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Venus flytrap care

The world of carnivorous plants consists of exotic flesh-eating plants that will peak anyone’s curiosity. The large family of 645 registered species are grown all over the world in diverse environments and come in different shapes and sizes. They are the Startrekkers of the earth. They grow where no other plant can grow. Carnivorous plants grow where nutrients are very low and therefore have evolved into flesh eating plants consuming insects and other animals for their food supply. Each species has a unique way of attracting and trapping its victims.

venus fly trap

Venus fly trap (Dionaea muscipula) is one the popular snap trap species from this large family. This intriguing novelty grows only in the boggy coastal areas of North and South. Carolina and yet it is known all over the world. This plant grows in a rosette form and develops snap traps that get 1-1 1/2 inch long with sharp teeth and bristle sensor hairs inside each trap. In the spring it sends out a flower stalk with a cluster of small white flowers.

Emerging flower heads should be pinched off to conserve energy for plant growth.

emerging flower head

Care
In order to grow a Venus Fly trap you must know what kind of environment it requires. It does well in an open terrarium where humidity and moisture can be controlled.
It needs wet, acidic (ph 3.9-4.8) soil, humid air (min 50%) and temperatures ranging from 55-80F degrees. Plant the tuberous perennial in 50% peat and sand or 100% sphagnum moss. Be sure to always keep the plant moist and never let it dry out. You can flood or soak the soil but then drain it so it doesn’t get water logged. When watering, use distilled or clean rainwater. Keep it in 1/2 day full sun and 50% shade in spring to fall with increased shade in summer. Don’t need to fertilize, for the most part they will feed themselves.

How the traps feed
The traps have 6 sensor hairs inside. If 1 hair is touched twice or 2 hairs are touched simultaneously the trap starts to partially close to determine if the object is edible. As the insect struggles to free itself more hairs are triggered causing the trap squeezes tighter then closing all the way releasing acidic enzymes to digest the insect. This process can take 5-12 days. If the trap is triggered by something else then it will reopen within 12 hours. Each trap can take 2-3 insects and then dies. Dying leaves and traps are part of the growing cycle and should be trimmed off.

Winter dormancy
VFT requires a 3-4 month dormant period. It should be dusted with a fungicide, wrapped in slightly moist spagnum moss and stored in a plastic bag. Keep it at 45-50F degrees. At this time it may loose all its leaves and die back. Trim any blackened foliage to avoid disease. Bring it out in March/April and repot in fresh meduim mix, place it in a bright light, humid area and water.

Be sure your Vft has been propagated vegetatively from clump division, leaf cuttings, tissue culture or started from seed and not removed from the wild as this species is threatened by extinction.

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19 comments to Venus flytrap care

  • Camille

    My Venus Flytrap is flowering and know I’ve learned that it will almost certainly kill it, but it’s producing new traps and seems healthy, so is it still in danger or is it possible that it will survive?
    Also, I think of buying another one on the internet, but is it legal to ship plants from America to Europe and is it healthy for the plant?
    - Camille

    Carnivorous plant experts recommend that you cut off the flower because it will drain the plant of energy which it needs to keep producing healthy traps. My Venus Flytrap died shortly after blooming eventhough it looked good while it was in bloom. As long as the plant is grown legally in a greenhouse then I don’t see any reason not to ship it anywhere in the world.

    • pqsd1984

      i have had a VFT for years, it gave me heaps of flowers and seeds, i never cut off the flowers, and never died from it!
      having flowers for a plant is part of its natural process, i don’t know why it should be avoided! if your plant is healthy, you can keep the flowers.

  • Alison

    I recently bought a venus fly trap and some of the leaves are turning black. Is this a disease or are the leaves just old and dying? Alison

    Can be both, dying leaves are part of the natural growing cycle. They should be pruned to good material so that the rot doesn’t spread to other parts of the plant. Black leaves can also occur if it is kept too warm, too wet and too humid allowing fungus to attack . Fifty percent humidity is ideal. When the trap goes into a dormant stage, old leaves will turn black and should be trimmed. If they persist, then you will need to treat them with a fungicide.

  • Gene O'Neal

    a few days after eating, my fly trap leaf will start turning black starting from where fly is and extending to the rest of leaf. I cut away the leaf.

    If the trap doesn’t shut tight the digestive juices aren’t protected then mold and bacteria can enter to feed on the fly also causing the trap to die.

  • Jenni

    My VFT was doing well this past fall, when it has plenty of flies to feed on. We once saw it with 4 at a time and it started going down hill from there. Maybe it used too much energy? Now it is early spring and for several months now it grows a new shoot every week or two, but a “mouth” never develops – therefore it cannot eat (even though there are no flies now anyway). Should I be doing something different to help it grow or is this normal? Do they need to be repotted? Mine is in a tiny 2.5″ pot. Also, can we water it with tap water we have left sitting in a cup for a few days to allow the chlorine to vaporize?

    Your VFT may have gone through a dormant period during the winter at which time they will slow or stop growing and “rest”. It may also be stressed from over eating which is a fast way to kill it. Give it lots of humidity and keep it moist-not wet. A makeshift terrarium from a clear 2-liter soda bottle may also help with the humidity. Distilled or rain water is best but if you need to use tap water (as you suggested) let it sit for a few days to evaporate the chlorine. Don’t worry about repotting or feeding it as it will “fend” for itself. With spring just around the corner it should perk up.

  • Bryan

    Two weeks ago I brought my fly trap out of winter dormancy after three months of being in the refrigerator and have just noticed some small bluish gray bugs walking around on the top of the soil. They really don�t look like aphids and seem to have no interest in the plant at all. Should I be worried? The plant is still growing back its first new traps of the year and I don’t want to stress the fragile plant by doing anything unnecessary. This is an indoor plant and I did not see them last year. Thanks

    The bluish gray bugs may be soil gnats which live in wet conditions and feed on decaying organic material. You didn’t mention if you repotted your Venus Fly trap. It’s a good idea to repot it in fresh medium (a mix of 60% peat moss and 40% perlite). Soil (fungus)gnats are usually nothing to worry about unless they get out of control. The plant actually feeds on them.

  • Courtney J

    I have been growing both venus flytraps and pitcher plants and have a large infestation of whiteflies on the pitcher plants and some on the flytraps. I have tried using isopropyl alcohol, but the plants are very sensitive to it and it caused damage where it touched the plant. How else could the whiteflies be controlled on carnivorous plants?

    Hi Courtney
    Have you tried fly tape to attract & trap the white flies?

  • maurice

    i have 1 vft growing under the soil.. is that normal

  • Mark Peyman

    I’m in the same situation as courtney.. is there any other remedy of ridding my VFT of the whitefly infestation?. ive had it for nearly 3 years and a few months ago it just died off completely and keeps throwing up stems every few weeks. I know you would say it is dormant.. but it hasnt died off in previous winters for some reason.

    Hi Mark
    One way to control whitefly is to spray the plant with a systemic like Orthenex. It should protect your plant for up to 3 months. Follow label directions and take precautions when using this product. Do not spray indoors.

  • how can you tell if the Venus flytrap has a disease? please answer my question because i have mine and i want to take good care of it please?!

    Hi Alex
    By the time you notice that a plant has a disease, it almost too late. If you are starting with a new plant, it should be healthy and disease free. If the plant stops growing, wilts, gets spots on the leaves and starts declining then it may have a problem. Black traps are not neccessarily a disease. Know what it needs are so that you can take good care of your Venus flytrap. A lot of growing plants is learning from experience. They are pretty cool plants!

  • okay today i found the food for the venus fly trap i put it in the mouth and it won’t close i don’t get why it dosen’t it can you help me!

    HI Alex
    You need to read the above article of Venus fly trap care. It tells you how the traps feed there are trigger hairs that will cause it to close. You shouldn’t be feeding the plant. It will feed itself. Otherwise you will kill the trap and eventually the plant.

  • Aaron

    Okay I bought my Venus flytrap about 6 days ago, and it has been doing great! It is eating a ladybug right now, and I have trimmed it, gave it plenty of water, and kept it under a light because it has been rainy down here, and there has been no sunlight. But I have comed worried about the humidity! I have nothing to put over it to have humidity, and I was wanting to know if just watering it good everyday will do fine? And I keep it inside, and hand feed it often, is handfeeding it ok, as long as the trap shuts by itself?
    Thanks, Aaron

    HI Aaron
    You are going to drown the plant if you water it everyday. It needs to be kept moist but not soggy. Once a week may be sufficient. If its raining a lot, I would not worry about humidity, there should be enough in the air to satisfy your Venus flytrap. I know it a cool novelty to watch the traps close but its best not feed the plant, it will feed itself.

  • Lara

    When I purchased my VFT from a local garden store, it came with a little tab in the soil that told me to water it frequently with distilled water & give it plenty of sunlight. So I’ve been watering it every day with a half a dixie cup of distilled water and letting it sit on a windowsill that gets plenty of sunlight. Several websites confirm this is good treatment, but some, like this one, suggest it should only be watered once a week, and not necessarily sit in direct sunlight. One morning I forgot to water the VFT, and when I came home the soil seemed disturbingly dry, which would seem to suggest it does need to be watered every day. I don’t know. The spoke it came with also suggests feeding it powdered milk if it’s not eating flies. Now, this is the time of year we start getting fruit flies in the house. I’ve sat there and watched fruit flies crawl into the traps, stay there for a good 30 seconds, and leave without triggering the feeding mechanism. Are they simply too small to trigger the hairs?

    In other news, I went to water the plant this morning to discover that my cat had gotten up there somehow and eaten several of the traps. There are still about three remaining, although one of them looks ready to go black & die. Should I be worried about my cat? Should I be worried about the plant? There are two shoots that look ready to grow new heads, so I’m hoping it will regenerate itself. Oy vey.

  • carnivourcactiman

    i have flytraps, i live in southern cali. and have them in full sun and set in a bog enviorment, i use reverse osmosis treated water and fill a try on the bottom of the pot, when the tray is about dry i fill it back up, i don’t feed it i let it catch its own bugs and it is doing great no problems,

  • Raminta

    What should I do if my plant leaves are turning black?

    Hi Raminta
    Cut off the black leaves. See comment on 2/19/2008 to Alison http://hortchat.com/info/venus-flytrap-care#comments

  • hello, i am in the army deployed to baghdad, iraq and i have just got my 1st vft and i read the above QanA but nothing really was asked or said on my area or temp situation. 1st off it took 11 days for my plant to get here from michigan. then once it arrived two plants looked ok and were tall and green and one was small and black and one other one was small and green. my vft i believe is a starter one it is in a small square plastic case two inch wide by 4inch tall with a plastic top on it. can you give me some info on how to take care of it with me being in baghdad. also there is a thin plastic liner that is in the case with a half inch hole in the middle were the plants are growing thru should i take that out to give the plants more room or is it there for a reason. also it gets to be about 100-110 in the shade here. thank you for your help.

    Hello SPC: Bray
    Thank you for your service to our country. Hopefully, I can help you with your VFT. It is a plant that requires humidity and temperatures of 50-75F. It grows in boggy areas of the Carolinas so that’s the kind of environment you need to establish. A mini terrarium made out of a jar or plastic 2 liter bottle would work. I would recommend that you transplant it into a soil mix of peat moss and perlite (a well-drained soil mix) but that may not be accessible to you in Baghdad. Instead, keep the plastic container in a saucer filled with a couple inches of water to increase the humidity around the plant. Remove the dome or your VFT will “cook” inside the container in high temperatures. The plant should be moist but not wet and allowed not to dry out. Misting will help. The plastic liner is there to keep the plant in place. It will survive if keep indoors in partial direct sun(4 hrs) or under flourescent light (6″ above plant) in a “cooler” environment. Good luck.

  • Sarah C

    I just bought a VFT, it’s small and looks young, i’d like to re-plant it to give it more room to grow but should i wait to re-plant until next spring since it’s already August?

    Hi Sarah
    I would wait till next spring to re-plant your VFT especially if its not overflowing in the container.

  • thanks for the detailed info on VTF! we just bought a fly trap, yet to find the name. it has long tubular leafs standing vertical, with one flap at the top tip.

    You may have a type of pitcher plant (Nepenthes)

  • Luke

    Dormancy
    hello there, so When you grow Venus flytraps in the winter, i dont get the part about dusting it with fungicide?

    Hi Luke
    Venus fly trap is dusted with a fungicide powder to protect them from rot while they are dormant (resting) in the frig. During dormancy, it should not be allowed to dry out. It should be stored moist but not wet, if too wet, they can get mildew and rot. Dormancy usually starts in late fall to early spring.

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