Customer Reviews

Grow Your Own Venus Fly Trap: Just Add Flies! (Running Press Mini Kit)

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Growing a Venus flytrap from seed is not an easy thing to do. This kit comes with only two seeds. The odds of one germinating and growing those two seeds to an actual plant are very small. Your better off buying a mature plant from California Carnivores or other reputable nursery. The book gives a little science of how the traps work on a flytrap and also tell you not to feed it burger wich is very bad for the plant. Also if you do buy this kit anyway use only rain water or distilled water to water the plant. Leaving tap water out for a few days like the instuctions say to do does nothing to remove the salt that is in tap water. Tap water will more then likely kill your plant.

I just got my Mini Kit today and it is just a little bigger than a deck of cards. Seeds (2) look like flakes of dirt...can hardly see them. After soaking them 24 hrs you have to refridgerate them for 3 weeks! I was a little surprised by how long the process will be. Then somewhere around 6 weeks after that we should see growth.

This may actually work but I am very skeptical. I will update how everthing goes in about 3 months when I should see some progress. Hope this doesn't change the mind of someone from trying but I would suggest to buy the plant itself...it has to be more satisfying than this (especially for kids that aren't very patient...like mine).

I've bought a lot of the Running Press mini-kits of various types, and have found most of them quite entertaining, often surprisingly so for their small size (example: the fabulous "build your own Stonehenge" kit, which I love!). But in this case I was seriously disappointed.

I knew going in that it might be tricky to grow a flytrap from seed, but I'm pretty good with plants in general, but I thought that if I followed the instructions carefully I might get lucky - but no. Given the difficulty of sprouting flytrap seeds it does seem unfair to include so few of them, and the blurb on the outer package makes it all seem much easier than it actually is. Perhaps with a bit more of a caveat on the outside and a few more seeds on the inside, this might be a (pardon the expression) viable product.

For now, I think I'll stick with the mini-kits that do not include seeds; it's too hard to ensure their condition inside a boxed kit that's treated like a book or toy instead of a living thing.

The package was much smaller than I expected - smaller than a deck of cards.

not worth the size. I payed $6 and at most I should have only payed $1.

First of all, if you are thinking about growing a Venus Flytrap from seed, it probably won't be worth it to you. It takes years for plants to grow to a decent size. You're probably better off buying a plant online at any online carnivorous plant store. Google Sarracenia Northwest or California Carnivores for some of the best online CP retailers and for more information on cultivation.

So if you really do want to grow a VFT from seed, you will have to do so in an area with lots of sun. We're talking at least 8 hours of direct sunlight. Growing your plant indoors simply doesn't work for several different reasons. Even in a windowsill or under artificial light.

Do not water it with tap water. 95% of public tap water in the US is simply too high in dissolved solids. You will have to use either reverse osmosis water, distilled water, or collected rain water. Bottled water intended for drinking is also too high in dissolved solids.

Do not use normal soil. VFT's grow in nutrient-free soil. You will want a mix of fertilizer-free peat and perlite.

I thought it would be neat to grow my own venus flytrap but this kit was crap. I followed the instructions very precisely and got nothing. The only thing that I grew was mold.

Save your cash and if you want a real fly trap just buy one somewhere else.

If I thought the kit was worth anything I'd send out for the replacement seeds but I just don't have the same gusto as I did about it growing the first time around.