Dionaea muscipula

 

Description

It is a carnivorous plant that grows on the east coast of North America, beside other places. 

The plant has adapted to a soil (sphagnum and/or peat moss) without nutrients trough a evolutionary process.

The plant is growing from a white rhizome (bulb)  that has thin, long roots.

It has also leaves, petioles and traps. The traps contains several hairs that trigger itself shut when insects sit inside. 

The trap can turn red before the insect is caught, if the plant is under strong artificial lights or sunlight
The stem that will make white flowers (and will contain hundreds of seeds), can reach 10 cm.

The plants are small, almost 1 year old, on the right side of the image.

 

Cultivation

Soil

It does not use ordinary soil, but only sphagnum and/or peat moss. Peat moss is a dry moss and sphagnum moss is alive.

The pot must be at least 10 cm (it can be as wide as you want, but at least 10 cm deep) and made of plastic, not iron or clay pots, because over time different constituent elements can leak due to their degradation, not transparent because the roots do not need sunlight.

Light 

Sun light is better.

In the room, leave the plant at a sunny window with as much light as possible and if it is not enough, use in the beginning one 36w fluorescent tube, 6500 k and starting from 3050 lumens, about 12-14 hours and when it grows higher use at least two fluorescent tubes. 

You can keep the plant at 4 cm neon, if you use artificial light. 

You will see in the window if there is not enough light, if the plant starts to show signs of drying, or elongation of the leaves. 

You can also grow it in the garden, also in a pot.

Water

Use only distilled, demineralized or deionizing water (ordinary water is too hard with minerals and kills the carnivorous plant), but be careful not to contain other components on the label. 

You can also use water from melted snow (at room temperature). If, for example, you collect 5 plastic bottles of 6 or 8 liters each (go a few times in a field somewhere) and you will use water about half a liter per week, it will last almost a year, without having to buy distilled water.

This is true if you have a few plants.

The soil (peat) must always be moist, but not wet (puddles). You can water from the top (but not directly on the plant or around it, but away from it, as mold can appear).

It is best to water from the bottom, because the water you put in a saucer (the pot is on a plastic saucer) is absorbed by the media. 

Allow tha the surface is dry for a few more days, before watering again, because in a house or apartment, a premature death of the plant can occur, due to different factors or because the roots may rot due to too much moisture. 

There is no such problem outside.

Food

 Yes, the insect ,,speaks,, English :)

The trap swells and closes after catching food. It will not open if the leaf life is over and the reverse tightening will be more pronounced. 

The leaves are modified traps that catch insects (insects are attracted to the mucilage that exists on the edge). 

Insects are trapped in traps that close even harder if insects move in them, after which they are digested by the enzymes produced. 

It is believed that the traps close due to chemical factors. In addition to insects, you can use, once a week for 2-3 leaves on a plant, dried red worms, slightly moistened, or other small insects that you buy from aquarists. 

Do not use ordinary meat or earthworms.

The plant will propagate itself after a while or after making about 7 leaves with traps, or through seeds. 

Dormancy

In winter, the plant must go through a dormancy period of 3 months.

If you can't leave it in a place that is cool between 1 - 10 degrees), do the following.

You can slowly decrease the natural light, when the plant is in the house/apartment, then put it in the refrigerator surrounded by the chosen substrate, in a closed bag with a little sulfur on the edges, only if mold appears. 

Whichever method you choose, do not let the chosen substrate freeze, although the plant should not be dry, in the refrigerator or outside, but only slightly wet.