How to Kill Your Venus Fly Trap
Using the wrong soil
Flytraps thrive in bogs and swampy environments. Such wetlands normally have low mineral levels in the soils. VFTs are accustomed to these nutrient poor conditions and their roots are highly sensitive. While many websites will tell you other soils are good for use, we only recommend Sphagnum Moss. It has been the most reliable and easiest medium to grow with.
Using anything other than Distilled Or Rain Water
Venus Fly Traps need pure water. Tap water, spring water, or bottled water will have too many chemicals in it which will burn the roots your plant and kill it.
Not Using the *RIGHT* light
Venus Flytraps need strong light. They can be grown indoors next to a very sunny window where sunlight can
visibly shine on the plant for 4 hours or more each day. The bottom center of a window is usually the brightest spot. THERE SHOULD BE NO SCREENING, closed or open blinds, tinting, a large tree, or an overhang on or in front of the window your VFT is receiving light through. The bottom center of a window is usually the best spot for your VFT. It’s possible your VFT can die from light deprivation in as little as a week if any of these things are weakening light to your VFT. They should not be moved back and forth from inside to outside daily. Sunlight through clouds is still good usable light. If you cannot provide a sunny window that receives 4 hours or more of direct sunlight or grow your VFT outside then you can use a red and blue plant LED grow light or a fluorescent light by itself or next to a less well lit window. If you are using an artificial light to grow your VFT make sure to follow the artificial lighting directions on the back of the potting diagram. They can also be grown outside in a sunny spot, provided it is not both extremely hot and dry.
Overfeeding
Feeding: It is best to wait 3 days after your Venus Flytrap is transplanted to feed it. Do not feed your VFT
mealworms. They can damage your VFT. VFTs can eat 1 live insect a week per whole plant, regardless of how many
traps are on the plant, that is no more than 1/3rd the size of the trap being fed. If your plant is very warm most of the time it can eat twice this amount. If you do not feed your VFT at all it will not die. It will just grow more slowly. VFTs should not be fed if they are dormant. If you grow your VFT outside you do not need to feed it all. It will catch bugs on its own. Don’t use fertilizers for your VFT. Leaf/Trap Growth: Each season Venus Flytraps make different shaped leaves that only last about 3 months and are then replaced. 2/3rds to 3/4ths of the year their leaves lie on the ground. If your Venus Flytrap has a leaf and trap or two blackening don’t worry this is 100% normal, as long as there is also fresh new healthy leaves with traps emerging. VFTs shed a little more leaves and traps than usual in late Summer/early Fall. When they go dormant in late Fall/early Winter they shed almost all of their leaves and traps.
Dormancy
Every Winter VFTs need to go dormant but if you bought your VFT from me between November and February it may not need a Winter dormancy for its first Winter in your care. If you grow your VFT outdoors and you get more than a light frost where you live you will need to put it inside 1-2 inches next to the glass of a sunny windowsill for the winter. Do not put it back outside until the last frost is over. If you grow your VFT inside all the time just be sure to move it 1-2 inches next to the glass of a sunny window during the Wintertime to chill it a little so it will go dormant. If you only get light frosts where you live during the Winter and you grow your VFT outside you can leave your VFT outside for the Winter. When VFTs go dormant their Fall leaves dry up and turn black and they grow small leaves or no leaves for all of Winter. They will regrow right back every Spring and maybe make a flower for you too.
It is extremely important that these care sheet directions are strictly followed. If you have plans to grow your plant in a different way, or with a different soil or a different pot, or have read different care information online or in a book we strongly urge you not do this and to strictly follow the care sheet direction instead. We strongly recommend not using carnivorous plant soil purchased from a different seller. Use only the dried moss that came with your plant to pot it up with. This is the straw-like packing stuffer that was in your package.
If your order came with a white bag with a red line on it, this is a heat pack. Do not empty the contents of the heat pack and mix it in with your moss. Only the net pot that came with your order or a saucerless standard plastic pot. Self watering pots or pots with built in saucers will kill your Venus Fly Trap. Don’t take your Venus Flytrap (VFT) out of its baggie and keep it out of sunlight or heat until you have the correct type of water mentioned below and your moss is ready.
\It’s best to plant all the plants that came with your order in the same pot they came with instead of putting them in other pots that may not be safe to use or have enough moss in them. To pot up your VFT, first put your long fibered sphagnum moss in a bowl with Reverse Osmosis or Distilled water. Make sure to loosen the fibers and mix it around in the bowl to help it hydrate. Then wrap the wet moss around your Venus Flytrap’s roots and around the rhizome (white bulb part the leaves are attached to that sometimes is pink).
This includes the part of the rhizome just underneath the leaves, even if they are prostrate or curled downwards. You may need to gently hold the leaves that the traps are attached to up to do this. The rhizome should be buried at the top of the pot and not exposed to light. Green or red leaves go above the moss, white or whitish yellow should be buried. Then fill up the rest of the pot with the remaining moss making sure that the rhizome is still buried just below the top of the pot. Put your Venus Flytrap’s pot in a bowl or saucer that is at least 5 inches wide and no higher than the top of the pot. Fill up the bowl or saucer with Reverse Osmosis or Distilled water to about 1/4th the way up the pot.
Do not put anything else extra like, rocks, marbles, shells, etc, in the bowl or saucer your plant’s pot is sitting in or in the dish the pot sits in. Extra moss should not be placed in the VFT’s dish, either. If you have more than is needed to fill the VFT’s pot it can be redried and stored for later use. Only the net pot your VFT came with or a plastic 3 or 4 inch pot should be used to pot up your VFT initially. The plant should not be placed where it has air blowing on it or near it, like a fan or an A/C or heater vent. If you repot your VFT into a larger pot you should wait at least 2 months and you will need to use only long fibered sphagnum moss or peat that has no additives(like fertilizers) in it. Venus Flytraps should be grown in open air not in a terrarium, in a jar, or under a humidity dome. Clay or Terra Cotta pots or saucers or a different type of soil should never be used. If you are planning on growing your VFT outside you should grow it indoors next to a sunny window for 2 weeks first to acclimate it to outside growing.