apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

That works but you can also try filling a glass half way with water. Next, if you have a plastic bottle that you are going to recycle, cut it in half. Then put the bottle spout down in the galss. Then wait. The flys should be attracted to the water and then they can't fly back out the glass. A friend of mine says filling the glass with beer works better...

My venus flytrap died... they like it humid, ie. in a terrarium, where it's hard to get flies to go sometimes. lovely pitcher plant.

I love the plant idea. It's decorative and useful. Somehow, the glass of water filled with dead flies doesn't have that same "Aesthetic" to it.

My venus flytrap died too... Way too dry here in Alberta and the flies wouldn't go into the vase I had it set into (to keep the humidity).

I really like the look of the pitcher plant a lot more than a venus flytrap simply because it reminds me of frilly iris' instead of snapping jaws of death!

(ha ha)!

A fly swatter is natural as is non-toxic fly paper. Plants work well, provided the pests are in on the plan.

I'd rather swat.

I bought one from www.mycarnivore.com. It comes with its special habitat and it is doing great!

palmetto, at this point if I had to swat them, it might take all day! although it would be great exercise. had forgotten about fly paper. when I was little, i accidentally wrapped my hand around a full one (I thought it was a railing) and have been traumatized ever since ; )

Our pitcher plant is hanging in there on a very dry San Francisco deck. Beware: they attract ants as well. I'm thinking I might recreate a display that I saw at Flora Grubb gardens last week. They centered 3-5 pitcher plants in a large shallow pot filled with water. The water keeps the ants at bay and the plants humidified. I suppose one could add a fountain element to keep the mosquitoes at bay as well! It looked great. I love Flora Grubb.

There was an article in the LA Times Home section last week about carnivorous plants. The enthusiasts and experts that were interviewed said that watering with tap water, which in LA, is very alkaline, if ofetn times what kills these plants.

Because carnivorous plants grow in the wild in pure bodies of water, the best way to care for them is to give them bottled water.

Apparently this and a few other maintenance tips make them a bit more fussy to care for but a little TLC and these plants can live for upwards of 7 years.

Oooh I'm gonna try this, cause the whole glass of water thing did not work for me.

I thought the world was f***ed because people were drinking 50 billion bottles water a year. Now we're feeding it to plants, too?

I'm sure you could just filter the water in a Brita or something.

But am I the only one who is FREAKED OUT by these things? I don't think I could sleep with one in my home. Give me flypaper any day.

Anyone know where to find one of these babies in LA? Hollywood vicinity?

@BunnyFooFoo: My 1st stop would be "The Jungle" nursery @1900 Sawtelle west of Westwood and 405 a few blocks. I know Green Arrow/Green Thumb stock Venus Flytraps in numbers.

I got a great venus fly trap from My Carnivore (www.MyCarnivore.com. This is definately a sweet way to get rid of bugs. They also have pitcher plants which seem to have more bug-catching capacity. They are up the coast in Santa Barbara but do mail order.