Venus Flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) - Carnivorous Plant Resource (2025)

1. Open trap

After a newly formed trap opens, it immediately begins luring insects using sweet nectar secreted within the trap and, in some varieties, bright red coloration. 6-8 small trigger hairs are dispersed withinthe “mouth,” which function as insect trip-wires.

2. Triggered trap

If one or moreof the hairs are touched twice within a 20 second time frame, an electrical impulse shoots along the outer cellular wall of the trap, rapidly expanding these cells, lengthening the lobes, and forcing the trap to snap shutin as fast as one-tenth of a second. With the teeth of the trap now intermeshed, the insect is imprisoned in a digestive cage.

3. Digesting trap

If the insect is small, it will escape between the intermeshedteeth and the flytrap won’t waste energy digesting a tiny insect that won’t provide ample nutrients. Similarly, if a stray leaf were to trigger the trap, the lack of continued movement would allow it to reset without wasting more energy (there are no vegetarian Venus flytraps). However, if the insect is too large to escape, it will continue to struggle inside of the closed trap, further stimulating the trigger hairs. The plant’sresponse is to sealthe trap, secret digestive enzymes via glands on the inner surface of the trap, and digest soft tissues of the insect over the course of four to ten days.

4. Reset trap

Once the insect soup is absorbed by the trap, it will reopen to reveal the dried, shriveled exoskeleton of the insect. This husk may attract additional scavenging insects which then become a second meal for the plant, and the cycle continues. A trap can catch one to three meals before it will turn black and die. This is normal, and the plant will use the energy gained from that trap’s meals to grow new ones.

Soil

Containers

Four or five inch, drained plastic pots or glazed ceramics are ideal for a single mature plant. You’ll want to set these pots in water saucers to maintain soil moisture. Clusters of plants will do well in 6-to-8 inch pots and can grow into a gnarled sea of bug-eating traps!

Watering

Lighting

Flytraps enjoy full-to-part sun. Brighter conditions will promote red coloration in the traps, genotype-permitting. I’ve grow them with great success in direct, sunny Southern California light.

Feeding

Probably the best part about owning a Venus flytrap! They’ll frequently catch their own food if grown outdoors. For indoor plants, and as a great party trickfor friends, they’ll happily eat anybug that reasonably fits in a trap – from meal worms, to flies, and even spiders. If feeding live insects isn’tyour thing, you can use moistened, dried insects that can befound here or at pet food stores (lizard food). Do note that you will have to manually trigger the trap if feeding with deceased or immobile prey.

Fertilizers

Avoid fertilizing. Remember, these plants grow naturally in nutrient poorsoils – a major reason why they evolvedtraps to catch insects as their source ofnutrients. Fertilizing canburn flytraproots and easilykill the plant. Some advanced growersuse an extremely diluted fertilizer to foliar-feed plants (applying it only to the leaves of the plant), but this is risky for a beginner and not recommended.

Transplanting

Transplant in later winter, during but towards the end of dormancy. A transplanting into fresh soil every one or two years will promote healthy growth.

Divisions

Flytraps will frequently produce offshoots and develop into a clumping plant. This sea of flytraps looks great, but you’ll promote even morenew growth by dividing these clumps and repotting them in late winter towards the tail-end of their dormancy period. Do make sure that each crown of leaveshas its own root system before dividing.

Cuttings

Seed

Seed can be sown within thesame season it is collected, or can be refrigerated in a small jewelersbag or envelope for future germination. To sow the seed, mix a flytrap’s preferred soil of sand and peat and pre-moisten with purified water. Sparsely spread the seed across this medium, and keep in a bright, humid place. It’s easiest to use a simple seed tray with a humidity dome. Germination will take a few weeks, and seedlings can be transplanted into a more permanent home after a year.

Tissue Culture

Flytraps take well to tissue culture propagation using leaf cuttings, seed, orflower buds.

Climate

They are warm-temperate plants enjoying warm-to-hot summers and cold winters. Mostly tolerant of light frost and brief freezes.

Outdoors

Flytraps will thrive in temperate, warm-temperate, and Mediterranean-like climates.

Greenhouses

They do well in cold houses, cool houses, and warm houses, and in cold frames in warm-temperate climates.

Terrariums

Can be seasonally grown in a greenhouse-style terrarium tank, but are best removed in winter during their dormancy period.

Windowsills

Will thrive in sunny windowsills. Added bonus – flytrapseat those pesky house flies that hover near windows when trapped indoors. Keep the plants cooler during winter dormancy.

Bog gardens

Great candidates for bog gardens, flytraps do well in temperate, warm-temperate, and Mediterranean-like climates. They’ll grow great alongside many sundews (Drosera) and North American pitcher plants (Sarracenia). Mulch in colder areas to prevent long freezes.