Speaking of carnivorous plants, you may instinctively have the image of a plant with a large mouth open in your mind, it is a flycatcher, and the strange "big mouth" can catch insects in an instant, and everyone who sees this scene is amazed. Flytraps have thus become the signature character of carnivorous plants. Today we're going to teach you how to grow this amazing plant at home.
Image courtesy of 123rf.com.cn
Flycatchers have been on the Internet for a while because of a "funny video", in short, it is to hand various things to "Flycatchers", and then it will clamp and even play Santa Claus.
After watching this series of "flycatchers selling cute" videos, many people have fallen in love with this little guy, but I regret to tell you: all this is fake, fake, fake!
Screenshot from: Own Weibo
The real flycatcher looks like this
Many people take it for granted that flycatchers must grow in primitive rainforests, which is a misunderstanding caused by the "piranha" in the adventure movie. In fact, flytraps are authentic "American citizens." It was found only in coastal wetlands in present-day southeastern United States, North Carolina, and South Carolina.
This is the base camp of carnivorous plants: bottle grass, flycatcher grass, thatched vegetables, insect traps, each posing their own unique secret weapons, waiting for the worms to take the bait. It turned out that the soil here was particularly poor, and other plants were difficult to grow, and the flytraps were forced to evolve their insect catching skills to replenish nutrients under these difficult conditions.
Winter temperatures here hover around 0°C and it rarely snows. In summer, it is hot and humid, and the maximum temperature during the day is generally 30 °C. In China, the climate is most similar to that of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Friends here are blessed with flytraps.
Just to eat and drink
Each trap has several fine spines on the inside, which are triggers that make the clip close. Image courtesy of 123rf.com.cn
Flytraps can instantly bite insects with a "big mouth", as a plant, why do they have such agile movements?
The secret lies in its weapon: the bug trap.
All the leaves of the flytrap have been specialized into traps, and there are no normal leaves left. Honey is secreted on the inside of the clip, and 3 to 4 fine spines grow in the central area of each lobe. When the insect is attracted by the honey juice and walks into the clip, if it touches two fine spines in a row within a few seconds, the trap will be activated. Cells on the outside of the clip are rapidly elongated in less than 1 second. Cause the clip to close quickly, and the "teeth" at the edges bite together, locking the prey in this cage.
But at this time, the clip will not be tightened. According to Darwin's guess, it was the flycatcher that gave tiny insects a chance to escape to avoid wasting energy, but only getting a reward for too little food. If the prey is large enough, its struggle will constantly stimulate the fine spines, and the clamp will become tighter and tighter. After that, the flycatcher secretes digestive juices that absorb nutrients from their prey. A few days later, the clip opened again, revealing only the dry wreckage.
Why does it take to hit two fine spines in a row to make the clip close? It turns out that every opening and closing clip is very draining, and a clip will wither if it opens and closes more. In order to avoid meaningless opening and closing caused by raindrops, fallen leaves and other factors, flycatchers have evolved such a clever plan - things that touch two roots in a short period of time are generally living things. If the wind and rain are too strong, the clip will also close, but it will not lock tightly, and it can be opened again after a day, so that it does not delay catching insects.
Let's plant grass together
1, flytrap is generally purchased online, you receive the plant is not planted in the pot, but the root wrapped in some moist substances. Plant it as soon as possible. Soak the whole plant in water first, so that when we are busy with other steps, the root tips do not dry out. Then prepare the soil for planting. If planted outdoors, you can use peat in a 1:1 ratio of peat and perlite. And planted indoors, it is better to use water moss. The planting soil should be sprayed with water and moistened sufficiently.
2, outdoor planting should use large pots (diameter and height are more than 15cm), indoor pot height only needs 10cm. First lay a layer of large particles of material on the bottom of the pot, I use gold stone, if not, you can use pottery particles or small pieces of styrofoam instead, the role is to make the roots breathable.
3. Put the mixed planting soil into the pot, dig a hole in the middle, and bury the roots and white bulbs of the flycatcher in it. Gently press your finger down on the flycatcher and squeeze the surrounding soil toward the root of the flycatcher, ensuring that the soil and the roots are in close contact.
4, in the pot under a tray, take the sprayer to gently spray water on the plant, spray at the bottom hole there is water flowing out, put in the soft sunlight and wait for the plant to grow.
The secret to growing a good flycatcher
1, water: pure for the top, not dry
When watering, be sure to use pure water, distilled water, rainwater, air conditioning condensate, do not use tap water, mineral water, because they contain many soluble inorganic salts, after watering will condense into "alkali flowers", making it difficult for the roots to breathe, and gradually die. This is where the flytrap is more delicate than other plants, so be sure to pay attention.
During the growing season (about April to November), it is necessary to ensure that the pot soil does not dry out thoroughly. If there is no time to take care of it, you can use the "waist water method", that is, a tray at the bottom of the basin, keeping the tray has always had pure water about 1cm deep, if the water is dry, it will be added in time, which will reduce a lot of watering. But if you are diligent, it is better to water more and use less waist water, because waist water will gradually accumulate salt in the soil, and watering will wash away these salts and make the roots grow well.
2, light: feet need shade, head needs sunshine
Flycatchers are very in need of sunlight, requiring more than 14 hours of sunlight during the growing season, including more than 4 hours of direct light, plus scattered light for the rest of the time. Lack of light will be weak and die, and no matter how many worms you feed, it will not help.
When the light is strong, the pot will be heated, and the roots like to be cool, what to do? It can be planted with large pots (diameter and height of more than 15 cm), and then a pot on the outside of the pot, or cover the pot wall with something else. In this way, the outer layer is hot, but the inner layer is still cool. If you encounter a high temperature of more than 30 ° C, you can move the plant to the shade of the tall plant and let it receive dappled sunlight.
3, catch insects: live insects catch themselves, dead insects to "massage"
The roots of the flytrap cannot stand any fertilizer, and it relies on the prey it catches to "feed" itself. If you have more plants, then you don't have to worry about it at all, there are many small flying insects that will feed it. If there are no insects at home, you can artificially feed live insects once a month. If you can't find a live insect, use forceps to pinch the newly dead insect (such as the mosquito you just shot dead) to touch the sensory spine on the flycatcher clip. After the clamp, since the dead worm does not struggle to stimulate the clamp to close, the clip needs to be "massaged" by hand - gently pinching the outside of the clip until it locks tightly.
4. Hibernation: Retreat cultivation is indispensable
Winter is the stage of plant recuperation, well dormant, spring will grow very strong, flytrap is best hibernated at 0-5 ° C. In the autumn, you can visually see signs of dormancy: the upright leaves of the summer begin to wither, the new leaves become ground-topped, the clips become smaller, and the petioles are thicker. The coping methods during hibernation can be divided into three situations:
The middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau area can be placed outdoors for maintenance, less water than usual, flycatchers can tolerate low temperatures below 0 °C for a short time, but if the low temperature is below 0 °C for a continuous week, it is necessary to transfer the grass to the indoor window sill. There is no heating in these areas, and the indoor temperature is just right for sleeping.
As soon as the northern region enters winter, the grass is placed on the closed balcony without heating, and if there is heating everywhere in the house, the flycatcher has to be moved to the coldest glass window in the room, close to the window to maintain a relatively low temperature. If the home is well lit, the temperature of the south window will be close to 30 ° C at noon, in this case, the east-facing or north-facing window sill will make the flycatcher feel more comfortable.
South China winter is warm, there is no cold place to find, there is a method of effective and "local tycoons": put grass into the glass door freezer that sells cold drinks, which can be used to sunlight through glass, and can also artificially adjust the appropriate low temperature.
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Written by | imonyes
Photography | Canaan
WeChat Editor | Small cakes