Pitcher Plants & Venus Flytraps: The Perfect Halloween Duo

Seasonal Gardening

A unique way to get into the Halloween spirit is by surrounding yourself with a few—or even a few hundred carnivorous plants! They derive some or most of their nutrients from trapping, capturing and digesting animals and insects! So creepy! These creepy plants are perfect for Halloween they have adapted their way of feeding to aid in their survival in hostile environmental conditions. Here are two types of carnivorous plants that are perfect for beginners, just in time for Halloween if you’re thinking about adding something a little spooky to your collection!

Venus flytrap 

First up Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula), it looks like it’s from another planet and boy does it deliver! This is one of the smartest plants around; it has evolved to survive in areas with little or no nutrients. Native to the wetlands of the eastern United States, this plant makes its own food by catching and decomposing small insects.  

How to feed a Venus flytrap 

The flytrap has a ‘jaw’ like clamping mechanism which is located at the end of each leaf. When an insect or spider brushes against tiny hairs, the mechanism activates and traps the insect inside. A second hair needs to be touched within 20 seconds for the trap to close completely. Once closed, five more hairs need to be triggered for the plant to begin digestion, turning the insect into digestive juices and ultimately nutrition for the plant. This fascinating series of triggers is the plants safe-guard against trapping objects with no nutritional value as each trap only traps 4-5 times before dying off. 

What some people don’t know is that the Venus flytrap is a herbaceous perennial, which means it shoots new leaves from an under-soil bulb like structure, but more importantly it means the plant dies back in winter! As the weather cools the plant leaves shrivel up and turn black, many people think they’ve killed off their flytrap when in fact it’s entered winter dormancy and will re-shoot in spring.  

The Requirements  

Your Venus flytrap requires four hours of direct sun light, if keeping indoors aim for a window or location that receives all day sunlight. When watering your flytrap, stand the pot in a saucer of water, do not water from above as this will damage the ‘trap’. Flytraps are a fascinating plant and can be extremely cool for kids, especially when the trap is triggered! Closing the traps uses far more energy than you might think, treat your plant to a small insect if you want to watch them close up! Your fly trap will love you for it!  

The Pitcher Plant 

Even the Venus flytrap could use a companion, and the Pitcher Plant (Sarracenia species) makes a great one!  These bizarre plants have modified leaves to survive by utilising bright colours and forming traps for their prey! These plants are found in a range of habitats with poor soil conditions from swamps to leaf litter and even animal faeces, ewww! With the majority residing in North America. This plant makes its own food by attracting and drowning the prey with nectar.  

The pitcher plant has a prey-trapping mechanism, using nectar to attract prey, the plant has modified leaves that create a deep cavity filled with digestive liquid. The insects go in searching for the nectar, slip down the ‘pitcher’ and drown in the digestive juices.  

How to care for a pitcher plant

Most pitcher plant grow in boggy low nutrient soil where other plants can’t grow. They require full sun and similarly to the Venus flytrap prefer to stand in a saucer of water than a water from above. Although not grown for their flowers they have some very bright colourful species.  

The conspicuous trapping and catching mechanisms of the Venus flytrap and the pitcher plant make them perfect Halloween decoration. Maybe a table of these out the front will make trick-or-treaters think twice before knocking on your door!!

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