeks they will begin catching their own insects after they begin growing normally and producing dew. They cannot catch and digest insect fertilizer until they get enough of all the other things plants like first. They are plants like any other in that they need proper water, soil and light, but they cannot handle fertilizer on their roots. Their leaves adapted to catch insects and digest them so that they can draw nitrogen fertilizer from the dead bodies and in through their leaves. In effect, light is their food, but insects would be more like vitamin pills. They can live without insects a long time, but cannot live without light.

When they are growing normally you can try mosquitos, fruit flies, and gnats if you want to see how the plant traps things (Drosera capensis can also trap flies, mine caught seven in one day by itself). Sundews are much slower than Flytraps so do not expect it to grab a fly out of the air or anything. They tend to let their glue trap the insect first and then slowly curl their tentacles and often times their leaves around to smother the insect and press it into the digestive fluids. Drosera capensis is a good plant to observe that kind of activity with but Drosera adelae only moves it tentacles and just barely curles its leaves when reacting to trapped prey. The tentacle movement is generally slow enough that you might watch a minute or two only to realize that it is actually moving.

Have fun with your plants and be patient,

Christopher