Question
QUESTION: IF i feed my plant what do i feed him? he (my plant) is very small only about an inch and a half and i don't want to over feed him.

ANSWER: Hello Justine,

Well, first off, what species of carnivorous plant do you have? There are over 500 species in the world and many are temperates that should be dormant this time of year.

In any case, carnivorous plants are just like any other plant in that they need bright light, some require full sun and some require indirect light or partial sun, so be mindful of what species you have and how much light it is getting. They also need water like any other plant, however; due to the acidic nature of their soil, they should only be watered with mineral free water, like distilled, reverse osmosis, or fresh rain water. Tap water can damage their soil and slowly kill them due to the calcium, magnesium, and other minerals and salts.

So far as feeding goes, insects are actually more like vitamin pills for carnivorous plants... they are fertilizer (light is what they really need). Plants do not need much fertilizer, carnivorous plants need much less than other plants in any event, so you really do not have to worry about it for now. Giving insects to the plant is the last consideration. Just give the plant a good environment and the insects will usually come to the plant on their own. If you have a tropical plant and it has not captured anything for a long time, like a month or so, you can give it a small ant, fruit fly, or other tiny insect. The tubifex worms and blood worms sold at fish stores would work well.. just give the plant a tiny portion and only on occasion, at most once every couple weeks. Only give the plant insects if it is healthy and only if it has not caught anything on its own for a long time. You really cannot "overfeed" a healthy carnivorous plant. If it is getting enough sunlight and its environment is a healthy one, it will be able to capture and digest a number of insects on its own with no problem. In poor light, the plant will have trouble catching and digesting insects and some leaves might die in the process according to species.

Send me a followup so I can provide more specific help with your plant according to what kind it is.

Keep up the good care of your plant,

Christopher

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QUESTION: ok thanks that helped. my plant is a Venus fly trap and since he ( his name is spike) is so small and i am doing a project on him i want to feed him so he will get much bigger but i only have him for a week or so. i kinda want to do a before and after picture but if he doesn't grow much that is pointless. any ideas on which bugs are best for spike?

ANSWER: Hello Justine,

A Venus Flytrap is actually a temperate plant that should be dormant right now, so it will not need any fertilizer as it simply will not have the energy to digest insects during winter. Venus Flytraps require full sun like a garden plant outside. Your plant is likely dormant or close to dormancy right now, so it will be unable to "eat" anything.

Monitoring the growth of a Venus Flytrap would be best done over several months or even over the course of an entire year and should only be done from Spring to Fall as they will not grow much if at all in winter.

An easier way to measure carnivorous plant growth at any time of year would be by getting an easy to grow tropical, like a Drosera capensis sundew and providing it with about 12000 lumens of florescent light for 16 hours a day. That way you could measure its growth and feed it and see what happens. Those sundews are fast growers, so would be better for your experiment.

Christopher

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QUESTION: oh thank you but... whats a sundew? where do i buy one? and how do i take care of that? (i'm new at this whole carnivour plant thing) i hope i'm ot annoying you by asking so many questoin

Answer
Hello Justine,

I enjoy helping people out, that's why I volunteer here, so don't worry about asking questions.

In any case, a sundew is a variety of plant that the Venus Flytrap is actually closely related to. They come in all shapes and sizes and some are tropical and some are temperate. They have leaves with sticky tentacles all over that grab insects. Some species of sundew move the entire leaf to enfold the insect, but much slower than the Flytrap closes. The Drosera capensis is one of the larger and easiest to grow of the sundews and has long strap shaped leaves up to 2-3 inches long that actually roll up around insects within 15 minutes to an hour. Within a minute you can see the tentacles moving around and gripping the insect like some B-grade horror movie monster. The plants actually look quite pretty with dew covered leaves. The dew is actually a sticky liquid that is sugary, attracting insects that will get stuck if they land on the leaf.

Sarracenia Northwest, another of the expert carnivorous plant volunteers here is actually a nursery that sells these plants online.. their address is cobraplant.com. I buy all my plants from them. They have a large stock of tropical sundews complete with pictures and care sheets, though their site is being overhauled right now.

Most tropical sundews do well in a good sunny window or under strong florescent lights (12000 lumens, like two 40 watt shop light fixtures, works well). They need the same mineral free water as Flytraps and do not go dormant in winter. Keep them at room temperature all year.

One tip for virtually all carnivorous plants, never use potting soil or tap water on them. Fertilizers in the soil, like potting soil, will slowly kill them. Tap water builds up minerals in the soil that changes it to less acidic soil and kills carnivorous plants as well. Their soil is actually sphagnum or peat based mosses that have a high iodine content and is acidic, keeping bacteria and fertilizers from forming in the soil quickly. Only use 50%silica sand or perlite for drainage and 50% peat moss or long fiber sphagnum moss for repotting most of your carnivorous plants when the time comes (repot them once a year for best growth).

Check out all the different carnivorous plants on cobraplant.com and you will see that the Venus Flytrap is only one of a great many interesting and beautiful carnivorous plants you can grow.

A good way to create a before/after set of photos for your project would actually be to get two plants and only feed one for a period of time and measure the differences between the two plants and note how much you fed the one plant. That would be like a true experiment. It would take several months to note any real difference between them in any case, but carnivorous plants that catch insects grow a bit larger, grow more leaves, and grow more flowers, producing more seeds as well.

Good luck on your project.

Christopher