Today I have a large venous fly trap plant that has shrunk down as if it were preparing for winter. But when I looked at it today, I see possibly two or three plants that I should be able to separate.
I know that I jokingly complained about not being able to propagate the Venus fly trap plant. Now it is the end of summer and I'm finding several that I need to create room for. I have not lost count as to how many Venus flytraps I have, but I'm not sure of the exact count until I get all of them in their own pots.
Here you see two skewers that are definitely separate plants. I find them by following the traps to their source, where they come out of the ground.
I marked another spot where there is a third skewer which is at the bottom left. There is a baby trap right there that seems to go somewhere under the other leaves and I'm curious to find out if it's part of another new plant.
Here's a closer shot of the Venus trap in question. It is not heading toward any of the other bulbs.
So let's get started by preparing two smaller pots for these smaller Venus plants. I will be keeping the larger green pot because there may be the mother plant still underground who has already prepared for wintering.
I start with excess moss from other repotting projects. That goes at the bottom. Then I add perlite, which maintains moisture in moss, even when it hasn't rained. Then I add moss to about an inch below the rim.
Then I set those off to the side in one of the water trays that houses other plants. We want to get the moss moistened all the way to the top.
Next, it's time to separate the two plants that we know of while being careful of the possible third plant that might be lurking underneath.
I have managed to do this job without triggering the traps into thinking they've caught something. Let's see how I do on this one.
All I have done so far was to put some skewers in the dirt next to the plant, which holds the leaves of each plant towards the side that they're on. This gives me a clear view of the place where the roots will be and I will have to feel around to see if the roots are connected or not. If they are, I cut them, so that each plant has a set of roots.
I gently felt around with a skewer between the two plants and most of the root system is to the left, which may be part of the mother plant.
I'm going to remove the plant on the right which is not connected to anything. And then I will see if I can separate the mother bulb from the other plant.
As I have said on other posts, it is a really good idea to keep track of the direction the plants face. I do that by marking the pot, where north is, then I can move the plants around without changing their compass orientation. There was a time when I did not do this and I did lose more plants back then. Either way, this is not a hard thing to do.
Here's the first one in its new pot.
It looks like I have one trap that is not triggered on the first repotting.
The other plant that we have left to do is just sitting on the surface right now. I only bumped it when I was pulling the other one out and it turns out there was no depth to its roots.
Here's another shot of it.
Even though I took the chance of putting it on my hand, and taking a picture, I was able to replant it without triggering any of the traps. It is now in its new pot. There were five open traps at the start of this job and there are still five open traps as I put it with the other Venus plants. 💪
That is super important! Each time a trap shuts, it burns energy and each trap may only have two to three close/open cycles. Not triggering them will give it more energy for a real catch and also to become accustomed to its new pot.
Well, they are now back with the others and you can see in this photo that I have some healthy venous flytraps.
I also have to pick through these two smaller pots because there might be more than one in each of them.
Lastly, some of you have asked what all the green stuff is that's around the plants. Those are not weeds. You see, the soil that these plants grow in is called sphagnum moss. When I buy moss for the plants, it's dead. Ground up, even.
So, after months or years in a pot that is always moist, nature does what nature does and it brings organic plant material to life. It is similar to me taking a branch from a carnivorous plant and setting it in some water. I get new baby plants!
The above shot is from the green pot we just emptied. The one below is another pot in my garden where the moss is starting to flower.
I suppose I could raise my own moss for the plants, but it is actually very cheap to buy. A note for any gardener who struggles with soil that gets hard like cement, try mixing some moss in with your soil before planting in spring. You can thank me later.
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