Carnivorous Plant Seedlings

I grow a few carnivorous plants from seed.  Some are fast from seed, others take a long time. It is important to keep different types separate as they are so small that drops of rain could potentially splash them into each other's pots (don't ask how I know).

Most people have never grown carnivorous plants from seed, and have no idea what to expect, so I thought I would show some of mine.

Drosera capillaris

I had some unknown sundew seeds hitch hike in with a venus flytrap I bought through the post.  They eventually germinated, started to grow, and appear to be Drosera capillaris.  I plan to grow them to maturity, identify them properly, and hopefully collect seed to grow some more.  

If you look closely at the tiny plant at the top left you will see it caught a mosquito that is over half the size as the plant!  I don't understand why, but my drosera always seem to catch a lot of mosquitoes. 

I have grown capillaris before, they are small plants that are simple to grow and I think they look nice.  If all goes well they should flower before winter.

Drosera capillaris - caught a mosquito at this tiny size

Drosera burmanii

I bought some seeds of Drosera burmanii.  This is a small rosette sundew that usually only lives for a year.  They are meant to drop a lot of seed over their short lives and be simple to grow.  I usually grow perennial sundews, so this tiny annual is something a bit different.

Drosera burmanii have snap tentacles, and are the second fastest moving tentacles of all Drosera species.  I can hardly wait to see what they are like when they reach maturity.  At this tiny size they are catching springtails.

Drosera burmanii - tiny seedlings

Sarracenia

A very generous person sent me three types of Sarracenia seed.  I cold wet stratified them, planted them, and they have started to germinate.  

Sarracenia cotyledons are like any other plant, they are not carnivorous at this stage.  The first true leaves on the other hand are carnivorous. The photo isn't great, but if you look closely you can see the first true leaves are tiny carnivorous pitchers.  I can't imagine any insect gets caught by the first carnivorous leaves, but the second set of carnivorous leaves should be large enough to catch tiny ants and gnats.

Unfortunately they got hit pretty badly by a recent storm and many of my seedlings were washed away.  I still have the largest seedlings and there are plenty more seeds in my fridge.  It takes a few good years before these plants will grow to a decent size.

Sarracenia rosea growing their first true leaves

Drosera capensis

I really like Drosera capensis.  They are simple to grow, look great, catch incredible numbers of insects, and reach a large size pretty quickly.  They can go from a tiny speck of a seed to flowering size in under a year, plus the plants are perennial and can live for many years if looked after.

I grow a few types of capensis and like them all.  Below these seedlings were sown thinly and are just starting to get their carnivorous leaves.  It doesn't take them long to grow reasonably large.

Drosera capensis seedlings

Utricularia bisquamata

Another hitch hiker seed was from a small terrestrial bladderwort called Utricularia bisquamata. For some time I didn't pay much attention to it because it is so small.  I thought it was some type of moss, and every time it put up a flower stalk I tore it off and threw it away thinking it was moss about to set a spore capsule.

After looking more closely I realised that this is a bladderwort, and had I left it alone it would have sent up many lovely little flowers.

Bladderworts have tiny bladders on the roots that they use to trap tiny animals.  The mechanism the traps use is fascinating, they literally suck in their prey.  Its trapping mechanism is one of the most intricate and complex in the plant world.  Unfortunately you don't get to see any of this happen as it all occurs under the soil.  The leaves sticking above ground are small, only a few mm long.  

Luckily bladderworts throw up a lot of pretty little flowers for much of the year.  I should write another post on this later and show off its flowers.  I tried to take photof of them, but the pots that look good are all blurry, and the only clear photo there is a lot of moss and hardly any U bisquamata.

Utricularia bisquamata seedlings among the moss starting to send up flower stalks

I have a few more carnivorous plant seedlings, most look like the ones above so there is not much to say about them.  

This year I didn't grow any venus flytraps from seed, for some reason my plants just did not produce seed this year even though I had several varieties flowering at the same time.  If you would like to see what venus flytrap seedlings look like I wrote a post on them earlier.  It takes venus flytraps a few good years to reach a decent size.

Sometimes I sell carnivorous plants and seeds through my for sale page.  I don't have a large range, I only really sell when I grow some extras.  While I really prefer people to pick up carnivorous plants, I can post seeds and plants through Australia.

Venus Flytrap non-carnivorous leaves

I have a few different venus flytraps, one of the names varieties I grow is "Low Giant".  It was a nice enough plant that had a low rosette of large colourful traps.  This variety divides well and never has upright growth.

The Low Giant venus flytrap produced a lot of leaves and looked healthy, then in spring it decided to flower.  Sometimes I allows the flytraps to flower, other times I remove the flower stalk.  This time I cut off the flower stalk so the plant could put more energy into getting larger and stronger.

Low Giant Venus flytrap producing non-carnivorous leaves

 

Sadly, after I removed the flower stalk the plant did not produce any new leaves for a very long time.  A few months passed before it grew any more leaves. 

I started to wonder what was happening to this little plant.  It was growing next to a few other venus flytraps that were all producing a lot of new leaves and some plants were getting rather large.

Low Giant vft, not long after I removed the flowering stalk

Now it has started to produce leaves again, it appears to have divided, and is starting to produce small leaves instead of the large colourful leaves that it used to produce. 

As well as the normal flytrap leaves some of the divisions are also producing some non-carnivorous leaves.  I imagine this is short term, and it will get back to producing carnivorous leaves soon enough.  Hopefully it has time to do this and be fed before winter.

If all goes well this plant will over winter and I should be able to divide it into several plants in the spring.

Venus flytrap with non-carnivorous leaves

Interestingly , many of my venus flytraps seem to have female redback spiders (Latrodectus hasselti) living around the base of their pot.  Initially I thought they were catching insects that were drawn to the water, but most of my other carnivorous plants don't seem to have the spiders, only my venus flytraps.  I can't think of any reason why this would be.

Redback spiders are rather dangerous little spiders with a rather toxic venom for such a little spider.  Usually they won't bite unless provoked by something, something like picking up the pot they are living under!  For some reason they keep living near my venus flytraps, but not near any of the other carnivorous plants.

These spiders make picking up the pot to look at my plants a little more dangerous than I would like, and it means I have to tell my kids to keep away from the carnivorous plants for now.  Sometimes it rains and the pots get flooded and the spiders get washed away.  It normally doesn't take too long before a new spider arrives to replace the previous one.

Red back spider living near venus flytrap

VFT seedlings breaking dormancy

I grow a few different varieties of venus flytrap.  I like them.  When grown from seed they tend to display a lot of genetic diversity and each plant is different, but it takes a few years before they reach a decent size.  Unfortunately very few places sell seed of venus flytraps.  

Never buy venus flytrap seed from eBay or Gumtree, most of the time it is fake, they will send you seeds of grass or flowers and by the time you know something is wrong it is too late to do anything.

I have always been told that venus flytraps need dormancy over winter.  I knew people in places without winter who dug them up and put them in the fridge over winter.  I have always grown them in climates with cool winters, so mine have a natural dormancy and I have never had to think about it too much.

I grew a few venus flytraps from seeds, so over winter they went dormant and looked like they were dead.  Then once spring hit, they all started to grow actively.  Some seem to have come out of dormancy easier than others.  Some came out of dormancy well, but now appear to be declining.

I don't have many seedlings, but each is genetically unique.  I look forward to seeing what they grown into and if any are noticably different from any of the named varieties that I grow.

This Venus flytrap seedling was all red over summer

Short petioles, comparatively large traps, lots of traps, good colour - this seedling is a keeper

Venus Flytrap - how I grow them

Much like most people, when I was a young child I was given a Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula). I was in awe of this marvelous plant and I instantly gained a deep love of carnivorous plants and gardening in general. I spent hours staring at the plant, thinking big thoughts, and imagining all sorts of fantastic and impossible things.

Just the same as happens with most people, my first Venus flytrap died.

A few years later I got another one, I can't remember if I bought it or was given it. This time I was a little older and I read everything there was to read about them - which was limited to the high level information on the tag and a few old and poorly written books by people who I doubt had ever successfully grown one themselves. Again I spent many hours staring at that fascinating little plant, fussing over it, carefully removing dead leaves, and thinking big thoughts.

Sadly my second plant also died.

After that I thought Venus fly traps were too tricky to grow or we were in the wrong climate for them. I am happy to say that neither was true, Venus flytraps are actually very easy to grow if you know how and I was in the perfect climate for them.

Venus flytraps, easy to grow when you know how

A few years later when I had not yet started high school I bought a tiny sundew (Drosera capensis) from a fair for $0.50. I loved that plant. This plant lived for many years and from it I learned how to actually grow carnivorous plants successfully. After starting with one sundew and growing seeds and cuttings to end up with literally hundreds I decided to give the Venus flytrap another try.

I got a Venus flytrap bare rooted through the post.  This plant not only thrived but each spring would divide into a bunch of extra plants. I even grew a few from seed, which is a very slow but rather fun process. Then I went to university, got a job, moved a lot of times, and stopped growing carnivorous plants for years.

I have started to grow Venus flytraps again and am loving them. They are heaps of fun. There are so many new varieties now that never existed before.

I figured I should tell people how I grow Venus Flytraps and perhaps more people can enjoy growing them too. This may not be the best way to do things, but it works for me, it is cheap, and it is easy.

I find it simple to grow Venus flytraps: give them lots of clean water, give them sunlight, and don’t ever try to close the traps. That is simple enough.

Venus flytraps in a tray of water - honey bees like to sip water from the pots

A friend did a guest post on how to grow carnivorous plants.  I thought I would write about how I grow Venus Flytraps because I find it rather simple.

By far the most important thing to know is that they are swamp plants that need a lot of water. They need so much water that I sit the pot in a tray, usually an old ice cream container, which holds a centimeter or two of water. I make sure the water is at least 5cm below the surface of the soil, any higher than that and the plants get stressed, lower than that is fine. When this water level drops slightly I fill it up again. I usually fill it up each day when I am watering the vegetable garden. The water tray should never be dry, ever, even for a little while. I don’t water from the top, I just fill up that little tray to its arbitrary (yet constant) level.

Far too many people try to water these like a house plant - this doesn’t work and they will die pretty quickly. Others put a shallow saucer under them, this evaporates too fast and your plant will dry out and die. Use an ice cream container or an old yogurt container, they are free and perfect for the job.

I am told that, depending on what is in your water, town water could be bad for them. I don’t have town water, I have a rain water tank so don’t have any personal experience with this. Rain water is the best if that is available.

These traps are closed as it caught ants, spiders, and things by itself

The second most important thing to know about growing a Venus flytrap is never close the trap. Never close the trap with your finger no matter how fun that sounds, and don’t try to close it with food of any sort. The leaf traps can only open a few times and the more they are closed the faster that leaf will die. The less leaves your plant has the less likely it is to survive.

Don’t try to feed your Venus flytrap. If you know what you are doing feeding is ok, if you don’t know what you are doing you will likely kill your plant. If you knew how to feed them you wouldn't have read this far through this blog post aimed at beginners.  Let venus fly traps catch food for themselves, they know what they are doing. Well-meaning people often try to feed their Venus flytrap and this often kills them. I know you are trying to help, but you are probably killing it.

Wally Venus Flytrap - needs more sunlight

Carnivorous plants of any type are not indoor plants, Venus flytraps need direct sunlight. Putting your new plant in your office and having the ceiling light turned on is not the same as natural light. You already knew this - otherwise you would wear a hat and sunscreen at your desk while getting a massive tan. Placing Venus flytraps on a window sill that gets sun is good, having them outside is better.

When you get a plant it likely has been kept under shade cloth (or in complete darkness while being posted) so transition it into the sun slowly or the leaves will burn and your plant may die. Depending on where you live they may benefit from growing under shade cloth, if you don’t have any shade cloth then at least try to protect them from the afternoon sun. Afternoon sun in summer, especially in Australia, can be a bit too much for them.

Don't put venus flytraps in a terrarium. I don't know how many people have cooked these plants to death in terrariums. While they can survive in a terrarium if it is in just the right place, they will die very quickly if it is not.  I also don't see the need to put them in a terrarium.

Venus Flytrap entering dormancy - looks dreadful but is actually ok

Venus flytraps are strangely ok with frosts. Venus flytraps are not tropical plants.  I have heard that people in places without winter dig them up and put them in the fridge for a month over winter. Mine don’t grow much over winter, and they usually aren’t quite dormant either. The leaves die back and new growth is smaller and lower to the ground - this is normal. Over winter I lower the water (or ice) level in their tray so they don’t rot, but I never let them go dry. 

In spring if they are large enough to divide then you can divide them. If it is not ready to divide then just keep enjoying them until next year. You will know that they are ready because they will have multiple growing points and multiple plants crowded together.

To divide I remove it from the pot, gently pull the two or more plants apart, and plant them in damp peat moss. There are a few things you could use but I use peat moss mixed with some clean river sand as both are cheap and easy to get. When you open the bag it will be too dry, you need to soak it before you plant into it. To soak peatmoss I tip some into a bucket, add some water, and come back later and it is nicely soaked. I then grab handfuls of wet peatmoss out of the bucket and squeeze it a little so some of the water comes out. Some people rinse the peatmoss a few times to remove nutrients. I do this and it probably helps but you don’t have to do it.

Venus flytrap flowers

Often after surviving winter Venus flytraps will flower in spring if they are large enough. They send up a tall flower stalk with unimpressive white flowers on it. Many growers remove the stalk pretty early as flowering takes a lot of energy and it can be difficult to get them to produce any seed. If you do remove the stalk you can use that as a cutting to grow more Venus flytraps. I should write another post on how to take cuttings from Venus flytraps, it is easier than you may think.

I grow a few types of carnivorous plants including several different Venus flytraps. As I build up their numbers I plan to offer them through my for sale page. I can post them if needed, they sulk a little after posting but outside of winter they tend to perk up pretty fast.

Wally Venus flytrap growth rate over a year

Venus flytrap 'Wally' is meant to be low growing, with very large traps, vigorous growth, good colouration, and is meant to produce ample natural divisions over the growing period.

To me Wally sounds like the perfect Venus flytrap!

A very generous friend sent me two bare rooted divisions of Wally Venus flytraps.  I planted both in the same pot.  In hind sight I should have planted them in two different pots instead of the same one. 

These plants spent a bit of time in the post, then sat in my letter box all afternoon on one of the hottest days ever recorded in this region before I got home, and they still looked ok. 

Venus flytraps tend to handle postage surprisingly well.  Notice how good they looked when I planted them!

I figured I should photograph them every now and again to document their growth. 

01/02/2020 Minutes after being planted, I should have zoomed in more as the picture probably makes them look smaller than they really were.

Wally Venus Flytrap - the day I planted them

11/02/2020 ten days after being planted

14/02/2020 two weeks after planting, they grow fast

Wally Venus Flytraps - two weeks of growth

22/02/2020 three weeks

Wally Venus Flytraps - three weeks after planting

29/02/2020 four weeks

Wally Venus Flytraps - four weeks after planting

I am transitioning my Wally Venus flytraps outside where they get more sun and will be able to go dormant when winter arrives.  The traps have coloured up remarkably fast from a little more sunlight.

While they haven't grown massively since the last picture they have gained a lot of colour.  I should take another photo soon to show their colour and how much larger they have grown.

28/03/2020 two months

Wally venus flytrap - more colourful and slightly larger

The pictures don't do it justice - the colours are more vibrant in real life

Wally sure is a lovely Venus flytrap.  It hasn't produced any divisions for me yet, but it is strong and healthy so I am very happy with it!

One morning we went out and when we returned home all of the traps were mysteriously closed.  I am not sure if kids came and played with it, but it seems to have recovered well.

04/04/2020  just over 2 months.  Today I divided them.  One stayed in the original pot, the other is now in a different pot the same size.  Wally venus flytraps are just lovely.

Winter isn't too far away and these will go dormant for a while.  I can hardly wait to see how large these plants grow next summer.  If all goes well I should be able to divide them into more plants in spring.

11/04/2020 - not much growth in a week but look at the colours!!!

02/05/2020 - getting ready for dormancy

01/06/2020 - Wally venus flytrap going dormant

 

Wally venus flytrap going dormant

01/07/2020 - I wish I took photos in July while they were dormant but I didn't.  They look dreadful while dormant, which is normal and actually very healthy for venus flytraps.

01/08/2020 - the same plants starting to come out of dormancy. They are small but look strong.  As soon as the weather is right I think they will explode with new growth.

29/08/2020 - late winter after surviving frosts, hail, snow, ice, and odd heat

Breaking dormancy

Wally vft clumping

30/09/2020 - after growing them for 8 months they are breaking dormancy, clumping, sending up flower stalks, and ready to divide

Sending up a flower stalk.  I removed a small division and should divide again

The small plant removed from the pot above

Wally Venus Flytrap Clumping - I may divide them soon

01/11/2020 - it is easy to tell which one has been growing inside the house, and which ones have been outside. 

Wally out of dormancy and growing strong

Wally vft growing well and colouring up nicely

Wally VFT divided and clumping

01/12/2020 - seems as though I didn't take pictures in December.

02/01/2021 - they are all outside full time in full sun

Large colourful traps, vigorous growth, Wally vft looking good

Wally VFT grow pretty fast

One of the divisions seems to have died off, others are looking good

31/01/2021 one year of growth!

Venus Flytrap Wally

 

All divisions are growing, none had died

Venus Flytrap seedlings

I thought I would show some pictures of a few of my little Venus flytrap seedlings.  They don't grow as fast as I would like, but every seedling is genetically unique and I really enjoy growing Venus flytraps from seed.

Probably the most difficult part of growing venus flytraps from seed is getting the seed in the first place.  Most people online selling venus flytrap seeds don't have the seeds and will send you some other seed.  Ebay is notorious for fake seeds, never buy flytrap seeds from Ebay.  By the time you work out that you have been taken advantage of it is far too late to do anything about it.

Most of my seedlings look like a typical venus flytraps, the only real difference between them and store bought plants is seedlings are tiny and cute.  Some are far more vigorous than others.  I am told it takes 3 or 4 years for a Venus flytrap to grow from seed to a mature plant, from memory that sounds about right.

I think they are all pretty great.  Most of them look like the one below.

Tiny seedling already catching insects

The same plant but lager.  Look closely: it is already dividing

The one below has a bit of red on the leaves but you can't really see it in the photo.  Time will tell if it turns out to be more red or if it will only have a little red.  It was planted later so doesn't have as many leaves as large as most of the other venus flytrap seedlings.  It has grown a bit and has a few more leaves than in this picture, but you get the idea.

This seedling has a little red on its leaves

Below is another seedling, but this one is different to the rest.  This one has yellowish leaves and the traps are red.  The traps are all a bit of a weird shape and so far none of the traps have opened.

I am not sure if this will sort itself out as it grows and it will look more typical, or if it is going to grow into an interesting mutant.  I can hardly wait until it is older so I can see what it will become. 

 

This Venus flytrap seedling is interesting

Same plant but older.  Most traps are now red and oddly shaped, the leaf blades are yellow

None of the traps have opened yet, I am not sure if it is just slow or a crazy mutant

This seedling is very slow growing, but I really like it

All of these seedlings have grown since I took these photos, I just haven't gotten around to taken any more recent pictures. 

At some stage I will try to sell some of my Venus flytraps.  When I do I will make it clear if they were seed grown, or if they are named cultivars that were grown from divisions or leaf pullings.  When I so sell Venus flytraps I will list them on my for sale page.