How To Water A Venus Flytrap - Watering Venus Flytraps For Beginners - How Often, What Type & More!

[@CarnivorousPlantsHub]

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[@koncomartalegawa]

I've jut learned the watering technique the hard way, especially in my 5cm pots. Lost some schupentiels and a GJ maricahi. It was always in water, bottom tray. Now I tried letting the tray dried out and let them for about 2-3days then refill the tray again. Great video, keep it up. Greetings from Indonesia

[@CarnivorousPlantsHub]

Ya. I think the most common mistake is just leaving the tray full of water and not letting it dry out. Tough lesson when ypu learn it from crown rot. Glad yours are doing well and welcome from Indonesia!

[@johnlinehan9053]

Others say you shouldn’t grow them in clay pots because it leaches minerals into the substrate, but your plants look like they’re doing well.

[@CarnivorousPlantsHub]

Those are plastic, made to look like terracotta or clay pots. Others are right, avoid any clay or terracotta, they do leach minerals into the soil.

[@chico_off_a_bean552]

This was a very informative video, really helpful but was I the only one on the edge of my seat waiting for that fly to get caught in a trap?

[@CarnivorousPlantsHub]

Haha, I was too! Thought it was going to happen for sure!

[@Florida_man21]

I'm getting my first B52 vft, this information is very useful!

[@CarnivorousPlantsHub]

B52s are great, some of my favorites for sure! I hope they do awesome!!

[@mattchat2875]

Being in southern IL, hot and a weird kind of humid with so many lakes and the like (ponds, streams, rivers) of a summer, so a dehumidifier is pumping out about a gallon or two twice a day. Using the meter that came with the Zero filter right about 49 ppm or lower. This is just going into an old bucket and with an old hose out the back so curious since if cleaned up, that should easily be closer to zero. And the Zero water filters are getting crazy expensive. I am seeing differences between what water to give them, bottom feed, top feed, so hope you folks don't mind providing some feed back because I got my sun some and some of the Birds Nest Sundew (more for me because I was as fascinated with them)

[@FlytrapFanatic]

congrats! nice plants.

[@CarnivorousPlantsHub]

Thank you!!

[@monke1919]

Is it okay to use the tray method during winter dormancy?

[@CarnivorousPlantsHub]

Yes, tray method is fine, you just need much less water less frequent. You will notice that the plant retains the water longer than it did in the summer.

[@BobbyParker784]

Got me one and yes it reads zero, love it got it on your suggestion. I love it I was racking my brain trying to figure out to where to get more rain water which mine is very good even off the roof, but I've been kind of dry lately I've run out of Rainwater and I had quite a bit stocked up anyway I digress question is what's the difference between distilled and zero water and they both 30 so one is pish and one is Posh? LOL not a question what about humidifiers cuz mine boiled the crap out of some water you can hear it boiling how come that is not distilling I mean?

[@CarnivorousPlantsHub]

The difference between distilled and zero is that distilled water is essentially the steam when boiling. When you heat water, the steam rises, to distill it is to catch all this steam, put it in a separate chamber and allow all the solids to sit in the original chamber. The steam comes up and doesn't have any of the minerals and solids that were left behind. Zero water basically does the same thing but uses a filtration process to get rid of the solids instead of the distilling process. Long story short, both worth great for carnivorous plants. Be careful though, boiling water does NOT get rid of the solids, only if you are collecting the steam separate. Boiling is used in survival to get rid of bacteria that could be harmful to humans if ingested but does not get rid of the solids that harm carnivorous plants.

[@helliumballoons7546]

Where I live winter ends up being around 35-40 degrees Fahrenheit at it’s coldest. How do I encourage dormancy with these temperatures? (It’s also a very very dry climate)

[@CarnivorousPlantsHub]

Yes, should be kept below 50 degrees F to keep in dormancy. I've heard of people acclimating their flytraps in Florida to their warmer winters. It just needs that rest period where it is mostly not growing for 12-16 weeks.

[@kerrijohnstone7588]

Thank you for showing me about the Rainwater. I personally use distilled water, it is readily available and I pay maybe $.89 in Australia for a 2 L bottle and it lasts for ages so you really don’t have to go to all the trouble of a bottled filter although that’s a great idea I just think distilled water does exactly the same thing and is way cheaper.

[@CarnivorousPlantsHub]

Yes, of course! Distilled water works great. Many people are finding distilled water really hard to find these days. I haven't seen any available in my grocery stores for months. But if you can get your hands on it, works great!

[@buggsy-sb3if]

Distilled water, or any other commercially bottled water, is a no-go when you have hundreds/thousands of plants, even in a cool climate. For my plants, which are grown outdoors year around, I need in excess of 100 gallons/day average, with closer to 150 gallons/day in hotter weather. If I had a huge underground cistern, that would meed my needs as I could collect enough rainwater during the wet seasons, but I don't. Even a large distillation unit would not produce enough water. I use a fairly large RO unit - any other method would bankrupt me.

[@StuartCrabtree]

I have a black one! Should I clip it off?

[@CarnivorousPlantsHub]

Yes, once they turn completely black you should trip it off. This will help keep the plant pruned and the black traps can attract mold and bacteria when dead. It's good to just get rid of them!

[@grandtheftgameryt]

I got some de ionised water today as currently it’s pretty dry here. Will this be good? It says it’s good for car batteries and irons. It also has not added minerals. Thanks.

[@CarnivorousPlantsHub]

I have personally never used it but have seen people talk about how it's perfectly safe and have great success with it! Like everything else, I always just recommend testing it with a TDS meter, just to make sure!

Dear Reader, I've bought a TDS meter, after I've bought 4 sorts of carnivorous plants. I've got a Venus Flytrap, a Sarracenia, a Nepenthes and a Drosera Capensis. I'm an absolute beginner. The Nepenthes stands in a southern windowsill (but in the Netherlands there is a very moderate climate) in a .dish with rainwater. The others stand in a very small plastic covered greenhouse (more a shelf with a cover and a grow light (evening and mornings)) in our small garden. But now I've bought the TDS meter, I've just discovered that our tapwater has 350 ppm, our rainwater 115 pmm and only distilled water has 15 ppm. My Nepenthes, Drosera capensis and Sarracenia seems to accept the rainwater, but my Venus has turned black. Only the Rhizome is a little bit green. I've changed the rainwater into distilled water in the big dish of the Flytrap and Sarracenia. The Nepenthes still stands in rainwater, and seems to thrive. The Drosera does very well in the rainwater. So now I've a few questions: 1. Can the Flytrap be saved only by changing the water to distilled? 2. Is there a list of carnivorous plants from extreme sensitive for minerals to not really sensitive? Is it worth to make a video on this subject? Before the decay of the Flytrap it had a flower stem, that I've laid down in a peat-perlite mix in a box with destilled water and a cap, beneath a growlamp. Thank you for the instruction video on that, Mr. Carnivorous Plant Hub. With Kind Regards, Michel F. van den Brun start-up fool

[@CarnivorousPlantsHub]

Hello! This is a really tricky question to answer super accurately. Plants are kind of like people, they tend to adapt to certain conditions. However, even some plants can't fully adapt to conditions that are too far outside what they need for care. As a rule of thumb, Drosera and Flytraps tend to be more sensitive than many carnivorous plants to the higher PPM in water. Nepenthes and pinguicula tend to be more forgiving. You can always flush the venus flytrap with distilled water. Just remove it from the tray and wash the plant letting the water drain out the bottom. Do this 5-10 times to rinse out any dissolved solids. It might take a few weeks, but often times venus flytraps recover well!

[@ladydeanna3775]

What about sundews? My sundews are both sitting in water and they are sprouting new leaves every couple days and one is sprouting some curly pink thing.

[@CarnivorousPlantsHub]

Sundews should be fine sitting in water.

[@avdhutpore6462]

For venus fly trap plant can we use natural waterfall water

[@CarnivorousPlantsHub]

You would need to test the water with a TDS meter. There are many factors that might make the water unusable. You can probably tell if it's good enough by measuring the dissolved solids. Anything below 50 should be okay for a venus flytrap! You can get a TDS on Amazon, they are pretty affordable. amzn.to/3qkNriZ

[@dorisedwards6388]

Hi, I live in the South of Scotland (Ayrshire) new to these plants (very new) my little venus fly trap has a few heads but it droops?

[@buggsy-sb3if]

Whether the traps droop can depend on the variety - sometimes varying through the season. For example, King Henry as quite upright leaves/traps early in the season, but much later in the season, the traps may touch or rest on the soil surface. Not enough sunlight can also be a cause. They grow best if kept outdoors in full sun for at least 6 hours of full sun every day - the more the better. The worst thing you can do is put them in a terrarium. Nor do the do well on a windowsill- even a southern facing one. If you bought the VFT at a normal retailer in a plastic shipping container - DO NOT BELIEVE THE DIRECTIONS ON THE CONTAINER. That will guarantee you plant will soon die. There are a multitude of on-line sellers that have videos on how to properly grow VFTs. Make use of those resources - checking several to make sure they agree.

[@cathyny83]

I'm using spaghum moss for the plant, is that possible to leave the plant in the tray of water and under direct sunlight

[@CarnivorousPlantsHub]

Yes! Thats actually exactly what they want. They like up to 14 hours of direct sun a day. However, if they have not been in the sun previously. it's a good idea to acclimate them with morning sun. Maybe 4-5 hours a day for a week or two before exposing them to all day sun. The hotter it is the more water you can give them!

[@cathyny83]

@@CarnivorousPlantsHub I haven't leave them in the full sun for whole day, is that really okay to let the pot simmer in the water while having the plant directly under the sun, is the plant able to stand against the heat?

[@CarnivorousPlantsHub]

Yes, they should be okay as long as you acclimate them correctly.

[@cathyny83]

@@CarnivorousPlantsHub I'm growing my Flytrap from the starting again, I hope they survive this time

[@DimeAyyyPapiASiiKeRicoo]

Can fish tank water be used?

[@CarnivorousPlantsHub]

I would avoid fish tank water. Although great for some other houseplants due to it's high level of nutrients, carnivorous plants are weird in that they do not like those nutrients. I would avoid fish water.

[@potatosalad4779]

I just bought my first miniature Venus fly trap (I think it came with those packaging called "rocket" - it was cylinder type of packaging) and have been doing lots and lots of research. I didn't change the soil or anything, just kept it as it is and try to keep the soil moist with rainwater. Trimming dead leaves is really difficult with how tiny the leaves are. I'm confused on whether or not if they are in dormancy period since apparently, they enter dormancy during winter (which is cold here). I worry about overwatering sometimes, but I try to keep the soil moist. Not even sure if I should repot it or anything, just bought it and kept it as it is. I know it doesn't do well with regular soil, so repotting would be difficult. I guess what I'm asking is if I'm doing something right here? They don't look dead. It's been cloudy/rainy here, so sunlight is hard to come by, but I DID manage to squeeze in some sun for it today even if briefly. I know I'm thirsty for some sun just as much as some of the plants here are! In case of an emergency though, I have no idea who to contact if the plant is on the verge of dying. I already did lots of research, but I'm not sure if there's something else I need to do??

[@CarnivorousPlantsHub]

The most important thing is to get it as much light as possible. I would probably avoid dormancy this year if they are tiny, usually in the first year, they can skip dormancy and be just find. I do have a full guide if you are interested. It might be necessary for you to purchase a small grow light, if you want to it to get enough light over the winter while skipping dormancy. Check it out though, you might pick up some extra tips! kzbin.info/www/bejne/iquogmBjhtaefLs

[@kenz4366]

How would I water a trap in colder weather and hotter weather?

[@CarnivorousPlantsHub]

The hotter it is the more water you give them. The colder it gets, the substrate holds on to water longer. Know the weight of your pot to really help with knowing when you need to water again.

[@kenz4366]

@@CarnivorousPlantsHub thank you 🙏

[@herrbrahms]

Having used a distiller similar to that one for my CPAP machine for a decade, I have a few helpful tips. 1. A distiller makes a ton of heat and consumes a ton of power. The best thing to do is to make all your water during the winter and store it over the summer. That way, the waste heat is a benefit rather than a problem. 2. Left to its own devices, a distiller will boil to dryness. Don't let it do that! Put it on a timer and distill until about an inch of brine is left in the unit, then kill the power and let it cool before opening. You will have to determine the right amount of time through trial and error, and it helps for consistency if you always start with room temperature water. Cold tap water won't get as far through the cycle in the same amount of time. Pour the brine out once cool and refill with new tap water. After years of letting my distiller boil to dryness, I tried to clean it with vinegar. The scale laughed at it. I tried CLR. Same result. I was only able to make headway by putting on safety glasses and gloves to use technical grade hydrochloric acid. The fumes weren't pleasant, and disposal of strong acid isn't good for your plumbing. Better to just not let the scale build up in the first place. 3. Another good source for a distiller is a dehumidifier. Sometimes, the waste water they generate will contain black mold spores, and while you REALLY don't want to use that in a CPAP, it's probably not great for carnivorous plants either. But the nice part is that distilling the water sterilizes it, and dehumidifier water leaves no mineral scale behind. It's a better feedstock than tap water or rain.

[@CarnivorousPlantsHub]

These are great tips! I did buy a distiller, but mine has an auto turn off feature when the process is finished. Which is really nice! Great tip about doing more distilling in winter, my distiller does put out a lot of heat. Thank you for all the helpful information!

[@ladydeanna3775]

I’m confused on the watering. I got the vft in February and I have kept them sitting in water since then and so far they have grown more traps they eats gnats and one is actually flowering right now. So I came across a website that is saying not to let them sit in water. I am now confused and my vft seem to be doing well. Also, there are these thin green things growing upwards next to the vft they are not baby traps these things have a curl it’s looks like a thin curling stalk growing up on the side of the vft there are 4 of them. I do have sundews and idk if the sundew dropped seeds into my vft pot because I’m trying to figure out what these things are.

[@CarnivorousPlantsHub]

It sounds like you probably have a flower stalk growing up. I have a video all about flower stalks, go check it out! kzbin.info/www/bejne/jKuplq2gqbCCl8U Also, with watering. If it's really hot outside, its probably okay to always leave it in a tray of water. The lower he temps get the higher risk you have of the crown of the plant rotting if it sits in water all the time. If the tray of water goes away in 3 to 4 days, its probably fine. If the tray stays there for weeks, it should be kept in that same water.

[@pershop4950]

I've heard of a strategy where you keep your old(er) ZeroWater filter, and continue using it for a bit longer. The reason is that it no longer makes the water be 0 ppm, but it can still make it be 50 ppm (as an example). Then you use that 50 ppm water with your new filter, which will make it be 0 pm. But instead of starting from something like 150 or 200 ppm , which for example, would be your initial starting value of your tap water, it started from 50 ppm. As a result, the new filter would last longer than usual, because it is filtering on water that is 50 ppm to start with, not 200 ppm. And your old filter can be used longer, because you just want it to get 50 ppm, not 0 ppm. So you can make your ZW filter last longer , whether it's your old one, or your new one, by using both together. Anyway, that's just an idea on how to extend the use of the filters. I know the video said it might average 40 gallons before it won't read as 0 ppm anymore, so let's use that as a baseline. This means a $15 filter gave the equivalent of $40 of RO water, but actually it could extend even longer than 40 gallons as long as you can let it get slightly higher than 0 ppm. Another strategy is that of course, you can average out to 30-50ppm on the water, which means the ZW filter could really go for longer than 40 gallons, as long as you want to let it continue on with having 0 - 30 ppm water.

[@CarnivorousPlantsHub]

I think this is a great strategy. It does require a lot more work and you would need to be pretty organized to not confuse the higher PPM water that you are needing to re-filter. But, if you came up with a good system, this would most definitely extend the life of the filters. It would be more time consuming, but if you had the time and a good plan, I think it would work really great! Keep filtering with the old filter until the water is running at the same PPM as it is out of the faucet.

[@redterrorz]

I use a giant plastic syringe and attach a DRINKING STRAW to it. makes targeted watering very EASY.

[@CarnivorousPlantsHub]

That is a great idea! Very creative! I'm seriously going on Amazon after this to see if I can find one. Great suggestion!

[@jerimiah_y]

Target distilled water is $0.60 cents. Lidl purified water $0.62 and distilled about $0.80. All of the above measure 0. Props on Zero water pitcher I was going to seconds that. Have been drinking and watering with Zero for years.

[@CarnivorousPlantsHub]

Yes. Most pure bottled water won't work, I've tested those in the 90s before. I've never had my Walmart distilled water test above 0 buy I've also not tested every gallon. But I test every pitcher of the zero and my water distiller. Haven't seen anything above 0 yet.

[@matthewpasqua4804]

I wish you kept the camera on that trap to the left…… looks like it did catch that fly :-)

[@CarnivorousPlantsHub]

I didn't notice, I'll have to go back and watch!

[@jolladevices]

3:14 that bug trying to become a YT celebrity but failing... :-D

[@CarnivorousPlantsHub]

Lol, some insects are just so desperate for attention... Ugh...

[@jolladevices]

@@CarnivorousPlantsHub question: it's holiday and I finished the distillate water, can I use Sparkling Water while I get the ZeroWater Filter? 🤔 I heard is around ph3...

[@CarnivorousPlantsHub]

I'm not sure to be honest. You'd have to test with a tds meter to be sure.

[@jolladevices]

@@CarnivorousPlantsHub I almost received the Zerowater cup with included TDS... I will test.

[@buggsy-sb3if]

@@jolladevices Plain tap water probably has less dissolved solids than sparkling water - especially sparkling mineral water. pH3 is too acidic and I doubt if the Zerowater filter would remove the acidity.

[@kerrijohnstone7588]

I just watched your water distiller. And I must say that for four hours waiting for water to the steel I am going to get in the car go down the shop by myself 6 L in 2 L bottles for roughly 3 dollars maybe less mate I’m just not buying the distiller thing it’s just too much particularly for a beginner

[@CarnivorousPlantsHub]

Ha! Yes, that is NOT an efficient way to make water. Maybe in an emergency pinch, but it turned out to be much more cumbersome than necessary. I'd strongly recommend different methods, if they are an option.

[@davidmg1925]

why cant americans just tell you 1:31 no sighn of it yet

[@CarnivorousPlantsHub]

You spelled sign wrong... Sorry, I couldn't resist. Seriously though, I've been working on this a lot. I know how valuable everyone's time is and I really want to respect that. I'm always working on delivering my content more efficiently. Thank you for the feedback!