ArizonaDave
Well-Known Member
I saw these seeds, and wondered if anyone has tried to plant these next to their Tobacco plants? Just wondering....http://www.sciplus.com/p/venus-fly-trap_42141
Has anyone ever tried a Venus Fly Trap?
- Thread starter ArizonaDave
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They grow in swamps.
Bob
Bob
bonehead
Well-Known Member
when my kids were little we grew then in a terarium and they did ok. i don't know about in the garden.
Bex
Well-Known Member
I had them as an indoor plant, as well. They were pretty neat - we would put tiny pieces of hamburger into them, and watch them close up on it. It takes them quite a while to digest, so not really feasible as an overall insect repellent, and I don't think they would do well outside anyway.
ArizonaDave
Well-Known Member
I remember seeing them in Florida. We have quite of few aphids, some mosquitoes. August-September, you'd swear it was Florida. I might just try? Don't think they'll like the heat though.
Matty
Well-Known Member
I had a few over the years, inside, growing under a bell jar. I could never get them to grow outside the bell jar. But, we actually have them in the wild over here, not many but here and there. As Deluxestogie said, they're found in swampy areas and around here they get no bigger than a dime.
Bex
Well-Known Member
Not to say that you shouldn't try, but it's unlikely that they will be much help to you. For aphids, your best bet is to start spraying before you even see them - at the beginning of the season - rather than waiting until you are infested. I only use soapy water in a spray bottle, and start at the beginning of the season. Aphids tend to be attracted to all new growth, so that's where I spray. I don't think that mosquitos will harm your tobacco, although they will be uncomfortable for you. It takes a long time for one Venus Fly Trap to digest a fly, and then re-open again. It's really not viable as an insect repelling system.
The trapping mechanism of a Venus Fly-trap requires a bug large enough to trigger a sensory hair (aphids are way too small) and mobile enough to trigger a second hair within a limited time window, as well as a bug small enough to not escape the closure. There is also a specific "bait" essence present that attracts only specific insect species.
http://www.amazon.com/What-Plant-Knows-Field-Senses/dp/0374533881/
I would venture to guess that if you successfully raised hundreds of Venus Fly-traps outdoors in your tobacco patch (unlikely), it would not have a noticeable impact on insect herbivores damaging your tobacco. It might snag a few earwigs that can damage tiny tobacco transplants, since earwigs exhibit foraging (search pattern) movement. But aphids, cutworms, budworms, hornworms, etc. would continue to party on.
Another issue with this concept is that soil conditions that can support a Venus Fly-trap would drown tobacco roots.
Bob
http://www.amazon.com/What-Plant-Knows-Field-Senses/dp/0374533881/
I would venture to guess that if you successfully raised hundreds of Venus Fly-traps outdoors in your tobacco patch (unlikely), it would not have a noticeable impact on insect herbivores damaging your tobacco. It might snag a few earwigs that can damage tiny tobacco transplants, since earwigs exhibit foraging (search pattern) movement. But aphids, cutworms, budworms, hornworms, etc. would continue to party on.
Another issue with this concept is that soil conditions that can support a Venus Fly-trap would drown tobacco roots.
Bob
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