How to Care for a Venus Flytrap

The Venus Flytrap is one of the simplest of carnivorous plants to cultivate. The following steps and tips will help you understand how to grow these unique and interesting plants.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Venus flytrap - bulb or rhizome
• Soil mixture - sand/sphagnum moss
• Terrarium or glass container
• Water
• Sunlight

1. It's good to start out with the rootstock (rhizome) or bulb of the plant. If you order the plant, this is the way it is usually sent to you. Plant the bulb with the root down and the bulb flush with the soil. You can plant the bulb in acidic soil. In fact, most plants prefer this type of soil. A good soil mix for the plant is sand and sphagnum moss.

2. The Venus Flytrap thrives in conditions of high humidity. Therefore, you want to plant the plant in a glass container, like a terrarium or, perhaps a fish bowl.

3. The plant does well in full sunlight, so find a place where the plant can reap the benefits of a healthy dose of the sun's rays.

Tips & Warnings

• In winter, move the plant away from the window and cover it at night to keep it warm.
• When your plant reaches maturity, it sometimes blooms. Flowers bloom on a tall stalk well above the leaves. This is Mother Nature's way of protecting the insects who pollinate the flowers from becoming captured in the leaves.
• The plant is dormant in winter from about Thanksgiving to Valentine's Day. During this period, the plant needs fewer hours of daylight, and, as a result, can handle the cooler temperatures.
• The plants love water.
• Do not add lime or fertilizer to the soil.
• Watch your terrarium in the summer as the temperature within the container can become quite hot. Usually a couple hours in the sun should suffice.