5 Common Growing Mistakes with Venus Flytraps

Jacob here with Sarracenia Northwest, and these are the common five mistakes growers make when growing the Venus flytrap. The first mistake people make about the Venus flytrap is treating it like a tropical plant. I know it looks pretty exotic like some of the tropical plants we have in the greenhouse, and because of that, many people think flytraps come from the hot steamy jungles of Indonesia or Brazil. In reality, the Venus flytrap is native to the coastal plains of North and South Carolina. Its native habitat centers around Wilmington, North Carolina. So, it's an outdoor perennial native to the United States. The Venus flytrap is a true American Classic!

So, what's the difference between a tropical plant and an outdoor perennial l? Well, tropical plants, like these Nepenthes, grow in regions where frost never occurs. That's why we grow them in a heated greenhouse. They’re tropical plants that will die if they experience frost. During the summer, we keep the greenhouse doors open to prevent overheating. In winter, we close the doors, turn on the lights, and turn up the heaters. That way, these plants can continue growing regardless of the temperature outside.

On the other hand, outdoor perennials go dormant in winter and come back in spring, just like a lot of perennials that you might have in your garden, like roses, lilies, and any plant native to North Carolina, for that matter. The Venus flytrap is no different. Yes, it snows during winter in North Carolina. And yes, it gets sweltering hot there too during summer. So, in its native habitat, the Venus flytrap will experience a wide spectrum of seasonal changes.

That's why we grow our flytraps outside and encourage our customers to do the same. These plants need a winter dormancy triggered by short days and cold temperatures. They stop growing in fall after the first frost, hunker down when there’s snow and ice, and reemerge in spring when it's warm and sunny. So, avoid the mistake of treating your flytrap as if it were a tropical plant. Instead, grow it like an outdoor perennial.

Another common mistake is using the wrong soil. Flytraps need soil that is acidic and low in nutrients. But, we’ve seen some growers use garden or potting soil. After their plants died, they said they used the soil because it didn’t have any fertilizer added to it. It doesn’t work that way. Garden and potting soil are loaded with nutrients, even if it doesn't have fertilizer added to it. If you use that type of soil, expect your flytrap to die within 2-4 weeks. The recommend soil for Venus flytraps is a mix of equal parts peat moss and perlite.

Peat moss is partially decomposed sphagnum moss. It's acidic and nearly void in nutrients. Perlite is an inert substrate that provides lots of drainage and aeration. So, grow your flytraps in containers and use a mix of equal parts peat moss and perlite.

Now, thanks to the internet, many people already know that flytraps and other carnivorous plants need relatively pure water. However, there’s a myth that letting your tap water sit for a day or two, or even boiling your tap water, will remove minerals. And that is another mistake we’ve seen growers make. Minerals do not evaporate from water. The only way to remove minerals is to use the right type of water filter.

Some cities, like Portland OR and Seattle WA, are lucky enough to have water naturally low in minerals. Residents of these cities can use water straight from the tap without any additional filtration. So, check with your city for information about mineral content in your tap water. Otherwise, you can use a meter such as this. It’s a TDS meter, which measures Total Dissolved Solutes. It gives its reading in parts per million.

Water with fewer than 50 ppm of dissolved minerals is safe to use. If the mineral content is higher than 50, problems can occur over time. It won't happen right away. However, the higher the mineral content, the sooner it will happen. With levels of 100 to 200, your flytrap might live for about a year. Levels of 400 to 600, your plant might live for a few weeks to a few months.

The only way to remove minerals is with a special type of water filter. These include distillers, reverse osmosis, and Zero Water Avoid using carbon filters such as Britta or Pur. Carbon filters don't remove minerals. At our nursery, we use large reverse osmosis filters and store the water in a holding tank. When we need water, we use a pump to pump it out to our plants.

Now, if you don't have an appropriate water filter, you can purchase distilled water from the grocery store. Just make sure it says distilled water on the label. Not spring water, but distilled water. If you want to go the free route, use rainwater or water collected from a dehumidifier or air conditioner.

Now, #4 isn't really a mistake. It’s more like a red herring, a distraction from what Venus flytraps really are. They're plants. They're not animals. They’re plants, so they don't rely on bugs for their day-to-day survival. Now, I know that sounds kind of odd when talking about a plant that captures bugs, but bugs are nowhere near as important as mistake #5, which we'll get to shortly. But, for now, forget about feeding your flytrap. Yes, it's fun to watch your plant feast on bugs, and I get a kick out of it, too, even after 25 years of growing these plants. But bugs are not as critical as you might think.

Bugs are only a source of fertilizer. They don't provide any energy to the flytrap in the same way food provides energy for humans. Think of bugs like plant fertilizer that you buy from the store. The primary ingredients in all plant fertilizers are nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. So, rather than getting fertilizer through its roots like other plants, the Venus flytrap gets its fertilizer through its leaves. It just so happens that the fertilizer is in the form of a bug.

Now, because the flytrap is an outdoor perennial, there are tons of bugs out here. There's no need to feed your plant. Just let it catch bugs on its own. If you want to give your flytrap a bug, there's no harm in doing so. Just remember that your flytrap is a plant, not an animal.

So if bugs don’t provide flytraps with energy, how do they get their energy? From sunlight via photosynthesis. So, when growers obsess about needing to feed their plants bugs, they forget about sunlight. Insufficient sunlight is the most common mistake we’ve seen among growers. The Venus flytrap is a plant. Pure and simple. It's not an animal. It's a plant. And like all plants, it needs sunlight to create energy. Without sunlight, a flytrap will eventually die, no matter how many bugs you feed it.

Flytraps need full sun because capturing and breaking down bugs require a lot of energy. Remember, bugs don't provide energy. Bugs are only a source of fertilizer. Flytraps get their energy from sugars produce through photosynthesis. And these plants need a lot of energy to capture a bug, break down the bug, and reset their trap to catch another bug. The rule of thumb for sunlight is this. If you can successfully grow tomatoes, you have the sunlight to grow Venus flytraps.

Now, you might think that your lighting is bright enough inside the house with lots of ambient light. Here's the thing. What you believe is bright enough is irrelevant. Your flytrap doesn't care what you think. It is, and will always be, the final judge of what is bright enough. If your lighting sucks, your plant will never thrive. Insufficient lighting is why flytraps often die indoors in a windowsill. Most homes don’t have enough sunlight inside to keep these plants happy.

Now, what about in winter? Sunlight isn't a big deal in winter because the plant will be dormant. But, this is why full sun during the growing season is essential. The plant must manufacture lots of sugar to be strong enough to make it through winter.

Now, as a container plant, a flytrap can make it through freezing temperatures as low as 20°F unprotected. In spring, how well the plant grows depends on how much sunlight it received the previous summer. So, to ensure your plant is healthy enough to make it through winter, it needs lots of sunlight in summer.

Over the past two decades we’ve helped thousands of growers with their Venus flytraps, and these are the 5 most common mistakes that we’ve seen – treating their flytrap like it’s a tropical plant, using the wrong soil, letting their water sit to remove minerals, feeding the plant as if it were an animal, and not giving the plant enough sunlight.

Now, you might be wondering, if I avoid these mistakes, how long can I expect my Venus flytrap to live? Well, I created this colony of flytraps back in 2013. So, at the time of filming, this colony is 10 years old. These plants have lived outdoors the entire time and have never seen the insides of a greenhouse. Over the years, they’ve been covered with snow and ice, the water tray froze solid, and every spring they came back. The soil in the pot is also the original soil. I didn't repot the plants or change the soil since I put this together in 2013. So, with proper care, your Venus flytrap should live for many, many years.

To learn more about growing Venus flytraps, visit our website at growcarnivorousplants.com. We have lots of information to get you on the right track, including winter care. You can also purchase flytraps perfectly acclimated for outdoor growing, regardless of the time of year of your purchase. Thank you very much for watching. I look forward to seeing you in another video.

• The original question and response have been edited for publication.
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