Venus fly trap is definitely one of the most popular carnivorous plants to keep in the United States and Europe. Venus fly traps are fascinating to keep and watch, but how do you take care of a Venus fly trap at home? This article will share knowledge on how to take care for a Venus fly trap – this is how to plant, prune and feed them. We will also answer questions that owners might have, such as Venus flytrap soil and water requirements. There are various types of Venus flytraps sold on the Internet, and one of them is a medium sized Venus flytrap.
How does a Venus flytrap catch and digest the prey?
Venus flytraps have two large lobes which are open when the plant is waiting for a prey. Sweet nectar that is present on the sides of the lobes attracts the insects to try it.
When insects enter the lobes, hair triggers in the center of the lobes get activated, and the electrical current closes the lobes. Then, the digestion starts when the Venus flytrap secretes the digestive fluid. Digestion then takes around a week, but everything depends on the size of the insect inside the trap.
What types and cultivars of Venus flytraps are there?
There is only one species of a Venus flytrap, which is called Dionaea muscipula, but there a lot of variations. These cultivars differ in size and color. One of them is Dionaea Green Dragon and Red Dragon.
They are similar in colors, and Green Dragon has a green line around the ‘jaws’, while the red one – red lines. ‘Justina Davies’ type is fully green inside and outside, with no other colors.
There are also mutants, which have been created by crossing the other types of Venus flytraps. One of them is ‘Fused Tooth’ (with fused hair ‘teeth’), ‘Cupped Trap’ and others.
What soil does a Venus fly trap need?
As with other carnivorous plants, Venus flytrap needs the same soil. Venus fly trap will love the soil made of 50% of peat moss and 50% of sand. You can also use 4:1 parts of peat moss and perlite. There are premade soil like this made specifically for Venus flytraps and other carnivorous plants.
What container should I use for my Venus fly trap?
Place your Venus fly trap in the container, preferably made from plastic, that has drainage holes on the bottom. This is needed because you will be watering your flytrap from the bottom, by placing it in the dish that always has some water in it. 10 cm container for a single adult plant and 20 cm container for two plants will be perfect.
Which water should I use to water my Venus fly trap?
If you have read the main article on caring for carnivorous plants, you should have noted the important factor on watering these plants. The thing is, carnivorous plants grow in conditions where water is low in dissolved mineral salts. Watering your Venus fly trap with tap or bottled water will cause the minerals to accumulate in the soil, leading to plant death.
Instead, you should water your Venus fly trap with distilled water (you can buy it or make at home), demineralized or purified water. One of other best options is to use natural rainwater and collect it to water your Venus flytrap.
Don’t use tap water, bottled mineral or filtered water. Another good water option for your carnivorous plants is water produced with multiple stage reverse osmosis filter like this.
It removes impurities from water and is good for both you and your carnivorous plants. This filter is especially useful if you have many plants to water or you want to use it for yourself as well.
If you wish to test the water for dissolved mineral content, use a TDS tester. It will tell you how hard your water is, and measurement of 80 p.p.m and less is ideal for your Venus flytrap. Less, the better. The measurement can be higher if you use mix of rainwater and other type of water that you are testing.
How to water a Venus flytrap? And often to water Venus flytrap?
As with most carnivorous plants, Venus fly trap needs a wet soil at all times for best growth. However, make sure that soil is not waterlogged. Place your Venus fly trap in the container with holes and place this container into a dish that always has around 0.5 inch of water level.
Choose a deep dish that will accommodate your plant container and will allow to have around 0.5 inch of water. In winter, when Fly traps are not active, you can reduce the level of water to less than half an inch to keep the soil just damp. Generally speaking, Venus fly trap doesn’t like undrained soil like most of the other carnivorous plants.
Which climate and temperatures does a Venus fly trap need?
Venus fly trap requires a warm to mildly hot summer with temperatures around 85-90 degrees F. Mild and slightly chilly winters with temperatures around 30-35 degrees F are perfect for Venus flytraps. Warm climates in some U.S states and Mediterranean counties will also allow you to take your Venus outside. If you live in a hot climate, you can even refrigerate your Venus flytrap in winter.
How much sun does a Venus fly trap need?
Venus flytrap will enjoy full and direct sunlight. So, make sure your place your flower near window or on windowsill so it can get as much sun as possible.
Part sun is also fine, but no sun at all will cause Venus flytrap to wither. In winter, you can place your Venus flytrap somewhere else in the house, as it doesn’t need any high temperatures or much sun.
If you have had your Venus flytrap in the shade for a long time, don’t expose it to a full sun straight away, or it will cause stress.
Can you grow a Venus flytrap in a terrarium?
Yes, you can grow a Venus flytrap in a terrarium. With closed terrariums, be careful with extra humidity, due to fungus formation. Other than that, Venus flytraps love extra humidity and even closed terrariums will be perfect.
Can you grow a Venus flytrap in a greenhouse?
Yes, you can absolutely do that. Unheated greenhouses are the best in summer. In winter, it is advised to keep your Venus flytrap inside the cool-warm house. This is because the plant enters the dormant state.
How to feed a Venus fly trap?
You can feed your Venus flytrap various insects that it eats in the wild. These can be houseflies, ants, pill bugs, grasshoppers, spiders and even readily available dried insects. If your plant is outdoors, it will be able to catch all the bugs itself and then you don’t need to worry about feeding it.
If your Venus flytrap is indoors, you have to feed it insects yourself. Doing it around once a week is enough. If finding ants and houseflies is hard, you can get freeze dried crickets, bloodworms and mealworms.
You can even feed the Venus flytrap dead bugs, but never give it any meat, chicken or sweets. Make sure to moisten the bugs before feeding your plant.
After placing the food in the trap (it should be suitable in size and not too big), make sure the trap closes. If it doesn’t, trigger the hairs on the inside center of the trap lobes, so that it shuts.
Naturally, the trap shuts when the bug is in the trap and is moving to trigger the hairs. So, this is especially important if you put any dead bugs in the trap and there is no movement.
Here is Venus flytrap in action…
What about Venus fly trap winter dormancy?
Venus fly trap becomes dormant in winter. This means that it will need colder temperatures, in range of 30-35 degrees Fahrenheit during the winter. Venus fly trap will be dormant – not growing through this period and even losing its leaves.
You will still need to water your Venus flytrap, but only to make the soil damp. Make sure that any artificial lighting or warm conditions are removed during the winter to allow the plant to enter the dormant state. Remove the plant from the terrarium if needed.
If there are any dead leaves, just remove them and don’t worry – this is normal and leaves will start growing back in the beginning of spring.
Should I ever transplant my Venus fly trap?
Yes, make sure you change the soil and wash the container every year or so. This will ensure better growth and fresh medium for your plant. Do this in mid or end of winter so that you don’t cause stress to the plant when it starts growing again.
How to prune a Venus fly trap?
When leaves of a Venus flytrap become dead and black in color, remove them manually. Wait for the leaves to naturally loosen before your cut them with scissors or remove with fingers. You will notice a lot of dead leaves in winter, and you should always remove them.
Don’t pull too hard as you can damage the plant. What is more, flower stalks are not required by Venus flytrap – and you should trim them off if you don’t need any seeds. Growing them takes a lot of energy from the plant.
Should I fertilize my Venus fly trap?
Generally, you shouldn’t worry about fertilizing your Venus flytrap if it has enough bugs to eat every week. If it lives indoors, make sure to feed it enough bugs, and it will get enough nutrients from them. If you cannot feed your Venus flytrap enough insects, then you might consider fertilizing your Venus flytrap once in around 2-5 weeks.
When fertilizing, make sure to drip the liquid carefully on leaves (ONLY!), or it will cause rotting in the soil. Don’t apply on the soil. For fertilizing, you can use multipurpose plant food or orchid fertilizer.
Are there any pests or diseases that attack Venus flytraps?
Yes, there are few types of pests that can attack your Venus flytrap. If you notice any dead leaves and if generally your plant looks sick, these might be aphids. Aphids are small bugs that can be yellow, white or black or green in 
color. Get an insecticide to kill them or they will cause serious damage and eventually kill your plant.
Fungus gnat larvae are another type of pests that can damage your Venus flytrap – these are small larvae which hide in the soil and later become flies. To get rid of gnat larvae, use mosquito dunks like this for some time and also wash your plant under the water to drown them.
Spider mites can also attack your Venus flytrap. They are so small that you might see them as small dots of red, white or black color. To get rid of them, use a miticide (and not insecticide!).
For kill any black fungus spots, which might appear in humid conditions, use a fungicide.
And now, how to create a terrarium or greenhouse for my Venus flytrap?
As we have discussed before, Venus flytraps need a warm/hot summer and chilly winter to enter the dormant state. If your climate is just like that, then you don’t need to think of taking your plant indoors or providing it with additional heat. But most of our readers live in various places, where summer can be cold or winter too cold! Read on if this is the case.
If the weather in your country or state is warm in summer, you can leave the plant outdoors or place it on a sunny windowsill indoors. But what if it cold or not warm enough? Heated terrariums and greenhouses are the solution!
If it is too cold in summer, you need to provide additional heat for your Venus flytrap. You can create a terrarium from a small to medium tank or aquarium. Then, you will need to place a fluorescent lamp or fixture on top of the terrarium. This will provide the required heat and light. Remove the plant from a terrarium in winter.
In winter, don’t leave the Venus flytrap outside, or it will freeze. But also, don’t let any winter sun touch the plant or it will be forced to grow in winter.
Instead, keep your Venus flytrap in the shady cool place, like a garage or the porch. If the summer is too hot and you can’t find the suitable place, place your Venus flytrap in the fridge (up to -5C or 23 degrees F).
For a full guide on creating a terrarium or greenhouse for a carnivorous plant and info on heating or cooling it, read this article.
Hopefully, this article helped answer most of your questions! To read more information on caring for all carnivorous plants, read here.