Venus Flytrap (Dionaea muscipula)

CARING FOR YOUR VENUS FLYTRAP

Dionaea muscipula

Venus flytraps (Dionaea muscipula) are usually thought to be very exotic (from Venus!), but are actually native to the coastal plains of North and South Carolina, growing in sunny, grassy plains in sandy acidic soil. This is the only place in the world that they grow naturally, and there are very few left in the wild, due to the loss of their wetland habitats, and to the over collection of plants. Fortunately, most plants sold now are nursery propagated; make sure any plant you purchase is not wild collected! The traps are triggered when their small hairs are disturbed by unwary insects. Insects caught within are slowly digested and consumed by the plant. A trap stays closed about a week if it is eating a meal, and for about a day if it hås been "fooled" by somebody's finger. Traps act quickly under ideal warm and humid conditions, and close more slowly during cooler weather.

Soil: Venus flytraps grow well in a mixture of 1/2 sand or pearlite and 1/2 peat moss. Use white sandblasting sand and wash it with rain water or distilled water. Moisten and break up the peat moss well before mixing with the sand. Wear gloves. Do not use ordinary potting soil or garden soil.

Water: If you have killed a Venus flytrap, it was probably the water you used. Typical tap water or well water has too many minerals and salts that will build up in the soil of your plant, and within about six months it will die. An occasional watering with such water will not be deadly, but be sure to flush it out thoroughly with pure water after using tap or well water. You can buy distilled water (the kind you put in your iron, not mineral or spring water), collect rainwater from a downspout, or you can use a reverse osmosis water purification system. Filtered water from a system such as Brita can be used in a pinch, but should not be used as a permanent water source.

Watering frequency: From spring to fall keep your flytrap very moist, generally watering every day. Never let it go bone dry: it will probably not forgive you! If it is very hot or you are going away for a few days, it is okay to sit the plant in a saucer of water to keep it from drying out. 

Light: Venus flytraps like lots of sun, and love to spend the summer outdoors in the sun. Be sure to acclimate any plants coming from indoors: start them in mostly shade and gradually move them to full sun over a week or two. If grown indoors, give them the sunniest window possible, or use a fluorescent shop tight set on a timer to provide at least 14 hours of light a day from spring through fall. Keep the plants as close to the light as possible.

Pots: Most flytraps come in tiny 3" pots. Move your plant to a 4" or 5" plastic pot, or put several together in a 6" or 8" pot. They have surprisingly deep roots for such little plants, so use deep pots. A whole colony looks great planted in a plastic window box. Don't use plastic domes.

Fall and Winter Care: Venus flytraps need a cool winter rest. From late fall through February keep your plant in the garage or a cold cellar (night temperatures between 25 and 45 degrees). If there is no window in the cellar or basement, set up a shop light above your plants, attached to a timer to give them about ten hours of light a day. Keep your plant only barely damp in the winter. You can also refrigerate your flytrap for a couple of months: just stick the pot in a loose plastic bag in the fridge, and check it every week or two. Water it if it starts to dry out (it should be barely moist). You don't need to provide light while it is in the fridge: total darkness is okay if it is consistently cold. No matter where your plant rests, expect it to look less happy in the winter: the lush summer traps will turn black and die (gently remove these), and only a few tiny traps will be left at the base of the plant. In March, after your plant has rested, place it back in a sunny window and start watering it more. It will bloom, and start growing new summer traps.

Feeding: If your flytrap spends the summer outdoors, it will catch all the food it needs. It is especially fond of ants, spiders and other crawling insects. If you want to feed your plant, use small insects (or cut up larger insects into small pieces). Live insects can simply be placed on the plants to meet their death; dead insects must be placed inside the trap, moving it a bit to trigger the trap hairs. Once the trap shuts on the meal, gently massage the closed trap to stimulate the action of a struggling insect (this releases the digestive enzymes). It will take about a week for the trap to digest the insect. Generally, each trap can eat about three meals, then it turns black and dies and is replaced by a new leaf. You do not need to feed your plant more than once every week or two: a little insect goes a long way! Don't use hamburger; did you ever see a flytrap trying to eat a cow?! Only feed during the spring and summer: flytraps don't eat while they are resting in the winter. Do not use chemical fertilizers on your plant: the salts can damage and/or kill them.

 Pests : You might be hoping that your flytraps will kill all the bad bugs in your house and garden. Unfortunately, they don't eat mosquitoes (which are attracted to blood, not to nectar), nor are they very good at catching flies! American pitcher plants eat more flies than Venus flytraps do. As for houseplant bugs (mealybug, scale, aphids, spider mite), Venus flytraps can be attacked by them the same as any other plant. Slugs can also be a problem. The easiest way to deal with pests is to drown them by submerging the entire plant in pure water for 24 hours. Venus flytraps normally experience brief flooding and will not be harmed by it, but it should kill the pests.

Black Leaves: Don't be worried if some of the traps on your otherwise healthy looking plant turn black and die, this is the normal aging process of a leaf. Each trap only lives for a few months at most, and is replaced with new traps throughout the growing season. Just gently clip off any blackened traps and stems; don't tug them off, as you may accidentally uproot the plant.

Dividing: If you follow these instructions, by the end of a year, you will find that your plant has grown well and now has multiple crowns. You can easily divide these, creating several plants from one. Begin by gently unpotting your plant, and pull/shake the loose soil from the roots. Once loosened, you can grasp the individual crowns and gently pull apart. Pot each up individually, or all together in a larger pot. The crown should be mostly buried, just barely sticking out, and the soil should be gently firmed down. Dividing is best done at the end of winter, just before the plants start to grow. (Repotting without division can be done at any time during the active growth period.)

Outdoor Bogs: Though not guaranteed to survive a St. Louis winter, Venus flytraps usually will survive outdoors year-round, if planted in a bog designed for carnivorous plants. For more information about creating a bog, read our separate care sheet on Outdoor Bogs. Since Venus flytraps like it less soggy than many other carnivores, be sure to plant them in a higher section of the bog, so that their roots can drain well.

Other sources:

• The International Carnivorous Society Growing Guides