Question
I have dozens of VFT's in my collection.  I live in SD, and i grow them in an equal part of perlite/peat moss, with a little silica sand mixed in as well.  The only seeds that i can get to germinate and grow are from the pure VFT, not any of the exotics (royal red, colorado giant, bigmouth, b 52, etc) are these varities not able to germinate?  should i just clip the flowers right away? should i keep the different varities separate to avoid cross polination?  or should i just buy the seeds from you guys? :)

Answer
Hi Darren,

What I suspect is happening here is that the cultivars are all genetically identical, so they may not be viable with each other within the same cultivar.  I know if you cross two different ones they are definitely viable.  We've done that along with many other growers.

What you should do depends on what you want.  If you let insects open pollinate the flowers of different varieties you could end up with some very interesting plants.  If you only want pure varieties, then yes, there's no point in letting them bloom unless you just like the flowers.

I also wanted to ask if you were sowing seeds immediately from all you collected?  Venus flytraps have a very short seed viability.  It's usually just 90 days unrefrigerated, and about a year refrigerated.

You might direct this question here also:  http://www.flytrapcare.com/phpBB3/  These folks really know their flytraps.

Good Growing!

Jeff Dallas
Sarracenia Northwest
http://www.cobraplant.com