Features of keeping the Venus flytrap at home

Among plants, as you know, there are also predators. Carnivorous plants have evolved through a lack of essential nutrients in the soil. Venus flytrap belongs to such predatory plants. It eats flies, slugs, bees and other insects. Translated from Latin, the name Dionaea muscipula sounds like a "mousetrap". Perhaps this is just an accidental mistake by a botanist who first described a flower discovered in 1760 in southeastern America. The name Dioneus is derived from the mother of the Greek goddess of love Aphrodite. In Russia, the flower is usually called the Venus flytrap or Dionea and is willingly grown at home.

Flower description

This predatory flower with a beautiful name is a short, about 15 cm, herbaceous plant with a rosette of 4-7 leaves. Traps are formed in them. Dionea usually blooms in early summer. Its small five-leafed flowers look like a white star at the end of the stem. They look pretty plain. The flowering time is 1.5-2 months, and then oval capsules ripen in place of the flowers, they contain small black seeds.

Trap leaves form after the flowering period. They, unlike flowers, look beautiful, have an unusual shape and bright color: green on the outside, and reddish on the inside. The length of the leaf varies from 8 to 15 cm. The traps are equipped with sharp thorns along the edges.

Venus flytrap is a herbaceous perennial of the Rosyankovye family, and this is the only species in the genus. The life span of the plant is about 7 years. Under natural conditions, it grows on soils in which there is little nitrogen, and eaten insects serve as a source of the missing nutrient for it.

Although the genus of the plant is monotypic, it has many varieties. For example:

• Dante Trap;
• Giant;
• Akai Riu;
• Ragula;
• Bohemian;
• Fannel Trap;
• Crocedile;
• Triton;
• Dracula and others.

They are not very different in appearance, but certain differences exist and are easy to notice.

How does the predator hunt?

First, insects are attracted by the bright color of the plant. Secondly, there is a special substance in the trap - nectar. Trap leaves consist of two valves that close when an insect enters them. In addition to the spines, there are three hairs-sensors along the edges. As soon as the insect got inside and began to lick off the tasty nectar, it is enough to touch these hairs - and the trap literally slams shut instantly. It takes her less than a second.

The plant then begins to digest the prey. This usually takes 5-10 days, depending on the size of the insect. After that, the predator again opens the trap leaf in anticipation of new victims. Thus, the flower can kill up to 7 insects, although usually the trap dies off after 2-3 individuals are eaten.

Growing a flower at home

In order for Dionea to grow well at home, you need to create conditions for her that are closest to natural ones. You can grow a flower both in the garden and at home, but caring for it is quite difficult, like for all exotic plants.

The best place for the Venus Flytrap is the sills of the east or west windows. Dionea is photophilous and adores sunbathing for 4-5 hours every day, preferably in the morning or evening. If there is not enough light, you can make an artificial backlight. However, direct sunlight when the plant is located on the south side can harm it.In such cases, it is better to remove the flower in a darker place or shade it right on the window.

Dionea needs regular ventilation, stagnant air is destructive for her. But she also does not like strong drafts. In summer, the plant feels good on the balcony or in the garden at 20-30 ° C.

Plant care at different times

At different periods of life, you need to take care of Dionea in different ways.

• In the spring-summer period, abundant watering is extremely important for the Venus flycatcher. She needs a humidity of at least 70%. The soil in the plant pot must be constantly moist. Drying out the substrate can kill the traps. In addition, the plant needs to be sprayed regularly. Watering Dionea should be done with soft rain or distilled water at room temperature. It is better to collect rainwater in plastic containers.

Advice

It is also good to place the plant pot in a pan of water so that the drainage holes are constantly submerged in it. So the flower will collect the required amount of moisture by itself.

• In the fall, the plant begins to prepare for hibernation, stopping leaf growth and entering a dormant period. At this time, you need to remove the tray with water, and reduce watering. The flycatcher can overwinter in a cool shaded place at a temperature of 7-10 ° C. Until spring, she does not need light or food, only moderate soil moisture is required. At this time, the flower looks completely ugly: the leaves first turn brown, and then completely fall off.
• In the spring, around mid-March, the dionea can be returned to its old place, having previously cut off last year's traps that did not fall off themselves, and increase watering and lighting. But the active growth of the flower will still begin only at the beginning of summer. During the flowering period, if you are not going to get the seeds of the plant by the fall, it is better to cut the flowers right in the buds, since they deplete the flycatcher and prevent its traps from fully forming.

Should I fertilize Dionea?

Since the natural habitat for the Dionea is the American swamps, it prefers moist and acidic soil. Such a substrate can be obtained by mixing 4 parts of peat, 2 parts of agroperlite and one part of quartz sand. All this is now easy to buy in specialized stores. Before mixing, the perlite must be soaked for a week, and the sand must be boiled in distillate.

Advice

It is impossible to use universal soil for Dionea; it does not need drainage either. The plant does not require any additional fertilizers, since the insects that fall into the traps are quite enough for it to develop and grow.

How to feed a Venus flytrap? For the entire growing season, it will be enough to treat the plant with 2-3 flies, mosquitoes or spiders. The insects must be alive and move, otherwise the trap will not close. You can feed only one or two traps at a time.

Dionea cannot be fed with the following fauna:

• earthworms;
• gnawing insects;
• beetles with a hard shell.

Also, in no case should you "treat" the flower with meat or sausage, from this the trap leaves will rot.

You can not feed also in cases where:

• dionea is sick or weakened;
• recently had a transplant;
• got stressed from excess moisture or sunburn;
• is in a state of winter dormancy.

Plants stop feeding from early October to spring.

How to plant and transplant dionea

The plant is transplanted in the spring, every 2-3 years. You will need a not very wide, but deep pot, since the roots of the flycatcher can reach 20 cm. They are quite fragile, so care should be taken when transplanting. Taking the flower out of the pot, the roots are cleaned of the old substrate, if necessary, they are briefly soaked in water. The plant will take about a month to adapt to a new location. During this entire period, it should be kept in semi-darkness and watered abundantly.

How to grow a Venus flytrap yourself? There are three breeding methods for this.

• Growing from seeds.

The most difficult and time consuming way. First, you need to manually pollinate the flowers with a brush. When boxes with seeds are formed, they must be carefully removed and sown no later than three months later in a heated substrate of sphagnum moss (70%) and quartz sand (30%). The seeds are simply scattered over the soil surface and sprayed with soft water. Then they are placed in a greenhouse with a temperature of 24-29 ° C.

The light must be bright and diffused at the same time, and the substrate must be kept constantly moist. After 2-3 weeks, the seeds will begin to sprout, and after 4-6 weeks they can already be planted in separate small containers. But in order to grow a dionea from seed to an adult plant, it will take about 5 years.

• Propagation by leafy cuttings.

You need to cut off a leaf from the plant, treat the cut with "Kornevin" and plant the cutting in the appropriate soil. Then cover with a glass jar and keep under bright, diffused light. After about three months, young shoots appear at the base of the cutting.

• Reproduction by dividing the bush.

The easiest method to use when transplanting a flower. Daughter rosettes are carefully separated from an adult (1–2-year-old) plant. They can be planted in separate pots and cared for in the same way as a normal transplant.

This is how it is easiest and easiest to grow a Venus flytrap yourself.

Diseases and pests

A predatory plant can suffer from insects as well as an ordinary one. The most common pests of Dionea:

• aphids growing in traps;
• spider mites.

Against aphids, the plant is sprayed with special insecticides, and ticks are destroyed with an acaricide solution.

As for the diseases of Dionea, the most frequent and unpleasant "guests" are black sooty fungus and gray rot, which covers the plant with mold fluff. They start up due to improper care: the main reason is too high humidity and too much watering. Disease control is carried out using fungicides. The damaged parts of the plant must first be removed.

The most dangerous for a Dionea is the case when she is unable to digest an insect already inside. The trap begins to blacken and rot, quickly infecting neighboring ones. The diseased trap should be removed immediately and the plant should be treated with a fungicide.

But if you properly care for the Venus flytrap, the plant can delight you for a long time with its exotic habits and attractive appearance.