Venus flytrap

The Venus flytrap plant (Dionaea muscipula) is the only representative of the genus Dioneus from the Rosyankov family. In nature, you can see such bushes in some American states on the Atlantic coast: they are usually found in swampy areas. Although the Venus flytrap is listed as an endangered plant today, it retains its popularity as an unusual home flower.

The Latin name for the bushes means "mousetrap", although flower traps are dangerous only for insects. Presumably, the reason for this inconsistency was a mistake - the species Dionea Muscipula was supposed to be called a "fly trap" - "muscicipula".

The common name of the genus - Dionea - was given by the name of the Greek goddess - mother Aphrodite. The British also call the bushes "Venus flycatchers." The unusual name of the species is associated with the shape of the plant's leaf traps. According to one version, they resemble shells - one of the symbols of the feminine principle and the goddess Venus, born from sea foam.

Venus flytrap description

Dionea is a herbaceous perennial. This genus includes only the Venus flytrap. Its potted bushes grow up to 15 cm in height, and in nature they are about 20 cm in size. The underground stem looks like a bulb. During flowering, a tall peduncle is formed on it with simple white flowers, forming an inflorescence-shield. The size of the peduncle allows insects to pollinate flowers without fear of falling into a trap. On pollinated flowers, boxes with small black and shiny seeds are tied.

The underground stalk of the Venus flytrap forms from 4 to 7 leaves, forming a rosette. Closer to the end of flowering, traps up to 15 cm long appear on them. Their color is green, but the inner part begins to turn red from the bright light. Sometimes the color changes depending on the age of the bush. Some varieties of the plant can glow a little with a pale blue light - the accumulated sunlight allows them to lure victims even in the dark.

The predatory "habits" of the Venus flycatcher are determined by the conditions of its habitat. The swamp swamps on which it grows are very poor in nitrogen, therefore, the flower assimilates the essential element for life, hunting slugs and insects.

Traps are formed at the top of the short petioles for photosynthesis. Gradually, the petioles begin to grow and go up. Each trap located above them has two valves surrounded by sparse bristles. Victims are attracted to them by the scent of nectar produced by the glands. When they touch the sensitive trigger hairs inside the trap, its shutters slam shut, and the flower begins to digest the prey. This takes about 5-10 days, after which the trap returns to its original position.Each such trap is capable of capturing and processing up to 3 insects, after which it dies off, although sometimes their number can reach up to 7-10 pieces.

The structure of the plant provides for protection against accidental slamming of traps due to water droplets or debris falling on them. For them to work, you need to act on at least a couple of hairs for 20 seconds. The flower independently calculates whether it is worth it to launch the "mechanism" of the trap, so as not to close it in vain - after all, it takes a lot of effort. Only "calculating" that the prey will allow him to get enough, the bush finally catches it and begins the process of digestion.

Brief rules for growing a Venus flytrap

The table shows brief rules for caring for the Venus flytrap at home.

Caring for the Venus flytrap at home

Subject to the rules of care, the plant can live up to 30 years. The Venus flytrap can be grown both at home and in the garden. But for the healthy development of the green predator, special conditions are required.

Lighting

For full growth, the Venus flytrap should be kept on bright east or west windows. This is the easiest way to fulfill the plant's requirements: about 4-5 hours of direct light per day, after which the lighting becomes diffused. Best of all, the bush assimilates direct light in the morning or evening. The dark corner involves the use of lamps. Lack of illumination affects the appearance of the Venus flytrap and the brightness of its color.

At home, Venus flycatchers are often grown in special containers - florariums or terrariums, which make it possible to provide plantings with high humidity. Due to the dryness of the air, the foliage of the bush begins to dry out and loses its attractiveness. So that the flower does not suffer from a lack of lighting in such a vessel, it is supplemented with a 40 W lamp. It should be located 20 cm from the bush and provide about 15 hours of daylight.

Venus flytrap also needs fresh air. The plant does not tolerate the lack of air circulation, so the room with it should be ventilated more often.At this time, they try not to expose the bush itself to a draft. In the summer, the flycatcher can be moved to the balcony, providing it with shelter from excessively bright light. But the bush perceives any movement very painfully, so it is not worth turning it to the light in different directions.

Temperature

In summer, the Venus flytrap calmly tolerates both moderate heat and heat. The optimum temperature for a plant in the summer is 20-30 degrees. In winter, the flower is kept cool - at about 7 degrees. Without a drop in temperature for 3-4 months, the bush will not live longer than 1.5-2 years.

Falling asleep, the flycatcher sheds foliage. During this period, a pot with a bush can even be stored in the refrigerator, but it should not be colder than 2 degrees in the compartment with a flower. At the same time, in their homeland, Dionei are able to endure a mild winter under the snow, but they do not survive frost.

Watering

The roots of the Venus flytrap are not adapted to assimilate mineral salts and nutrients from the soil, so only soft rainwater should be used for irrigation. Once collected, it should be stored in a plastic container. If you cannot use rainwater, the flower is watered with distilled or bottled water.

The soil in the pot must maintain constant moisture - overdrying the soil can lead to the death of the traps. But the usual watering should be replaced with lower ones. If you water the plant from above, the soil will begin to thicken and the soil will become less acidic. Instead, the container with the flower is placed on a tray of water so that the drainage holes are immersed in it. This allows the flycatcher itself to draw in the required amount of moisture.

Humidity level

To maintain the air humidity necessary for the Venus flycatcher (about 70%), it is planted in aquariums, florariums or terrariums. The bottom of the container is sprinkled with expanded clay, periodically pouring water into it, which will evaporate. Do not cover the aquarium with a lid, this will block the flow of air to the flower, and also block the path of insects.

Top dressing

The predator absorbs all the necessary elements from its prey, therefore, it will not need additional fertilizing: the soil in the pot is not fertilized.

Diet

The Venus flytrap has its own nutritional preferences and is not able to assimilate every insect. So beetles with a hard shell, gnawing species and earthworms can damage her traps. Also, you cannot feed the flower with ordinary meat or sausage - such a menu may end with the development of rot on the traps. If food that is not suitable for the flower was put into the trap, but it slammed shut, you should not open it by force. After a couple of days, the flaps should open by themselves. During the growth period, it will be enough for the bush to catch a couple of medium-sized spiders, flies or mosquitoes. Bushes growing on the balcony or on the street will be able to attract prey themselves. In other cases, a fly or mosquito can be caught and run to the flower in the aquarium.

In some cases, it is not worthwhile to arrange such feeding for a flycatcher. A plant that is sick, growing in an inappropriate environment, or recently undergoing the stress of transplanting or changing conditions will not be able to properly absorb the prey. A "well-fed" bush will also not catch flies. It's not worth touching the traps for fun, you can accidentally damage them.

From the end of September, the Venus flytrap is no longer fed - the plant retires and such food will not be required until spring.

The soil

The soil for planting should include perlite, double peat and half quartz sand. The sand must first be boiled in distillate, perlite is kept in water for a week. Too nutritious soils are avoided - they will not benefit the bush. You can purchase a special potting mix if you wish. Expanded clay should not be added to the soil - it is considered too alkaline for a flower. The flycatcher will not need drainage either.

Transfer

The indoor venus flytrap assumes a systematic spring transplant. It is held every 2-3 years.A high, but not too wide container is suitable for growing: the size of the roots can reach up to 20 cm in length. Clay pots are preferred.

The plant is transplanted into a new pot carefully, taking care not to damage the roots. The bush is pulled out of the container, carefully cleaned of soil residues, if necessary, soaking the soil clod in water, and then the foliage is washed with a spray bottle. The transplanted plant should remain dormant for about 5 weeks, adapting to the new soil. All this time it should be kept in partial shade and watered abundantly.

If the Venus flytrap is planned to be kept in the garden in the summer, a container about 20 cm deep and about 30 cm wide is prepared for it. The surface of the substrate must be covered with moss, which prevents the soil from drying out quickly. At the same time, for a bush, a moderately bright place is selected, sheltered from too scorching rays.

Bloom

Venus flytrap blooms in late spring or early summer, after the final awakening. In this case, the plant forms a long peduncle with a corymbose inflorescence at the top. It is formed by flowers up to 1 cm in size with a sweet aroma.

Flowering lasts only a few weeks, but it takes a lot of energy from the bush. Its traps develop much worse, acquiring a tiny size. The growth of the entire plant also slows down. If there is no need to collect seeds, the flowers are removed even before opening, cutting off the arrow at the root. Sections are powdered with crushed coal. But the fact of flowering in itself indicates that the bush is being looked after correctly. The cut arrow can be used to reproduce the flower. It is rooted like a stalk, without cutting off the crown.

Dormant period

In autumn, the Venus flytrap stops forming new foliage and prepares for a dormant period. To help the plant go into a dormant state, it is necessary to reduce the number and volume of waterings. The water from the pallet must be drained. In winter, the flower is kept in the shade and cool (about 7-10 degrees). Usually, closed balconies or a vegetable compartment of the refrigerator are suitable for this. The sleeping flycatcher does not need either light or food - its foliage dries up completely, although they do not stop watering the plant. Watering is carried out only occasionally, in order to prevent decay of the root system, using water at the same temperature as that of the environment surrounding the flower.

At the beginning of March, the plant is returned to its usual place, all old traps are cut off and the usual leaving schedule is resumed, gradually returning to the lighting and watering regime. But the bush will not begin to develop actively immediately, but only by the end of May.

The bushes that were grown outdoors, before the onset of cold weather, are brought into the basement for safe wintering, and are returned to the garden only with the arrival of heat.

Venus flytrap breeding methods

Growing from seeds

Venus flytrap seeds can only be obtained through artificial pollination. After waiting for flowering, the pollen is transferred from one flower to another with a brush or cotton swab. Ideally, two different plants are pollinated. If you carry out the procedure correctly, a box with seeds will form in place of the pollinated flower in a month.

The seeds obtained in this way remain viable for only a few months, so you should not hesitate with sowing. It is carried out immediately after collection. To increase the germination of both fresh and older seeds, you can use stratification - they should spend about 5 weeks in the refrigerator in a tightly closed bag with moss. Moss can be replaced with cotton pads slightly soaked in a disinfecting solution (a few drops of fungicide in a glass of distilled water). Holes are made in the bag for ventilation, and once a week they look in there to check and, if necessary, re-moisten. If the seeds develop mold, they are cleaned with a fungicide and the procedure is repeated. For old seeds about 3-4 months old, the period can be increased to 7-8 weeks.

For germination, take a container filled with warm soil, 2/3 consisting of sphagnum and 1/3 of quartz sand. The prepared seeds are distributed superficially, without deepening, and then sprayed and tidied up in a mini-greenhouse. Crops should be in diffused light - on a windowsill or under a lamp. At a temperature of 24-30 degrees, seedlings will appear in about 2-3 weeks. The soil in the container should be checked daily for moisture and watered as needed. The shelter is removed daily for ventilation. After another 2-3 weeks, the sprouts can be cut into separate pots up to 9 cm in diameter. After 4 months of development, the bushes will begin to prepare for wintering. If the calendar winter has not yet arrived, you can again transplant the Dionei into fresh soil, shifting the rest period to a later date. Such Venus flytrap will be considered adults only in the 5th year of cultivation.

Propagation by leaf cuttings

It is necessary to cut a leaf from a bush, capturing an area near the bulb itself. The area of ​​the cut is treated with a growth stimulant, and then the leaf is planted at an angle in the same mixture as when sowing seeds. You can remove the trap from the handle. The seedling is covered with a jar or bag and placed in a bright place. The leaf is kept in such conditions until the shoots appear at the base of the seedling: this takes about 1-3 months. But the percentage of rooting of flycatcher leaves is small - many plantings die due to fungal diseases.

Dividing the bush

The easiest and most effective way to get new copies of the Venus flytrap is to divide its bushes. Usually it is combined with a transplant. The overgrown bush is pulled out of the ground, cleaned from the ground, and then with a sharp and clean tool, daughter sockets with their own roots (at least two) are cut off from it. Children are seated in their own pots and kept in the shade until rooting is complete. If traps are already present on the bush, during this procedure they try not to touch them.

But you should not remove all the baby outlets from the Venus flytrap. The plant develops much better when it retains several small shoots-bushes, therefore, the division is carried out no more than once every 2-3 years.

Peduncle propagation

If your plans include the reproduction of the Venus flycatcher by a peduncle, then it is better to do this when it grows in length to 4-5 cm. After that, the peduncle is cut off and shallow, 1 centimeter is enough, buried in peat. The rooted peduncle is covered with a cap, creating greenhouse conditions for it.

Now it remains to wait for the appearance of a young growth. It won't happen quickly. Throughout the waiting period, carefully ventilate the rooted peduncle and keep the soil moist.

The peduncle can dry out over time, have a lifeless appearance, but this does not mean that the process has failed. After 1.5-2 months, new growth will appear, which means that you will have new exotic plants.

Venus flytrap diseases and pests

Pests

Although the Venus flytrap itself is able to cleanse the house of some insects, some pests can still attack the predator. They usually settle outside the leaves or are too small to affect the villi of the traps. So when aphids appear, traps can deform. To get rid of such insects, the flower is treated with an aerosol insecticide. You can also use folk remedies - infusions of fragrant herbs that aphids do not like.

From dry indoor air, a spider mite may appear on the bush. It feeds on foliage sap and most often appears on the underside of the plates. You can recognize the danger by the cobweb appearing on the leaves. If you don't take action, the mites will multiply and quickly destroy the plant. To combat them, the Venus flytrap is sprayed with acaricide, usually to completely defeat the pest, systemic treatment will be required in several stages with weekly breaks.

If mealybugs appear on the flower, also feeding on juices, the pests themselves are collected by hand with a cotton swab dipped in alcohol, and then the bush is treated with appropriate means.

Diseases

From stagnant moisture at the roots and high humidity, a sooty fungus can appear on the bushes. Fungicides will help to cope with it. If the Venus flytrap is kept in conditions unusual for it, the bush may be affected by gray rot, also called botrytis. Such plants are covered with gray fluff. At the first signs of the disease, all affected parts of the bush are quickly removed, and then the flower is treated with a fungicide.

The most dangerous infection for the Venus flytrap is considered a bacterial one. It usually occurs due to problems with the digestion of the captured victim. Most often this happens due to attempts to feed the flycatcher with something inappropriate. The affected trap begins to rot and turn black, after which the disease is transmitted to the entire bush. The decaying trap must be cut off faster, the cuts must be powdered with charcoal, and the rest of the plant must be treated with a fungicidal preparation according to the instructions.

If the plant develops too slowly in spring, it is likely that wintering conditions have been violated. If Dionea does not rest at all, you can lose the plant in the second year of cultivation.

Types and varieties of Venus flytrap with photos and names

The genus of Dionea is considered monotypic: it includes only one species. But breeders based on it were able to obtain many varieties of Venus flytrap, differing in the color of foliage and traps, as well as in their size and features. Among the most common:

• Akai Ryu - the leaves and traps of this variety have a dark red color, the intensity of which is not affected by lighting. Outside of each trap, there is a green stripe.
• Bohemian Garnet - bushes up to 12 cm in diameter have rich green foliage and form up to 12 traps. Wide foliage is located close to the ground, covering the surface of the soil. The traps are also horizontal.
• Giant - the green rosette of such bushes quickly forms traps over 5 cm in size. In bright light, they acquire a bright crimson color.
• Dracula - traps of this variety are green on the outside, and reddish on the inside. The denticles are small in size, and on the outside they are supplemented with a red stripe.
• Dante Trap - forms bushes up to 12 cm in diameter, with 5 to 12 traps. The aboveground part of the plant is green in color, and on the outside of the traps there is a red stripe. The inside of the traps is also colored red. Both foliage and traps are nearly vertical.
• Crocedile - the color of the bushes changes as they develop. Young specimens are green with a pale pinkish trap cavity. In adult bushes, the traps turn red. The foliage is horizontal.
• Ragula - the bushes have green foliage, and the traps from the inside are painted in shades of red, alternating with purple.
• Triton - traps of this green-leaved variety have an unusual shape for a plant - more elongated and cut only from one side. At the same time, their teeth can stick together.
• Funnel Trap - another variety with changing foliage color. Young plants are green, then the traps turn red, and the stalks remain green. The bush can form two types of traps of different structures.