Venus Flytrap

(Dionaea muscipula)

Where to Grow

Outdoors.

Light

Full sun (outdoors). Indoors under very bright lights is possible but definitely not preferred.

Water

Use distilled/rainwater/reverse osmosis water ONLY. That means NO TAP WATER. The most common cause of a dead Venus flytrap shortly after it is received is the use of tap water. Place the pot in a tray, and fill the tray with about half an inch to an inch of water at all times. In the winter months (see "Dormancy"), keep the soil just a bit damp.

Dormancy

Between October and March flytraps may stop growing and look dead. Dormancy is triggered by shorter daylight hours and colder temperatures. In the mid-Atlantic region, plants can overwinter outdoors provided they are either mulched heavily with pine needles/bark (bury the pots under several inches of mulch) or placed into a cold frame. Alternatively, some growers have had success with placing the plants in an unheated garage as long as the plants can still receive some light. Another option is to unpot the plant and put it in the refrigerator over the winter, although this is perhaps the least preferred option. During dormancy, the soil should be kept damp, not very wet. The plants can survive frosts and even some brief freezes.

Feeding

Outdoors, the plants will catch all they need to survive. Larger insects like houseflies, pill bugs, and spiders can also be fed from time to time, including if the plants are indoors.

Soil

Use a 50:50 mix of sphagnum peat moss and coarse (#12 silica sand or similar) sand. If sand cannot be found, perlite can also be substituted. Make sure all soil ingredients are free of fertilizers and added minerals.

Fertilizing

As a general rule, avoid using any fertilizer on flytraps.

Containers

Plastic pots are best. Avoid unglazed terra cotta plants, because they can wick water away from the plants and also leach minerals into the soil.

Humidity

Not a concern.

History

The Venus flytrap is found in nitrogen- and phosphorus-poor environments, such as bogs, wet savannahs, and canebrakes. Venus flytraps tolerate fire well and depends on periodic burning to suppress its competition.1 Fire suppression threatens its future in the wild. It survives in wet, sandy, and peaty soils. Although it has been successfully transplanted and grown in many locales around the world, it is native only to the coastal bogs of North and South Carolina in the United States, specifically within a 100-kilometer (60 mi) radius of Wilmington, North Carolina One such place is North Carolina’s Green Swamp. The nutritional poverty of the soil is the reason it relies on such elaborate traps: insect prey provide the nitrogen for protein formation that the soil cannot. They tolerate mild winters, and Venus flytraps that do not go through a period of winter dormancy will weaken and die after a period of time. They are full sun plants, usually found only in areas with less than 10% canopy cover. The habitats where it thrives are typically either too nutrient-poor for many noncarnivorous plants to survive, or frequently disturbed by fires which regularly clear vegetation and prevent a shady overstory from developing. It can be found living alongside herbaceous plants, grasses, sphagnum, and fire-dependent Arundinaria bamboos. Regular fire disturbance is an important part of its habitat, required every 3–5 years in most places for D. muscipula to thrive.