Carnivorous plants are incredibly amazing. One such plant is the Dionaea muscipula, or Venus flytrap, a native of North and South Carolina bogs. Even though the flytrap uses photosynthetic processes to get nutrients from the soil, marshy soil is not very nutrient-rich. Because of this, the Venus flytrap has evolved to eat insects to satisfy its demand for additional nutrients. You could have problems getting a Venus flytrap to close if you are lucky enough to acquire one of these endearingly odd plants.
My Venus Flytrap Will not Close
Your Venus flytrap is most likely not closing because it is fatigued. The trigger hairs on the flytrap’s leaves are called cilia, or short, stiff cilia. The two lobes of the leaves shut when anything contacts these hairs and bends them sufficiently to imprison the “something” within in less than a second.
These leaves do have a shelf life, however. After ten to twelve times closing, they stop acting as trapping leaves and remain open, acting as photosynthesizers. A store-bought plant is likely to have been jostled while in transport and handled roughly by several prospective purchasers before they are simply finished. You will have to be patient until new traps develop.
Another possibility is that your Venus flytrap is dying, which would explain why it would not close. The trap may get infected if it has not entirely closed during feeding, such as when an excessively big insect is captured and does not shut firmly. This may be indicated by blackening leaves, which are produced by bacteria. The trap must be fully sealed to keep germs out and digestive fluids in. A dead plant will be mushy, brown-black, and smell rotten.
Getting a Venus Flytrap to Close
Your Venus flytrap will not fight and signal the cilia to shut if you feed it a dead bug. To make the trap act like a living bug and for it to close, you must gently move the trap. The bug’s fragile internal organs are subsequently dissolved by the digestive fluids released by the trap. The digesting process is finished after five to twelve days, the trap opens, and the exoskeleton is blown away or washed away by the rain.
It can be a case of controlling the temperature to get your flytrap to shut. Because of their sensitivity to the cold, Venus flytraps seal their traps extremely slowly.
Remember that the hairs on the lamina or traps must be activated for the trap to close. A hair must be touched at least twice, or multiple hairs must be touched quickly, like when an insect is battling. The plant will not shut if it can tell the difference between a raindrop and a real bug.
Last but not least, the Venus flytrap does not grow from autumn till spring after. The traps are not responsive to stimuli since they are in hibernation and do not need extra feeding. The plant is still alive and only resting and fasting, as seen by the general green hue of the leaves.
