I saw a Venus Flytrap for sale at the recent flower show at the Quezon City Hall. I was really looking for an organic, bio-friendly way of fighting back against the insects that were pestering my (newly-bought) herbs and other plants, and I was unable to resist the idea of having a carnivorous plant in my garden.
It likes plenty of water, the man said, but also a lot of sunlight, though not direct sunlight. Use rainwater if you can, distilled water if you can’t.
I later found out (by “researching” on the Net) that there is such a thing as overfeeding it. Don’t feed it insects that are too large, I read, a little too late, as this picture shows that I’ve been feeding it large, red ants.
The ‘net article was right: the following day, the leaves that had eaten the ants were stained brown. I pulled out the ants and am now hoping the plant will recover.
It has yet to catch (and feed on) the insects that are laying eggs on my lagundi and sambong, but that’s okay. I also got a pitcher plant, and I’m hoping that will do the trick.
And this weekend I’ll probably go back to the Manila Seedling Bank and get more carnivorous plants, from Waling. My son wants a sundew, to add to the collection. 
Filed under: blogging, pictures | Tagged: carnivorous plants, venus flytrap, venus flytrap in the philippines
Did your Fly trap survive? Im planning to buy one too, but heard that it’s difficult to maintain.
Hi Marvin! It’s still alive as of now, and I haven’t been really taking good care of it. I was told to put it in a shallow dish of purified water, which I did. I don’t water it; I spray it (also with purified water) when I have the time. Otherwise my cleaning lady does it for me, thrice a week. I put it in a corner of the garden, where it’s exposed to sunlight but not to direct sunlight. I put it out when it rains, when I have the time. It’s growing long shoots which I think means that I have to replant it. And I stopped feeding it ants after reading that it’s supposed to feed on prey only one-third its size. I think it’s not that difficult to maintain.
hi? im planning to buy a venus fly trap. But i don’t know where to buy it..I search lots of flower shops in malls,unluckily they are not available.. Please, if you do know some plants stores here in the Phil. that sells venus fly trap just send the name of the store the location and its address to my email ad .Thank you very much.
Hi. The store is Waling, it’s in the Manila Seedling Bank compound. It costs a little more than P500.
Thanks for this post! I’m really interested in getting a venus flytrap myself.