venus fly traps.

[matt]

is it normal for their traps to die after catching prey?

I breed meal worms so i have a constant stock of bugs to feed the fly traps and after a week or 2, when the prey has been consumed the traps turn black and die. do they never reopen?

 

[Corzhens]

Pardon me for not contributing anything to this thread. I am curious about that Venus fly trap because of their carnivorous nature. I was offered a plant like that some years back but it was very expensive so I hesitated until my husband said that we do not know how to care for it. But until now I am interested because of that ability to catch prey. Maybe when the price goes down I can buy one just to satisfy my curiosity.

 

[matt]

Pardon me for not contributing anything to this thread. I am curious about that Venus fly trap because of their carnivorous nature. I was offered a plant like that some years back but it was very expensive so I hesitated until my husband said that we do not know how to care for it. But until now I am interested because of that ability to catch prey. Maybe when the price goes down I can buy one just to satisfy my curiosity.

they are very cheap here in the UK. my plant cost me £1.99 and is growing like mad.

If you can find a cheap plant i recommend buying one. they are very easy to care for.

 

[IcyBC]

My nephew bought a venus fly trap for my mother since she always seems to have fruit flies in her house. The plant has been there for a while now, but it is still living. I wonder why yours die out after catching bugs, and hopefully someone can answer your question!

 

[matt]

My nephew bought a venus fly trap for my mother since she always seems to have fruit flies in her house. The plant has been there for a while now, but it is still living. I wonder why yours die out after catching bugs, and hopefully someone can answer your question!

its not that the whole plant dies, just the trap that caught the prey. the plant as a whole is very healthy and doing well.

Im wondering if the meal worms are too large, which means it takes longer for the trap to digest them.

 

[Becky]

How big is it and how much / how often do you feed it? The primary source of energy for a plant is photosynthesis, and it will expend some of this energy when it digests food in it's trap. It could be that you are feeding it too much and it can't cope, but I'm just guessing here.

 

[IcyBC]

its not that the whole plant dies, just the trap that caught the prey. the plant as a whole is very healthy and doing well.

Im wondering if the meal worms are too large, which means it takes longer for the trap to digest them.

Sorry @matt ! You might have found an answer there, and I believe Becky is right too about the photosynthesis as the main source of energy. Maybe you could try to feed it less often, or breaking the meal worms into smaller pieces..I am just guessing too

 

[Pat]

I don't know anything about the Venus Fly Trap but the thought of feeding it too much sounds like it maybe the problem. The plant does need light to grow and if your plant is not getting enough light it will dye. A plant can do without food longer than it can do without light.

 

[Rosyrain]

I have not seen a venus fly trap in a long time. They are a very interesting plant, and I have always thought them to be gross at the same time because it takes a while for them to digest the flies and bugs they catch. I do not believe that they die after catching the bug, perhaps the leaves of the one that caught your fly was weak and dying anyway.

 

[Troy]

Venus fly traps (VFT) have 3 little trigger hairs on the inside of each trap, if you look closely you will see them. Any two hairs brushed within 2 seconds will trigger the trap to close and each trap only re-opens 3 times, after which it dies. The traps are just leaves so it is only the leaf that dies but of course if you kill all the leaves then the plant dies. I would suggest you don't feed the plant that often, maybe only 1 leaf and when that has digested it's prey feed another one, they don't need that much food.
I would also expect that a meal worm is LOT for a VFT to eat, they get by on flies and much smaller things and, as has already been pointed out, putting something overly large i the trap will cause it to rot.

The other thing to be aware of is that VFT's grow from a central (small) tuber and in nature experience a fairly cold winter during which time they naturally go dormant for around 4 to 6 months. They need this period of dormancy to survive and if they don't get it they will gradually get weaker and die regardless of how well they are looked after.

Cheers, Troy