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Feeding Venus flytraps can be extremely fun and encourage an enormous amount of growth
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However, feeding Venus flytraps incorrectly can actually cause black leaves and end up
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harming the plant. So, in this video I'll show you exactly how to feed your Venus flytrap
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I'll be demonstrating on this B52 Venus flytrap and also in a couple more including a red dragon
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a red Venus flytrap. Let's just start from the beginning. Do Venus flytrap actually need to capture bugs
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Reality is that they don't. The nutrients that they get from capturing and consuming bugs are just a supplement
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They're just an extra boost to their diet. But a Venus flytrap can live its whole life without consuming one single insect
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Also, if your Venus flytrap lives outdoors, it will be able to capture its own bugs
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Still, if your Venus flytrap lives indoors or it just doesn't have access to bugs
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it is beneficial to feed your Venus flytrap every once in a while. Also, maybe you just want to feed your Venus flytrap for fun and that is completely alright
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Now, what do you feed your Venus flytrap? First of all, never attempt to feed human food to your Venus flytrap
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I have seen so many crazy experiments on the internet of people using raw meat, hamburger, sausage, salami, chicken, candy
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That just won't work. If you do place a piece of meat in your Venus flytrap, it won't be able to digest it
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It would actually be a pretty horrible experiment. You just put the meat there, your Venus flytrap might actually close and try to digest it, but it won't be able to
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So then that meat will rot it can attract fungus it can attract mold and it can potentially actually even start smelling So please don do that Just stick to arachnids
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So only spiders and only insects. I recommend selecting insects that are kind of soft
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So maybe slugs, you can use crickets, maybe ants for very small venus fly traps or flies
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Those also work. Really almost any type of bug will work. I just stay away from any insect that has a hard shell, like for example, a beetle, because just carnivorous plants have a hard time digesting that
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Today, I will be using some live crickets. I actually went to a pet store
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I went to Petco and I bought some live crickets. If you go to almost any pet store that carries reptiles, they will have some live insects
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So you can use them to feed your Venus flytrap. I picked the extra small crickets to be able to fit any size of my Venus flytraps
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Now, how does it work? Well, each trap of the Venus flytrap is made up of two lobes
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Each lobe in its interior part, there is trigger hairs. There's three trigger hairs in each side
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If something comes in contact with those trigger hairs twice in a row, then the trap closes
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So right now I'll show you with the cricket how I'll put it inside the trap and how the trap closes and captures the insect
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I actually struggled for several minutes trying to figure you know trying to find a good cricket
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that wasn't moving too much to be able to put into the into the trap I guess that is a bit of
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of the struggle of using live insects So I put the cricket inside the trap because the insect was moving around it triggered the hairs and then the trap closed But as you might notice
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the trap is not completely closed right now it is into in a semi closed stage
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It'll be like this for several minutes but as the bug moves around and tries to
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escape it will continue triggering those hairs. This will send a signal to the
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plant that verifies that it has just caught live prey. So as the minutes go by the plant will start
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crossing and it will eventually start pumping all those enzymes to start digesting the cricket
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Before we continue I just wanted to make a quick note. I would really appreciate it if you can like
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this video. It really helps the channel and also if you want to continue learning about carnivorous
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plants feel free to subscribe. With Venus flytraps you have the options to employ live feed so live
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insects or dead insects. In this video I won't go over the details of how to use dead insects because
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I actually have made a whole video about that before. I'll link that video right now so you can
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go and check it out. Generally using live insects is more effective because you do not bruise the
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leaves. But some people just feel uncomfortable handling life bugs, which is completely okay
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So for that, I think that bugs is an option. Now, more critical tips about feeding your venous fly
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trap. How often should you feed your plant? Like I said, feeding your plant is not really a
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requirement. What you want to avoid is to overfeed your plant. If you are interested in feeding your
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Venus flytrap only do so once every three to six weeks The idea is that you feed your plant and wait until it has finished consuming the bug to start feeding it again Also when you feed your Venus flytrap you only feed one trap from the whole plant I seen
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I've heard so many stories of people getting their first plant, getting some bugs and feeding
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every single head in the Venus flytrap and then maybe they did it wrong because they used
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a very large bug and all of the feet, all of the heads start to wither and then the plant can
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potentially die. So don't do that. Just one single bug is enough to actually provide nutrients for
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the whole plant. When you select a bug for your Venus flytrap, make sure that it is not too big
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for the plant. The insects should be able to fit completely inside the trap. So the trap should be
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able to enclose it. If it is a little smaller than that you might want that is okay as long as it's
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not larger. Also when your Venus flytrap is dormant you do not need to feed it and also when your
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Venus flytrap are very young and maybe they are still seedlings and they have very tiny traps
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there's really no need to feed them. Also if you do not feel too fond with the process you can also
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just not feed your Venus flytrap at all. Feeding your Venus flytrap will boost their growth but
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it is not a requirement. At the end if you are providing good lighting, good amount of water
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and the right temperature and your plant is going dormant during the winter, then your plants will
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be thriving. If you have any other tips about the feeding process I would love to hear them about it
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Please feel free to comment, also if you have any questions I'll make sure to answer
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I have made a playlist of all of the Venus Flytrap care videos that I have made so far
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so please feel free to watch it and thank you for watching
