White rocky like substance in Venus Flytrap pot

It is sitting in the window upstairs, getting plenty of light (the curtains never close) and I just noticed that the soil seems to be white and crusty, has anyone any idea? Also it seems to be growing two new heads and doesn't want to accept the fact that it is winter and it should rest, could this be a thing to do with it?

Thanks!

 

From the description in the title, I thought I was about to tell you its perlite, little tiny 'stones' sometimes mixed into compost to help regulate soil moisture, but the pic doesn't support my initial theory.

 

It's not perlite I'm afraid, it wasn't there when I bought the blighter a week ago, but is now. Amateur question (I've never owned a carnivorous plant) but they don't NEED a supply of flies and bugs and whatnot, do they? Will just water suffice?

 

They do, but they can go a long time without a meal. In fact what you'll probably find is that when one of the mouths catches and eats a fly, that mouth will more often than not die off completely. They are very efficient plants, and wont divert resources to a mouth that's potentially damaged and contaminated, so the nutrients from the meal go towards making new mouths.

Also don't be tempted to feed them anything, unless you can catch them some flies intact. They have a very specialised diet. They can't digest fat at all and can only use certain proteins as found in insects. I say this because I've known people feed them tiny bits of meat, which they can't digest, so the meat just rots in the plant, infects it, and then the whole plant suffers or dies.

 

Ah! We have a few fruit flies hovering around our fruit bowl at the moment, should I put him next to that?

 

You could try it and see what happens, but I suspect the venus fly trap will struggle to compete against actual fruit for tempting scent.

 

That could be true. I'll have a think.

 

Take a look here Mad Hatter, does anything look similar?

https://www.google.com/search?q=whi...X&ei=bcClVKPoOIT6UICugaAL&ved=0CEYQsAQ#imgdii=_

 

I'm afraid not. I'll scrape it off when I go back upstairs and post another pic!

 

Here is a closer/ lighter picture of the white!

 

2 options
1 can be mould (not good) will eventually get the plant
2 it can be moss that dry and turn white (normal)
ps i keep mine outdoor ...not as soft as it look

 

It could be dried moss, I shall keep an eye on it!

Ps, I can't keep it outdoors, I live in Sweden and its tickling -15 here at the moment!

 

I think its mycelium, got that from my days learning about dryrot.
Its just a fugus living off the organic mix in the compost, wouldn't think it a problem, most plants that live in swamps are pretty rot resistant.

I dont have an venus fly traps these days but once had loads of them.
The trick with feeding is to make sure you agitate the trap for some time, after putting in the food, if the food is "dead", the plant will know and the trap will open again.

I used small pieces of cheese, OK, I know its not supposed to work, but I had some pretty big plants at the time.
I'd not feed now though, wait till summer.

 

Lightbulb! Could it be from too much calcium in the water?

 

If it is, then you have very hard water where you are. And your flytrap is doomed, as they really hate calcium.