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reddragon105 t1_j6kvcgt wrote

Reply to comment by Hive747 in Venus fly trap on the hunt by c0ntr0ll3dsubstance

They digest insects in about 10 days. The traps can last a few months, but they can only be triggered so many times - it takes a lot of energy, and if they keep catching bugs it just gets harder for the planet to digest them every time as it can't remove the old dead insects, so at a certain point they become inactive and just serve as regular leaves for photosynthesis until they die off. The plant itself is constantly growing new traps and they can live for 20+ years.

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Hive747 t1_j6m90de wrote

Ahh okay thank you for clarifying that! That makes a lot more sense. Though I never had good luck with them. They rarely lived for more than a year. Though I keep all my other plants mostly in a very good shape.

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reddragon105 t1_j6mqpbb wrote

Yeah, they're not the easiest plants to keep alive! My first one only lasted 9 months - it went dormant for the winter and then just didn't wake up.

My second one is going on for 2 years now - I bought it some higher quality soil and a bigger pot, one where you can water it from the bottom so the soil is always just damp, which is what they like.

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