I just "liberated" a venus flytrap. NOW WHAT DO I DO???

[astrid]

[redacted]

[Subrosa]

Put it back. I grow them outdoors year round in a place far colder than where you live. Prior to last year when I put them in my in ground bog, I grew them in unprotected half barrels. They're native to the area around Wilmington North Carolina, and need a cold dormancy. Additionally, being outside assures that they will catch enough insects to meet their needs. Assuming that the soil is an unfertilized peat/sand mix and the plants get at least some sun they have a better chance of thriving in the planter than on your windowsill. You should research a plant before you steal it.

[astrid]

Debating this because
1- We don't get rain much if at all during summer here. Most other climates get a majority of rainfall in summer, but we get ours in winter. For example, in Philadelphia, the average summer rainfall is somewhere around 4 inches per month, while here it's about half an inch per month in summer.

2- The planter was full of fertilizer balls. I think this was an act of guerrilla planting rather than done by school gardeners.

If by some chance the planter plants don't die due to improper media and over-fertilization with a very rainy winter and very dry summer, I'll put this fella back and admit I was wrong.

[Subrosa]

I'm sorry, but I don't see "liberating" a plant as any different from stealing one. If a guest was in your house and saw something you were doing wrong with one of your plants, would it be justification for them "liberating" it without your knowledge? Or does anonymity justify what familiarity prohibits? You justify your own behavior by presuming the other party guilty of bad behavior until proven innocent. What if the plants thrive, and the planter is proven innocent to you? Will you then acknowledge the guilt of your action, or the mistake of underestimating the growing abilities of another? And you ask people here to pat you on the hand and say you did a good thing? I say if you put the plant back you won't have done a bad thing, which is the best you're going to salvage this situation.

---------- Post added at 07:09 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:05 AM ----------

Just curious. Why didn't you "liberate" the pitchers too?

[Orchid Whisperer]

Yeah, you stole it. Put it back.

Venus flytraps are mass produced like other plants. Someone (that was not you) paid for it. At that point it becomes theirs to grow.

If you have to ask "now what do I do?" then you are not in any better position to grow this than the person, or school, you stole it from.

Added later: BTW, the "dirt" in the planter could have been peat, which is often used to grow CPs.

Do some reading on growing carnivorous plants (CPs), then go BUY some plants.

[Subrosa]

Seriously, put it back. I'll be happy to send you a healthy growing division of a typical VFT. Mine are just starting to wake up, so it'll be a week or two before they develop any decent traps. At that point you're welcome to it.