Venus Flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) Growing Tips

Dionaea muscipula

Sun: Full sun.  It is common for several of the traps to "burn" and die back when you first put it into the sun, it is just getting used to the full sun exposure and it will quickly grow new traps.

Water: Always keep them sitting in a saucer with a few inches of distilled or purified water, they do not want to dry out but try not to flood the top of the traps with water as they do not appreciate this.

Temperature: These are warm-temperate plants meaning that they need warm summers and chilly winters.  They should be grown outdoors year-round in areas with mild winters.  They can thrive in temperatures ranging from 20 degrees - 80 degrees and can even take freezes and temperatures up to 100 degrees for brief periods.  If you live in an area with very cold winters, they may be overwintered on a windowsill in an unheated room or garage.

Venus flytraps at California CarnivoresDormancy: Flytraps need to go dormant in winter to continue to live and to thrive year after year; it is essential to their health.  A combination of exposure to shorter photo periods and colder temperatures from October to February triggers this dormancy.  During dormancy many of the traps turn black and die back, others grow smaller and lower to the base of the plant.  In spring the plant begins to grow vigorously again.  If night time temperatures do not dip below 20 degrees you should leave them outdoors for the winter.  If temperatures are too cold for this, the plants can be overwintered on a sunny windowsill in an unheated room or garage.  If this is not available you can bare-root the plants, wrap the roots in a little damp sphagnum moss, place them in a plastic bag and put them in the refrigerator until spring.

Soil: Our Peat and Perlite Mix is four parts fertilizer free peat moss to one part perlite.  Never pot them into regular potting soil as the nutrients and fertilizers will kill them over time.

Fertilizing/Feeding: If grown outdoors, they Gremlin flytrapwill catch all of their own food.  Live prey is required for the trap mechanism to work properly and to complete the digestion process.  Live mealworms are a good choice.  Use tweezers to feed them to your traps.  MaxSea fertilizer can also be applied, once per month, to the leaves and traps of the plant.  Avoid pouring through the soil.