Indoor Flying Mini
How to care for a mini indoor cactus and a venus fly trap!?
ive just bought a mini indoor cactus and im looking for a venus fly trap. Please tell me how to care for them! When to water, how much sunlight a etc. And also, some unique plants that are small and are good for in doors as well! Please help
I'm not too well versed in caring for cacti, but I think they basically like a lot of sun, warm conditions and soil that's exceptionally well draining. I know that there is cactus soil available at most nurseries, so that's what I'd use. It's composed of mostly sand and gravel.
As for flytraps, I have a ton of experience with them. Here are the basic things Venus Fly Traps require to stay healthy:
1. Sunlight - at least 4 hours of direct sunlight a day
2. Water - rain, distilled or reverse osmosis water only
3. Soil - Nutrient poor soil such as peat moss
4. Dormancy - Venus Fly Traps require a 3-4 month dormancy period
Venus fly traps like lots of light. Try to give it at least 4 hours of direct sunlight a day. The more you can give it the better. It is best to grow your fly trap outside where it can get plenty of sun and catch its own food. You don't actually have to feed a Venus Fly Trap anything other than sunlight and water. If you do choose to feed it, it only needs a few bugs a month and don't feed it anything other than insects.
Venus fly traps need clean water. Usually tap water will not do. It is best to use distilled water, rain water, or reverse osmosis water. Venus fly traps need water with a TDS (total dissolved solids) measurement of 50 ppm (parts per million) or less. In order to get this, you probably need to buy distilled water or reverse osmosis water or collect rain water. Their soil should be kept moist at all times except during the winter when it should be just barely damp. Be careful not to over water the plant. The best way to water it is using the tray method. Allow the tray to dry out for a day or two before refilling it with an inch or so of water (assuming you're using a fairly deep pot), and you should let the tray dry out longer (6 to 8 days or until the soil is barely damp) when the plant is dormant.
For soil you can use a combination of peat moss and/or perlite and/or silica sand. Most growers use a 50:50 mix of peat moss and perlite. Venus Fly Traps aren't picky, but be sure to use some form of peat moss or sphagnum peat moss with perlite or silica sand to ensure that the media is nutrient poor. I typically use 5 parts peat, 3 parts silica sand and 2 parts perlite. This provides good aeration to the soil so that they can grow a healthy root system and get very large. Also, deep pots with good insulation help the plant grow larger and stronger by giving them more room and protection for their roots.
Finally, without a dormancy period, your plant's health will start to decline and it will eventually die. Your plant should be dormant right now. You can read more about dormancy here:
http://www.flytrapcare.com/venus-fly-trap-dormancy.html
If you have any more questions, you should join the forum on my site and ask them there:
http://www.flytrapcare.com/phpBB3/
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