Question:
I’ve been growing a Venus Fly Trap successfully for eight months. Should I be concerned that some of the leaves have turned black or that it isn’t catching any flies? Also, it’s starting to flower.Answer:
- A Venus Flytrap plant is not the easiest plant to grow so congratulations on your success. You’re doing a lot of things right.
- The critical growing issue is to duplicate its natural habitat which is a brightly lit location that is warm, and humid. It is quite typical for the leaves to turn black, either from rotting or old age.
- The black leaves can be left alone, and they will decompose naturally, or you can carefully trim the dead portion off. However, it is essential that you do not cut into the green part of the plant. These wounds can be an entry point for a fungal disease which is not easy to control. It’s a matter of personal aesthetics more than anything else on which option you choose.
- Venus Flytraps have no natural lure for flies, so you have to be patient waiting for one to land. Once a fly lands, it will trip the thin hairs that are located off-center on the open pad closing it.
- Once closed, it will be sometime before the pad reopens again. Venus Flytraps does not capture a considerable volume of flies, only what it needs.
- Besides flies, The International Carnivorous Plant Society suggests that spiders, mites, and slugs are other sources of food for the Venus Fly Traps but not hamburger. Venus Fly
- Traps will flower as a regular part of their growing cycle. The flower is not that impressive. The flower stalk is a weird looking cylindrical stem that develops from the center of the plant. That said, it’s recommended that you trim those flowering stalks off as soon as you can, as the flowering process takes a great deal of the plant's energy.
- If the flower stalk is already three inches long, you might as well let your plant finish flowering as most of the energy has already been exhausted.
Note:
The International Carnivorous Plant Society believes inadequate lighting is the primary reason for growing failures with Venus Flytraps. They require a very, bright, sunny location, one that makes your eyes squint without dark glasses. Most windowsills are just too dim for them. Also, the traps themselves turn that intense maroon color if they are getting plenty of bright light; otherwise, they revert to a light green color.Question:
My neighbor has offered to share some Wooly Thyme. He’s using it as the ground cover. Can I substitute it for a cooking herb?Answer:
- Wooly Thyme, thymus pseudolanuginosus, is not considered a culinary herb. However, it can be used, but the flavor is not the same.
- Wooly Thyme has a wonderful semi-aromatic, ground cover that grows into a lovely low carpet of grey, wooly leaves. It has pale pink flowers during the summer in the full sun. It grows in poor soil, needs little water but requires good drainage.
- It is used as a lawn substitute, between stepping-stones and it drapes nicely over containers and walls. Besides, it’s an eye-catching contrast in texture and color when planted next to broadleaf evergreens.