A lot of products are coming out with not only concentrated products but now there’s 2X concentrated!
Once wasn’t enough, I guess!?

But, I noticed that the cap is still the same size or only slightly smaller!  Now, of course this is so that you don’t spill it but I think that they’re hoping that you will still use the same amount that you used when everything was watered down! 
<yes, I sense a conspiracy, too!>
You’re not alone if you’ve been throwing money down the drain!  

Humans are habitual but we’re also very adaptable!  All we have to do is make new habits!!  I did and I’ve saved a lot of money!  I rarely buy detergent or fabric softener like I used to and I love that the bottles are lighter!  Of course, now I will have to find a new way to work my arms out to avoid the flabby arm wave! 

By reducing, reusing and recycling it is easier to make my ends meet because if I’m using less, I’m buying less!  Now, that’s what I call multi-tasking and a win-win situation!

Well, it’s almost been 2 weeks since my Venus Flytrap’s arrived here to live with us and they are still alive! 
This seems like a feat that is uncommon according to many of the sites and product reviews I read prior to buying them but these little guys seem to be doing alright! 

If you do buy any, don’t be shocked at the way they look when they arrive(unless they’re dead).  Mine were straggly but it’s been almost 2 weeks and I have new leaves growing already!!

Of course I didn’t take all of the advice I read about on Barry Rice’s Page like NOT re-potting them right away and all but I’ve been “working dirt” all of my life so I risked it and I’m glad I did because I love my little South Carolina-like Venus Flytrap Bog here in the middle of the New Jersey Pines!

Here is the terrarium I built…again
It’s small I know, but I’ll upgrade their little bog that I’ve built for them should they continue to grow.  I wasn’t going to throw a lot of money into this project if the odds were against me already as what I read on the net would have me believe.

I lined the back (outside) of the terrarium with shiny foil that I glued onto a piece of sturdy cardboard.

I layered clean stone on the bottom and then I put a thin layer of smaller stone (also clean) on top of the larger stones and a very thin layer of moss to deter soil leakage into the rocks.

I want this to be an attraction in the family room, not a gallon of gunk!

I made a divet in the center of the stone and filled that with the sphagnum moss soil mixture that I got from Barry Rice’s Page.  I made sure to make it deep enough but not overflowing onto the sides.  I then used wet pure sphagnum moss all around the terrarium and carefully placed the three different types of Venus Flytraps into the soil mixture and covered everything with another layer of wet sphagnum moss.

BTW…when you’re wetting your sphagnum moss, don’t use water that you wouldn’t water the plants with.  From what I’ve read, they’re very sensitive to chemicals.

I lined the glass lid of the terrarium with tape so that I didn’t cut myself and to make sure that if I took it off of the terrarium, it wouldn’t disappear and wind up hurting one of the dogs if they get curious and accidentally stepped on it.  I’m very conscientious about things like that!  My dogs mean the world to me!  I’d rather be proactive than reactive, ya know?

We get some sunlight here in the woods but unfortunately its during the winter when the tree canopy is bare so I felt extra lighting was necessary!  You may not need it but be careful if you place a terrarium in sunlight.  The glass gets hot and any leaves that are touching it will burn!  I learned the hard way. <bummer>

I bought a $5 desk lamp that had a cone shape so that the plant light bulb would fit in it and not stick out.  This was important when I was picking it out.  If you’re going to have a plant light in a room you frequent, make sure it doesn’t blind you if you glance at it!  I first had a set-up that was called a “plant light” but it was so bright that there was no way I’d leave it on for the required time.  You can see the light I bought at Wal-Mart in the photo…its cone-shaped and it lights the terrarium but nothing else (unless I want it to)!  The plant light bulbs aren’t expensive, either. 

I use a stone to prop open the lid to let air in without completely removing it because we have a large ceiling fan near my replication of the South Carolina swamps, so I figured that was best.  And, when we run the air conditioner, I make sure that that light is keeping the little guys warm enough, too!

New Jersey has been in a heat wave and as far as my patch of the woods, in a drought too although other areas north and south of us are getting a ton of rain, so I had to go out and buy the distilled water.  Of course, the day after I bought it we got rain and I fortunately did have a clean jar set up out back in a clearing to catch what I could!!  When it rains, it pours, huh?  Feast or famine!!  Just a few days ago I was collecting water from the air conditioner until I could get out to the store hoping that it wouldn’t kill them!  Apparently you’re supposed to keep them wet, wet, wet but it has to be “special” water!

And, of course when you need a fly, you can’t find one!!
Because of the dogs I keep the screen door open just enough that they can go in and out all day (unless the AC’s on) and flies are never hard to find but now that I have a plant that needs bugs, there’s not one around!! <not one?> So, being determined and incredibly crafty, I caught some using an old “critter cage” that we have from when Christie was little.  It’s a small screened in cage that fits in the palm of your hand with a flip lid.  I put a piece of boiled chicken and I had about 6 flies in about 5 minutes!! 
<”Hi Honey, what did ya do today?” “Oh, I fished for flies!”> 
That’s not unusual… I live a very cool and exciting life!!
Anyway, I couldn’t figure out how to catch one by one though so I put them in the freezer for a minute so that they’d sit still so that I could feed the little buggers! 
<ha! ha!  Get it?  Buggers? >

If you swat a fly with a swatter that is perfectly sufficient, though.

So, now they’re fed and wet, wet, wet in their little universe…
Aw, look!  They posed for a close-up!

Cool, huh?
Now, I’ve got some mosquito’s who are carrying my blood around who are about to experience karma!!

I’ve been wanting them for months!  I don’t know why. 
It’s something to do and they are different and of course, difficult to care for which is right up my alley!  
I love a challenge!!  So, when none of my local gardeners were getting their regular shipments, and believe me, I bugged them <get it?  Venus Flytraps + bugs?  ha! ha!> I resorted to my favorite online shopping place, Amazon.com where I found a good price <of course> so I bought a few <of course!> . 

I did most of my research at “Barry Rice’s Page –Carnivorous plants, Invasive plants, and the Natural World!”  It’s a really cool site.  Information in a fun and candid way!  I love that! 

So, now I’ve got my terrarium built up to simulate their natural growing conditions which always makes me laugh. 
It reminds me of a Mitch Hedberg joke…

In England Smoky the Bear is not the forest fire prevention representative. They have Smacky the Frog. It’s just like a bear, but it’s a frog. I think it’s a better system, I think we should adopt it. Because bears can be mean, but frogs are always cool. Never has there been a frog hopping toward me, and I thought ‘man, I’d better play dead. Here comes that frog…’ You never say here comes that frog in a nervous manner. It’s always optimistic. Hey here comes that frog, al-right. Maybe he’ll come near me so I can pet him, and stick him in a mayonnaise jar, with a stick and a leaf, to recreate what he’s used to. And I’m pretty sure I’d have to punch some holes in the lid, because he’s damn sure used to air. Then I can observe him, and he won’t be doing much in his 16 ounce world.

~ Mitch Hedberg ~

I do hope that my plants survive but I never imagined that I’d have to collect rainwater for them as they can’t have regular water and I’m raising them indoors and that they don’t eat bugs like I thought they did either!!  <bummer>  I always think of “The Little Shop of Horrors” when Audry Jr. says, “FEED ME!”  but, apparently, that’s not good for them, either!  <Noooo!!  Not humans!  Bugs!!>  The individual leaves can only close 3 times before they’re spent and die so you can’t even trigger them to close for fun unless you have a really healthy plant…which can probably only be found in S. Carolina!   

Oh well…they’re still pretty cool!  We’ll see how I do. They should survive since Jersey basically has the same weather as S. Carolina but as I did more research, after I got them of course, I realized that they’re really more of a novelty and aren’t supposed to live anywhere but where they’re planted…go figure!    No wonder they’re so hard to take care of and rare (and sought after)  I guess that makes me even more more obligated to do my very best to keep these alive, huh?!  Oh well…Type A’s love obligation anyway!

Also, if you do decide to buy them, do your research and don’t buy from any suppliers who are getting theirs illegally as there is a problem with over-harvesting and damage to the natural habitat.

Peace