How to grow Venus Fly Trap

Dionaea muscipula

Requires a dormant period in winter. Needs constant moisture such as a bog or terrarium. Use distilled or RO water.

Do not keep your fly trap indoor: needs to spend the winter outside.

Do not feed hamburger to your fly trap. Use fly trap food available online, or find flies in your home that died of natural causes (check windowsills).

Venus Fly Traps naturally grow in very nutrient deficient soil, and have adapted themselves to gain all nutrients needed through photosynthesis and the insects that they capture. For this reason, do not fertilize your fly trap. Do not use soils that contain fertilizer.

Do not touch the traps and make them close just for fun, it’s going to stress the plant.

Growing Venus fly trap from seed

Seeds germinate the most readily when soil temperatures are kept higher than 78 degree Fahrenheit and lower than 90 degree Fahrenheit (24 – 32 degrees Celsius).

Venus Fly Trap does not require a stratification period, unlike many other carnivorous plants.

Germination can commonly take 3 – 5 weeks, so be patient!

Soil temperature should be kept higher than 24°C / 75°F to ensure good germination.

Transplanting Venus fly trap

If germinated in a separate germination container, transplanting seedlings to their permanent homes can be performed as early as 2 weeks after seedlings have germinated.

Ensure that temperatures are mild (minimum night temperatures should be around 0°C / 32°F) and all chance of frost has passed before planting out, as Venus fly trap is a tender plant.

Seed Saving Venus fly trap

To ensure successful pollination and seed production, hand pollination is recommended. Hand pollination works best when pollen from the anthers of a freshly opened flower is used to pollinate the stigma of a slightly older flower (approximately 1 – 1.5 days older).

After the flower has been pollinated successfully, the flower and entire stalk that it rests upon will turn black and die. In most cases, the seed pod will split open when the seeds are ready to be harvested. Cut the flower and stalk from the plant. Within the dead flower pod will be 20 or so shiny black seeds, approximately 1.5 mm in length. If not germinating immediately, store the seeds in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

How long does Venus fly trap take to grow?

These estimates for how long Venus fly trap takes to sprout, grow and harvest are from real observations from real gardeners, right around the world.

Days to Germination How long does it take Venus fly trap to germinate?
8 days

Average 8 days | Min 8 days | Max 8 days (1)

Days to Transplant How long until I can plant out Venus fly trap?
+ days

Average days | Min days | Max days (0)

Days to Maturity How long until Venus fly trap is ready for harvest / bloom?
+ days

Average days | Min days | Max days (0)

Total Growing Days How long does it take to grow Venus fly trap?
= days

Venus fly trap Etymology

The plant’s common names refer to Venus, the Roman goddess of love, whereas the genus name refers to Dione.3

Venus fly trap Folklore & Trivia

Only found in South Carolina USA in the wild.2

Other names for Venus fly trap

Venus flytrap, Venus's Flytrap, Venus' Flytrap

Dionaea muscipula Ellis

Footnotes

1 How to Grow and Care for Venus Fly Traps

2 Venus Flytrap

3 Wikipedia


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