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Post by markym4rk on Mar 16, 2012 7:38:50 GMT -5
Hey guys.. I got 2 questions about this topic.
All my VFTs are deciding to put up flower stalks just weeks after pulling them out of dormancy and after finally winning the war with the thrips!
Here goes..
1) If the VFT has optimum growing conditions.. Will it really weaken the plant if i decide to let it flower to collect seeds? Any personal opinions would be appreciated.
2) If and when I do let it flower... What is the surefire way to properly pollinate them in order to get seeds this year?
PS: I plan to purchase some flightless fruit flies as feeders... has anyone used these buggers to pollinate flowers? Will it work?
Cheers!
Mark
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Post by peatmoss on Mar 16, 2012 8:05:45 GMT -5
Are the plants all of the same clone? If so, you will not get a very big seed yield and the seedlings will be weak.
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Post by Devon on Mar 16, 2012 9:31:42 GMT -5
Are you growing them outdoors or indoors? If they're outdoors, they're much more likely to survive flowering.. When mine flowered outside, they actually divided and grew quite nicely for the rest of the year. I can't answer your second question because I don't have any experience with that.  edit A remember a while back I also had one flower indoors, and it almost died. I wasn't all that good at growing plants back then though, so it could be much different for you. |
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Post by peatmoss on Mar 16, 2012 10:10:24 GMT -5
Yeah, my indoor flytraps that flowered last year also almost died. I think that if you have them in absolutely optimal conditions they will do fine.
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Post by helene on Mar 16, 2012 12:04:26 GMT -5
I had some VFTs flower outside the last two summers. Bees visited the flowers regularly. I'm sure the only reason I didn't get seed was because I only had clones flowering. So if it were me, I would just stick the pot outside for a few afternoons once the flowers have started opening (in the shade, so it doesn't get shocked from the sunlight) and let nature take its' course.
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Post by lloyd on Mar 16, 2012 14:49:37 GMT -5
My outside VFT's flower and seed well all by themselves and the plants do well.
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Post by markym4rk on Mar 17, 2012 3:31:44 GMT -5
thx guys!
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Post by markym4rk on Mar 17, 2012 22:55:56 GMT -5
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Post by sekler on Mar 18, 2012 10:31:32 GMT -5
Hey dude, as the others posted, if you want to get seeds cross pollination is always the best to go for getting stronger germination rates and seedlings. Here is a picture regarding how to pollinate vfts. I usually snip the flower stalks off to plant them in media in order to get another plant. I will try pollinating a flower soon though once i will get the species i wanted. Good luck !  |
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Post by sekler on Mar 18, 2012 10:33:08 GMT -5
If your plants are outdoors though, chances are some insects will do it for you. I would make sure to place different species next to each other in order to maximize the chances of cross polination.
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