About 5 weeks ago, I was in a local garden centre (man I am so 30something ), and I noticed a rather sorry looking venus flytrap, only had 2 heads on it and it appeared to be on it's last legs.

Liking underdogs (well, I am one), I took it on myself to try and raise my little buddy, and named him Seymour.

Well, maybe it wasn't a good idea, because he is going MENTAL, flys and spiders in my house better beware, because this fella is ravenous.

I am just waiting for the day he goes all Little shop of horrors on my ass, and I have to start providing it with human blood, FEED ME, FEED ME ALL NIGHT LONG.

Yes, I understand that in the film, the nerdish florist (me) was called Seymour and not the plant, but then again, I am not a nerdish, well, maybe I am nerdish, but certainly NOT a florist

Venus Fly Traps are ace. I used to have one a few years ago. Just to see what would happen, I baited one of the traps with honey and it caught a wasp

ive grown loads of carnivorus plants in the past........gr8 fun

just remember, RAIN WATER only!
dont let it flower unless you want to grow more
cut away any dead parts and you will have a healthy plant for ages

Nice plant. Would be nice if you had some pictures from the time you bought it

Quote from Polaxis :

Nice plant. Would be nice if you had some pictures from the time you bought it

Yeah, I know, I never thought, but trust me, it was a sorry little specimen

I have been collecting rainwater to water it, I have enough to last about 3000 years I think, damn British summer

As long as it doesn't start singing at you or demanding human blood I think you'll be fine. Nice recovery, and the thing looks deadly now. That's a lot of mouths

Where do you put the plant the whole day and do you feed it?

Quote from Polaxis :

Where do you put the plant the whole day and do you feed it?

It stills on my lounge windowsill, which normally gets a good 16 hours of sunlight.

Do I feed it?, is in stick live flies in it?, I have been known to assist him on his quest for fly meat

any positive effect on flys and mosquitos lately??
because i am living next to a kebap shop and need an effective way to KILL them ALL :P

Yup, seems to have reduced to fly population a little, and also, funnily enough, the spider population, I didn't realise they eat spiders, but go figure, they do..

I believe anything that wanders into the trap is pretty much toast if the plant can digest it :s

It's also possible that if the spiders can't find any flies to eat they'll bugger off somewhere there's more food. So everybody wins

You should test it on increasingly large things!

Fly: [x]
Spider: [x]
Mosquito: [ ]
Locust: [ ]
Mouse: [ ]
Dog: [ ]
Horse: [ ]
Elephant: [ ]
Whale: [ ]

Of course if it gets to the last few stages you'd better be typing on a laptop from quite a distance away

Lmao

Not sure where I am gonna find a Whale or and Elephant.............

brrr.....brrrr

Hello Petsmart

Hi, I would like to buy a whale and an elephant to feed my mutant plant.....

bbrrrrrrrr

Hello?, hello?

Thanks Dan, coffee to clean off my desk now...

What's this got to do with LFS? Can't we have another discussion about forced cockpit view?

Nice plant though.

thats all folks

nice i wanna seymour of it

honestly i crack myself up sometimes

Quote from mr grady :

just remember, RAIN WATER only!

I'm curious, why's that?

I used to use Tap water on my morning glories all the time, and I still use it all the time on my mom's tomatoes and basil. They're all doing just fine, and have been doing just fine.

I'm thinking of getting one to help out with the roach problem i've got. Can they digest roaches? How picky are they on climate and feed?

Because fly trap's die if you give them tap water, something to do with the extra added chemical's thats in tap water

Quote from LFSn00b :

Oh great, i ruined my keyboard, thanks Dan and Paul

Hurray! That means Niko can't post no more. Finally!

Quote from danowat :

Because fly trap's die if you give them tap water, something to do with the extra added chemical's thats in tap water

I thought chlorination was only in the continental US?

I know that the tap water here is 100% unadulterated.

It will almost certainly have a few chemicals added to it, even in Hawaii, unless your tap water is brown when it comes out.

They're swamp plants, so as long as they stay warm and get plenty of water (and flies of course) they should do alright.

Quote from Crashgate3 :

It will almost certainly have a few chemicals added to it, even in Hawaii, unless your tap water is brown when it comes out.

Well, I know that nothing other than what's required at the refining plant is added, and that's still very little. Most of our water is filtered through the lava rocks, and not much more.

Should I be wary of just picking one up at a local garden shop? Should I find a more reputable source to find a healthy plant?

The ones at your local shop should be fine. They're not actually that exotic, its just that there's not that many places where conditions are right for them to grow naturally in the wild. They like hot, boggy ground where there aren't many nutrients in the soil (hence supplementing their diet with insects).

Be wary of overfeeding it by 'playing' and feeding it flies yourself. Also, resist the temptation to set the traps off yourself just to see them close, as it takes a fair amount of energy for a plant to move that fast and will weaken it.

Quote from danowat :

I have to start providing it with human blood, FEED ME, FEED ME ALL NIGHT LONG.

well thats a good way of getting rid of noobs * begins running away *