Subject: Re: Venus Fly Trap

From: [email-masked] (don steinitz )
Date: 26 Aug 1995 23:39:20 GMT

In <[email-masked]>
Jennifer Wright <[email-masked]> writes: 
>
>They can live a long time... mine used to always die until I put them
in  
>a terrarium of sorts... the key is lots of humidity and slightly acid 
>soil.  High peat moss content helps increase acidity, don't use
regular 
>potting soil.  In the venus fly traps I have now I just mixed some
peat 
>moss and sand and used that.  They don't necessarily need to catch 
>anything either.  I went to a farmer's market once and this guy had
some 
>venus fly traps out to sell and he said don't give them ground beef 
>either... he said "How often do you think a venus fly trap in the wild

>would catch a cow?"  He had a point.  I just catch some gnats from 
>outside and stuff and feed them that.. though they were doing fine 
>without the bugs.. it is just fun to watch.
>
>Anyway, the key is lots of humidity.. don't let the soil dry.  Acidic 
>soil mixture, lots of peat moss.  For the humidity, I planted mine in
an 
>empty one of those "Red Vines" buckets.. My mom loves those.  And I
keep 
>is closed most of the time and sometimes open it a bit to let the air
change.
>
>Good luck
>Jen
>
>PS  They grow really slow... so be patient :)
Hi Jen

I think this was a nice article about my favorite carniverous plant. I
think a little animal protein once in a while is ok in moderation of
course.
Bye for now

Don