I decided to repost something I haven’t posted in a while. To everyone who is interested in having or getting a Venus’ Flytrap! Normally, a plant is fine with some tap water, or some purified water if you want to get fancy, but this is not the case with the Venus’ Flytrap. It needs either REVERSE OSMOSIS WATER, DISTILLED WATER, or COLLECTED RAIN WATER. This is because in the Venus’ Flytrap’s natural habitat, it lives in the swamps, bogs, and marshes of the Carolinas. In the area of the Carolinas that they live in, they are not used to having many nutrients in the soil around them, which we will discuss more later. But because of this, they have adapted to non-nutritional soil and water. Since this is one of their characteristics, soil and water used for the Venus’ Flytrap begins to “OVER-FERTILIZE” or “BURN” the roots, causing the leaves and traps to wither and die. Using water and soil without any vitamins, minerals, and salts will be perfect for this plant. Because they like living in bogs and such, they need to be watered around twice a week, or every 2-4 days in the warmer months, WHICH IS MARCH-OCTOBER, AND EVERY 7-14 DAYS IN THE COLDER MONTHS, WHICH IS NOVEMBER-FEBRUARY. MAKE SURE THAT IT NEVER GETS BELOW 30 Degrees Fahrenheit for an extended period during the winter, and never above 100 degrees Fahrenheit for a long period of time during the summer. If it gets too hot for too long, you may have to water more often and your plant may die of heat. SOIL As we talked a little bit about how VFT do not like nutrient-rich water, the same rule applies to the soil used to plant the VFT in. Usually, people choose not soul, but a mix of different kinds of moss, sand, and perlite gardening soil. Two of the most common carnivorous plant mixes are a mix of 3 part PEAT SOIL MIXTURE and 1 part WOOD FIBER MIX, or another option is a mix of 1 part PEAT MOSS and 1 part PERLITE. As long as you do not use normal soi, and use what IS instructed, your VFT will survive. LIGHTING Venus’ Flytraps need lots of sun to survive. When you have a baby VFT, it needs about 6 hours of MORNING SUN. As the VFT matures, and becomes larger and more adult, it can handle afternoon sun, but make sure to keep it at least 5 inches away from a WEST FACING WINDOW, as the glass may heat up and burn the plant’s leaves, even if they are not touching the glass. Similar to how if you have a glass or metal pot, it may cause damage to the roots as they can get too hot being inside the heated container. In the end, all your Venus’ Flytrap needs is the proper water, a good amount of sun, the correct substrate, and lots of… FOOD You may be excited to have a VFT for one main reason; feeding time! But, don’t get too situated, as only 1-2 of the traps need to be fed every 2-6 weeks. I know, and I am sorry to burst your bubble, but it can drain your plant’s energy, and over time, some of the leaves may die, and you will be forced to only feed one, because only one will remain. Many people do not like feeding live bugs to their VFT, as they can be jumpy and startling. There is a way to feed VFTs dead bugs, but it is more difficult, and it will be discussed in a different presentation. DO NOT Feed your Venus’ Flytrap candy, chicken, hamburgers, pizza, chocolate, or any human food. Insects and arachnids only are to be fed to your VFT. Human food does not provide what your traps need. They get their nutrients from their prey, not their soil and water, and chicken, jelly beans, snickers, hersheys, and broccoli do NOT provide any of the things that they need and will close to IMMEDIATELY kill your VFT. Make sure to feed your VFT soft bugs, such as mealworms, Bloodworms, spiders, caterpillars, and grasshoppers. Venus’ Flytraps can even eat WASPS AND YELLOWJACKETS. If you have any control of what your plants eat, try not to feed them hard-shelled bugs like snails, and do not feed them pollinators such as butterflies and bees, as they carry an important role and should not be disturbed. DORMANCY Every winter, Venus’ Flytraps go into a resting period. This is mandatory for your VFT, or it will die within a year. This helps them build up strength for the upcoming spring and they store energy in their RHIZOMES. Sometimes they may die back fully, and the traps can not be seen. Other times, most of the traps’ stems will go under, and others will keep only their traps above the ground. The few traps that are above the ground will not often catch bugs, as they are not paying attention to their surroundings. On rare occasions, probably close to the end of dormancy, they may catch a bug or two, but it is not likely. Hope you enjoyed! Ask me if you need help, or want to know some more!
