How to Grow and Care for Venus Flytrap Plant
The infamous plant best grown as a houseplant
The Spruce / Kara Riley
Reviewed by Barbara GilletteFact checked by Jillian Dara
The Venus fly trap (Dionaea muscipula) is a perennial carnivorous plant, a member of the sundew family well known for consuming small insects. People grow it in part because of its unique and eye-catching look, but mostly because of what it does.
Notoriously difficult to care for, these fickle moisture-lovers can still thrive in your home with the proper knowledge and care.
Common Name | Venus fly trap, Venus flytrap |
Botanical Name | Dionaea muscipula |
Family | Droseraceae |
Plant Type | Perennial |
Mature Size | 6-12 in. tall, 6-9 in. wide |
Sun Exposure | Full, partial |
Soil type | Sandy, moist |
Soil pH | Acidic |
Bloom Time | Spring, summer |
Flower Color | White |
Hardiness Zones | 5-8 (USDA) |
Native Area | North America |
About Venus Flytrap
The "trap" of a Venus fly trap is actually a modified leaf. A plant can have as many as eight of them arising from flat stems (technically part of the leaf) around a basal rosette.
This leaf/trap consists of two lip-like lobes united by a hinge. Nectar within the trap is the bait that draws an insect in to its death. Once inside, if the insect makes contact with one of the trigger hairs, the trap is sprung: It closes, shutting up the prey inside. After digestion, the "jaws" reopen.
Venus Fly Trap Care
The Venus fly trap is best grown as an indoor potted houseplant, where it will be more convenient for you to study its strange behavior. It is no harder to care for than many other houseplants, but it does require specific conditions.
Light
Venus fly traps should be placed in a location where it will receive 12 hours of light daily during the growing season from spring to fall. Aim for at least 4 hours of this to be bright, direct sunlight.
Water
It is better to water Venus fly trap with rainwater than tap water. Set up a rain barrel or leave a container outdoors to collect the rainwater. In the absence of rainwater, use distilled water. Avoid watering from the top of the pot and opt to place your Venus fly trap's pot into a small dish of this water, about 1 cm deep per watering.
Fertilizing
Do not fertilize Venus fly traps, as they perform best in soil that is low in nutrients. just like its native bog environment. Venus fly traps get all of their necessary nutrition from sunlight and from insects they consume, and fertilizers will be too harsh and loaded with chemicals for these delicate plants.
Temperature and Humidity
Venus fly traps prefer warm temperatures between 70 and 95 degrees Fahrenheit, but can survive temperatures as low as 40 degrees if properly protected. They also prefer humid environments with good air flow, so consider using a humidifier in your space, and running a small fan to keep air moving.
Feeding a Venus Fly Trap
If you live in a location with warm temperatures year-round and are able to grow your Venus fly trap outside, it will catch enough insects to feed itself. When grown indoors, as is more common, you may need to provide it with some meals. However, Venus fly traps won't consume insects until they're healthy and have all of their needs met, so focus first on creating the right growing conditions for a healthy plant.
Once your plant is healthy, you can occasionally provide it with dead or live insects. After gently dropping an insect into the open trap, you'll need to stimulate the trigger hairs to ensure healthy digestion. You can do so using a finger or gently with a toothpick or other tool.
Potting a Venus Fly Trap
Because Venus fly traps can be fickle about their growing conditions, it's essential to know how best to plant them, the type of soil they need, and how often you should be repotting them to keep them thriving. Using more traditional houseplant soils or planting methods can cause your Venus fly trap to die.
What Kind of Soil Is Best?
Venus fly traps thrive in wet, acidic, nutrient-poor soil. You can create that indoors with a 1:1 mixture of peat moss and perlite. A combination of soil mix with peat moss, or horticultural sand with an equal amount of peat moss also works well. Wood-based materials such as bark, sawdust, or wood fiber are good sustainable alternatives to peat moss because they also have a low pH. Just make sure that the wood hasn't been chemically treated. Coir, a sustainable alternative to peat moss, is not suitable because its pH is close to neutral.
Type of Pot
The best type of pot for a Venus fly trap is one made of fiberglass or plastic. Ceramic, glass, and especially terrarium-style containers are best to avoid. The pot doesn't need to be particularly wide, but providing decent depth is helpful. Four inches deep is a minimum, but deeper is better, up to 12 inches.
When to Repot
Venus fly traps grow best if they're repotted every 6-12 months. This provides them with fresh, healthy growing medium, as their containers and soil will have accumulated harmful chemicals, minerals, and weeds naturally over time.
To repot Venus fly trap, follow these detailed instructions.
How to Propagate a Venus Fly Trap
The most dependable method to propagate Venus fly trap is division.
Warning
Like some other native species, the wild populations of the Venus fly trap have been drastically reduced due to over-collecting and habitat destruction. This plant should never be wild harvested but instead sourced from nurseries that propagate their own plants.
Overwintering Venus Fly Traps
The plant goes through a period of dormancy beginning in fall when the hours of daylight and sunlight levels decrease. It will lose its leaves and appear to die, but it actually lives on underground through rhizomes. This is normal, and you should not try to make up for the reduction of daylight hours by giving the plant artificial light.
Keep the plant in the coolest room of your home and cut back on the amount of water. Give it just enough water so the soil does not dry out completely. In the early spring when it starts regrowing, resume the regular watering schedule to keep it moist at all times.
Common Pests & Plant Diseases
Aphids and fungus gnats do occasionally bother Venus fly trap despite it being an insect-eater itself. These pests are too tiny for the plant to capture and eat. Horticultural oil or insecticidal soap can provide some control for a severe aphid infestation. Apply Bacillus thuringiensis (BTI) as a natural control for fungus gnats.
Types of Venus Flytraps
A mature plant will send up offshoots in the early spring. Remove them with a sharp knife or pruners, making sure they include roots.
Fill pots 4 to 5 inches wide and at least 6 inches deep with fresh peat-based growing medium. Poke a hole in the center of each pot.
Plant the offshoots in the holes. Water them well and keep the soil evenly moist at all times.
Place the pot where it will receive indirect light but avoid bright sunlight until the plant begins to develop new roots.
Plant developers have produced many cultivars of this unusual plant. Playing up the bizarre nature of the Venus fly trap, the cultivars sport colorful names. These cultivar names are also often highly descriptive, focusing on a particular feature that distinguishes the cultivar from the many others. Examples include:
Dionaea 'Petite Dragon': One of the smallest Venus fly traps, its traps measure just a half of an inch across.
Dionaea 'Ginormous': At the other end of the spectrum, this cultivar's traps measure 2.25 inches across.
Dionaea 'DC All Red': The greatest distinction between one type of Venus fly trap and another is color-based. Most have traps with at least some green in them, and some are all green. Others can have some combination of red, yellow, green, or purple in them. 'DC All Red' is entirely red.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a Venus fly trap hurt humans?
The trap action is not strong enough to harm you even if you accidentally stick your finger inside. But do resist the temptation to stick your finger into the trap, since this saps the plant of energy that should be reserved for catching and eating insects. The plant is non-toxic to pets.
Can you feed a Venus fly trap meat?
No! Beyond the small "meat" offered by flies, grasshoppers, spiders, beetles and other small insects, a Venus fly trap can't digest any other food, including other animal products. Being carnivorous doesn't mean it'll eat just anything.
Where are Venus fly traps native to?
They are only native to North and South Carolina.
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