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How to water a venus fly trap


How to Water, Feed, & Tend This Carnivorous Plant

Venus fly traps (also called Venus flytraps or just a flytrap) are among the coolest plants you can grow. In their native habitat, Venus fly traps live for years. Unfortunately, they are often short-lived plants in cultivation, but this is only because most people don’t care for them properly. In this article, you’ll learn all the essential basics of Venus fly trap care.

Venus fly traps are unique plants to add to your collection but caring for them requires some special considerations.

Varieties of Venus fly traps

There is only one species of Venus fly trap, Dionaea muscipula, and it is native to a small region of eastern North and South Carolina. Over the years, it has been bred to exhibit different traits, and there are now dozens of different cultivars on the market. Some of the types of Venus fly traps you may come across include ‘Red Dragon’ which has a dark red coloration, ‘Justina Davis’ which is a solid green, ‘Flaming Lips’ which has bright orange traps, and ‘Purple Haze’ which has deep purple traps, among many others. There are some pretty funky growth forms out there, too, though they are often only available through specialty plant nurseries. Most are propagated via tissue culture, but sadly, wild collecting does still take place, even though it puts native populations in peril.

The majority Venus fly trap varieties grow just an inch or two tall and wide, though some larger cultivars exist.

There are many varieties of Venus fly traps on the market, but they all come from just a single species of this cool plant.

Venus fly trap care essentials

In order to properly care for a Venus fly trap plant, you first have to understand what it needs. Like other plants, what a fly trap needs to grow is based on where it evolved and what it requires from its natural environment. The same factors you consider when caring for other plants should also be taken into account when it comes to caring for a Venus fly trap. In a nutshell, those factors are light, the growing medium, water, nutrition, and, for Venus fly traps, a special dormancy period. We’ll talk about each of these factors in turn. But first, let’s talk about the fact that Venus fly traps can be grown both indoors and out.

Fly traps evolved in soils that are very nutrient poor, leading them to develop the ability to absorb nutrients from trapped and digested insect prey.

Venus fly trap care: indoors vs. outdoors

Venus fly traps are significantly easier to care for when grown outside as a winter-tender plant, rather than growing them indoors. Home environments aren’t ideal, unless you have a very sunny windowsill and can give the plants a lot of attention. However, I’ll discuss both indoor and outdoor Venus fly trap care in this article because I know that not everyone has the ability or space to grow them outdoors.

The best planting mix for Venus flytrap plants

Regardless of whether you decide to grow your fly trap indoors or out, you’ll need to consider the best growing mixture to use first. Venus fly traps evolved in the very lean, nutrient-poor soil of bogs. That’s why they developed the interesting adaptation of relying on nutrients absorbed from their insect prey, rather than from the soil.

Do not plant Venus fly traps in garden soil or in regular potting soil. Instead, use a mix containing two parts peat moss and one part perlite as ingredients. An alternative mix is a 50/50 blend of peat moss and perlite. Pure high-quality fiber sphagnum moss is a third option.

Long-fiber sphagnum moss makes a good potting medium, though finding a high-quality source is essential. Here, I’ve taken a plant out of its pot to show you how the roots are wrapped in sphagnum threads.

The best light levels for Venus fly traps

These carnivorous plants require a lot of sun. If you’re growing your plant outdoors, 4 or more hours of direct sunlight followed by 2-4 hours of bright indirect light is best. Indoors, a south-facing window that receives at least 6 hours of full sun is necessary if you live in the northern hemisphere. Alternatively, put the plant under a grow light for 10-12 hours per day during the growing season. Choose a light system that produces light in the blue wavelength and place the lights about 6 to 8 inches above the plant tops.

I much prefer growing Venus fly traps outside to growing them indoors. It’s an easy way to ensure they receive enough light.

Do Venus flytraps need to be in a terrarium?

Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to grow indoor Venus fly traps in a terrarium. In fact, fully closed terrariums can cause the plants to develop rot. If you have an open-topped terrarium with good aeration, flytraps should do fine (combine them with a pitcher plant and sundew for a truly carnivorous experience!). It’s just enough shelter to keep the humidity around the plant high, but not so much that it causes rot. Never grow fly traps in a terrarium outdoors, however, because the glass amplifies the sun which often leads to leaf burn.

This Venus fly trap is growing in an open-top glass terrarium.

How to water a Venus fly trap

Indoors or out, keep the growing medium moist to wet at all times. Remember, these are bog plants. Do not allow the soil to dry out. Water the plant by sitting the base of the pot in a saucer of water for a few hours at a time every few days. Some growers leave the pot sitting in a saucer with a half inch of water in it at all times, but I find this increases the risk of rot. If you’re growing a fly trap outdoors, to keep the roots from becoming too hot on the hottest days of summer, add cool water to the saucer on a daily basis.

Use distilled water, reverse osmosis water, or rainwater only to water Venus fly traps. They do not tolerate water with chlorine, dissolved minerals, or salts in it. Do not use tap water. This is very important.

Feeding your plant is either fun or gross, depending on your outlook. The good news is that if you grow your plants outdoors, they’ll catch plenty of prey on their own.

How to feed a Venus fly trap

If you grow your fly traps outdoors, they catch plenty of prey all on their own, but if you’re growing them indoors, you can catch flies, beetles, spiders, crickets, or other garden insects in a net and use a pair of terrarium tweezers to feed the bug to your plant.

Inside each of the traps are a handful of trigger hairs. If the movement of an insect hits the same hair twice within a few seconds or two different hairs are tapped in quick succession, the trap is triggered to close. Digestive enzymes are then released by the insect’s continued movement after the trap has been triggered, and the plant is able to absorb the nutrients contained in the insect. Feeding a Venus fly trap in this way is not necessary, but it sure is fun!

A few don’ts when it comes to feeding bugs to a Venus fly trap:

  1. Never feed your plant prey during winter dormancy (more on this in a bit).
  2. Do not feed your plant hamburger or any other meat. It’s not able to digest it since the enzymes are only released by movement that takes place after the trap has closed.
  3. Do not feed your plants more than one or two bugs per month.
See the small trigger hairs on the inside of this trap? They are responsible for causing the trap to close.

Fertilizer for Venus fly trap care

Since fly traps live in lean soils, there’s no need to add supplemental fertilizer. They do not like compost, or granular or liquid fertilizers. In most cases, fertilizing kills them.

How often should you repot a Venus fly trap?

Repot Venus fly traps every year or two, selecting a slightly larger pot and changing the growing medium each time. The best time to repot a fly trap is in the early spring.

Venus fly trap care in winter – dormancy is essential!

When autumn arrives, Venus fly trap plants begin to shift into a winter dormancy period. They stop growing and most of the leaves turn black and die. The mechanism that triggers any remaining traps to close no longer works. This is your signal that the plant is shifting into its winter dormancy. This dormancy period is absolutely necessary and lasts 3 or 4 months. Remember, your plant is not dead. Don’t throw it away; just change how you care for it.

Dormancy is triggered by the shorter days and dropping temperatures of autumn. It’s nothing to panic about, I promise. Trying to fight this natural dormancy period spells death for your plant, so don’t ignore it. Plants need it, regardless of whether they are growing indoors or out.

When dormancy arrives, the leaves begin to turn black and die off. Any remaining traps will no longer function.

Regardless of whether you grow your plant indoors or out, put it in a cool location, such as an unheated attached garage or a cool basement, for the dormancy period. The plant doesn’t need much light, but close to a window is best. Venus fly traps can survive occasional winter temperatures as low as 20°F in the wild, but in a container, they aren’t quite as hardy. Winter dormancy temperatures that hover between 50° and 35°F are ideal. If you live in a region where the outdoor temperatures don’t drop lower than 30°F, there’s no need to move the plant into a garage; just leave it outdoors through the dormancy period.

Let all the leaves turn black and die. The plant is resting. During winter dormancy, be sure the plant is kept moist at all times. Do not feed your plant and do not fuss with it. Just let it be.

When spring arrives, the temperatures rise into the 50s, and the days lengthen, move your plants back into your living space if you’re growing them indoors. Or, put them back on a sunny patio if you’re growing them outdoors. If there are any dead leaves clinging to the plant, now is the time to cut them off.

Grow a whole colony of Venus fly traps in a large, deep bowl. Simply move the bowl into a garage for the winter dormancy period and keep it moist.

Venus fly trap care basics

As you can see, caring for Venus fly traps correctly is the perfect combination of art and science. They are truly fascinating plants that deserve a home with any gardener willing to let them have their winter rest.

Need more care advice for carnivorous plants? I recommend The Savage Garden by Peter D’Amato.

For more on growing unique plants, check out these articles:

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Venus Flytrap Care Instructions – Carnivero

Care Instructions for Venus Flytraps (Dionaea muscipula)

Unpacking

If you ordered a potted venus flytrap, carefully remove the tape and clear plastic cup around the venus flytrap.   Here's an unpacking video.   It’s possible that many of the traps will close during transit.  Most of the time these traps will open up again when placed in its new environment. 

Potting

If you ordered a bare-root venus flytrap, here's an instructional video on flytrap potting.

You can refer to this potting diagram on where the soil line should be.

 

Water Quality (one of the most important factors!)

Use only rainwater, distilled water or reverse osmosis water.  Venus Flytraps require very pure water. Your tap water is likely to be too high in dissolved solids—minerals and salts—that may kill a Venus Flytrap, possibly within weeks.  It is possible to test your water for parts per million with inexpensive TDS (total dissolved solid meters) available for purchase online.  You can also ask your water company for a free copy of the water analysis for your area.  The water needs to be <100ppm to be safe for flytraps and the lower the better.   Note that in many places, there is a large difference in water quality from season to season due to the necessity to pump ground water when rainwater and snow run off are unavailable. 

 Light (the other most import factor!)

Venus Flytraps are sun lovers, and in general, the more direct bright sunlight you give them, the healthier they will be.  Plants that don’t get enough light will remain very green in color and have elongated, weak leaves.  The best place for a flytrap during the growing season (Spring to late autumn) is outside or is a very sunny windowsill.  They may be also grown under fluorescent, LED or halogen grow lights.  However, the intensity must be fairly high (at least 32 watts per square foot for fluorescents and 14-16 hours a day) for the plants to appear robust.  If lights are used during the winter, the recommended photoperiod is shortened to 8-10 hours.  

 Watering method

Always keep your Venus Flytraps moist, but never soggy.  One way to accomplish this is through the tray method where the pot is placed in a tray or dish and water is added approximately 1 inch deep.  Allow the water in the bottom of the tray to dry out before adding more.  This will give the wet soil a little chance to breathe and keep the flytrap roots healthy.

 Temperature and Humidity

During the spring and summer months, flytraps thrive with temperatures roughly 55-85 degrees.  Warmer temps up to 110 degrees will be fine as long as the relative humidity in the air remains high (>50%).  The outside summer climate throughout most of the United States is great for flytraps with the exception of certain arid regions such as the deserts of Arizona and Nevada.  In these areas and other warm places, care should be taken to shade the plants during the hottest portions of the day and only give them morning sunlight.  During the late autumn and winter, flytraps should be placed in cooler areas with a reduced amount of light for dormancy.   Flytraps can tolerate a light freeze during dormancy (down to 25 degrees) but lower temperatures may kill them.

 Soil and Repotting

Venus Flytraps must have a particular kind of soil that is poor in nutrients and slightly acidic. They will very likely die in "potting soil" or soil from your garden or yard. Their soil must be like the soil in their natural habitat: acidic and with almost no nutrients, moisture retentive but well drained.  Venus flytraps should be repotted every 1-2 years.  Plant them in a mixture of 50% pure sphagnum peat moss and 50% silica sand or perlite.  If you do use sand, horticultural or aquarium silica sand is recommended; however, “Play sand” from the hardware store can be used but it must be rinsed thoroughly at least 3x with pure water (please see water quality section).  Many growers also use pure long fibered sphagnum moss.  WARNING: Miracle Grow or Scott’s sphagnum peat moss has fertilizers added which can kill your flytrap.

Fertilizer and Feeding

Never fertilize!  Although experienced growers can occasionally fertilize Venus Flytraps lightly using special techniques such as foliar feeding, Venus Flytraps will probably die when fertilized by beginner growers, for the same reason that they usually die from tap water: too many minerals and chemicals. These burn the plants' roots and kill them. Venus Flytraps get all the nutrition they need from the sun (through photosynthesis like any plant) and from the insects they catch. If they are healthy and if you put them outside sometimes to "hunt," they will catch insects on their own. You can also feed them captured flies or other insects (but not meat!). It helps to place a captured fly in a jar and then place it in the fridge for a few minutes to make the fly lethargic. Use tweezers to hold the drowsy fly by a wing, then place the fly in a trap and move it a little to stimulate the trigger hairs near the middle of the trap, which should cause a healthy trap to close. Don't close the traps over and over again, because each trap can only snap shut a few times (perhaps half a dozen) before it won't respond.

Dormancy

Venus Flytraps must have a rest period of a few months every year. When the days become shorter and cooler in the Fall, the plants begin to slow down growth and the traps begin to be sluggish. During dormancy Venus Flytraps should be kept cool. Although the plants can survive light frosts and brief freezing, it is better to keep them above freezing: 35°F to about 55°F degrees at night is sufficiently cool, and they can be warmer at times during the day but should be cool to cold most of the time. An unheated porch or garage can work for most people. Venus fly traps should not be watered nearly as often because they don't need nor use as much water during their dormancy. Carefully cut off any traps that turn black. This is natural. Venus Flytrap leaves, like all plants' leaves, eventually die and are replaced by fresh leaves in time. During dormancy a healthy Venus Flytrap can look almost dead on top, but assuming it has not dried out completely nor rotted from too much water, it is healthy and will begin to grow vigorously again sometime in the Spring. At that time it will appreciate being placed in warmer conditions and watered more frequently again.

Special note for holiday season buyers:  If you receive your flytrap during the winter and it is still in active growth then our recommendation is to let it go dormant with cooler temperatures.   However, you could also give it warm temperatures and plenty of light until the following winter.  Flytraps are tolerant of skipping a single dormancy season; however, any more than one with stress the plant out to the point of death.  Note that plants that skipped their dormancy may get confused and go through a mild dormancy in the spring/summer.

Now grow those flytraps!

If you follow the above tips, you'll be well on your way to growing healthy and happy Venus fly traps!  Note that temperature American sundews and pitcher plants can be grown alongside venus flytraps under the same conditions.  Check out our venus flytrap inventory.

Venus Flytrap Care | Dionea at home

Our shop offers a wide variety of exotic plants. The Venus flytrap, or dionea, is one of the most sought after options, and here's why:

Dioneya feels good at home: if you follow a few rules, there will be no problems with care. What can and cannot be done with a Venus flytrap - we will tell in this article.

Lighting

The Venus flytrap grows naturally in swampy areas on the east coast of the United States of America. Therefore, your task is to recreate these climatic conditions as much as possible.

You need to know!
In autumn and winter, the sun rarely appears, so the flycatcher needs additional lighting. Phytolamp is best suited for this purpose. It is not difficult to understand that a plant lacks light: its leaves stretch and lose their brightness.

Temperature and watering

Dionea is a heat-loving flower, therefore it grows well and develops at temperatures from 22 to 30 degrees Celsius. In summer, the flycatcher calmly tolerates higher temperatures, but if this regime is maintained throughout the year, the plant will not live long. In winter, the flower needs rest.

Let's say you have already chosen a place for a flycatcher pot. It's time to take care of its watering.

In winter, the plant must be sent for wintering!

How to choose soil and pot?

The choice of a pot is a matter of taste, but this plant looks most solemn in a white background. It is also often chosen in the case when a flower is bought not for themselves, but as a gift.

The beauty and health of a plant depends on the soil. Due to the inability to absorb minerals, the flycatcher prefers poor soils. It can be a mixture of peat and quartz sand (an alternative is perlite soaked in distilled water). In order not to buy the components separately and not to experiment with the proportions indicated on the Internet, we recommend that you purchase ready-made primer for dionea (it is always on sale).

This is important!
When choosing a pot, focus on the size of the plant. The container must not be too wide! As for color, light shades heat up less in the sun, which avoids overheating of the root system.
The correct pot must necessarily have drainage holes and a pan into which water is poured.

Dionea planting and transplanting: the most popular options

Variety selection depends on personal preference, but the most popular options are the typical form, large mouth and red dragon. Before placing an order, it is important to understand exactly what you need:

What do we do for you?

You have the right to choose any of the offered options, our task is to provide you with a quality product. Germination of seeds of carnivorous plants is about 70%. In practice, this means that 7 out of 10 potential plants will sprout. The second direction of our activity is the cultivation of Venus flytrap specifically for sale. We understand that our customers are located in various parts of Russia, and therefore we pay special attention to packaging and transportation conditions. In order to keep the plants warm on the way, we ship them between April and November, but this is not the only reason for choosing this interval. Many plants go dormant in winter. It is impossible to transplant flowers during this period. In spring and summer, we recommend using the following algorithm:

The soil does not need to be compacted to allow it to breathe better. Be sure to check for drainage holes in the bottom of the pot.

How long is the adjustment period?

Transplanting and changing places is stressful for any plant. The standard duration of the adaptation period is 1 month. At this time, it is very important not to move the plant from place to place and organize proper watering and additional lighting.

About flowering and eating

The flycatcher releases a peduncle. The flowers themselves are small, look like asterisks and smell pleasant, luring insects into a trap.

Interesting fact
Most plants require fertilizer during flowering and active growth. Here the situation is completely different: since the root system is not able to receive minerals from the soil, it synthesizes them on its own, but it will not be possible to solve the problem with a lack of nitrogen in this way.

The only source of nitrogen is stray insects that fall into its trap. If you take the pot out to the balcony in the spring and summer, the plant will cope with this task on its own, but you should not feed the flower with dead flies (if necessary, only live ones). Also, the flycatcher will not refuse mosquitoes and spiders.

Failure to follow these recommendations will result in the death of the trap due to the inability to properly digest food. The ideal "lunch" of a flower that eats flies takes up no more than 1/3 of the area of ​​the trap!

How does the flycatcher winter?

Preparation for hibernation begins around October, but it is necessary to remove the plant for wintering in November-December. It is not difficult to understand that the plant is preparing for hibernation: the flycatcher gives wide leaves, the traps, on the contrary, become small. Thus Dionea saves the roots from the cold.

At this time, it is important to reduce watering, but still do not allow the soil to dry out completely. If you forget about watering for a long time, the Dionea plant may not wake up.

Is it possible to revive the flycatcher?

The answer to this question depends on two factors: the degree of damage to the plant and the speed of your reaction. If the rhizome is painted white, the flycatcher can be saved. To do this, carefully remove the blackened parts of the plant and transplant it into a new pot with suitable soil. During the rehabilitation period, the flycatcher is especially in dire need of sunlight, so the presence of a lamp aimed at dionea 12 hours a day is a necessary condition.

The flycatcher gets sick quite rarely, however, if two factors coincide - waterlogging of the soil and low temperature - a fungus may appear on the roots, and gray rot on the stem and leaves. This "infection" is treated with fungicides, which can be purchased at any store selling indoor plants. With timely detection of the problem, the chances of recovery are great. But the yellowing of the leaves indicates that you are watering the flycatcher with unsuitable water, such as tap water, or you have flooded the flower. Here it is important to realize the mistake in time and change hard water to distillate or normalize the irrigation regime.

Frequently asked questions

Venus flytrap is a beautiful and unusual predator, so it is often bought as a gift. Before making a purchase decision, we are asked a lot of questions. Here are the most common ones:

Is the Venus flytrap dangerous for humans?

Venus flytrap is completely safe for both humans and pets. Her only interest is small insects: spiders, mosquitoes, flies and midges. If a child touches the trap, nothing will happen to his finger: the leaves of the plant are soft, and the “juice” does not begin to be produced immediately. Just think, one insect can take up to 10 days to digest.

On the other hand, frequent “playing” with the flycatcher can lead to its death. Each closing of the trap is accompanied by a large expenditure of energy. If the flytrap is infrequently “deceived”, nothing terrible will happen - in a day or two it will open again, but such manipulations on an ongoing basis can destroy the plant. If you want to observe a "living organism", catch a fly and try to feed the flycatcher, while the insect must be alive.

​

Is it difficult to take care of carnivorous plants?

Your order comes with a detailed guide to caring for your venus flytrap at home, so in most cases there are no problems. All a flycatcher needs is soft water and good (natural or artificial) lighting. With the capture of insects, the flycatcher, as a rule, does an excellent job on its own.

How long does a flycatcher live?

Venus flytrap is a perennial plant that can live for decades if properly cared for.

We will be glad if, after reading this article, you still decide to purchase this amazing flower. In our store, the most common and unpretentious plants, as well as everything you need to grow a flycatcher at home - special soil, seeds, pots.

We deliver all plants presented on the site in Russia. Residents of Moscow and the Moscow region can arrange courier delivery, as well as pick up a flower from our showroom. Goods are sent to other regions by Russian Post, Boxberry and SDEK.

If you are looking for the most beautiful exotic plants - look at the Exotica online store. We guarantee a wide selection and reasonable prices!

Caring for Venus Flytrap (Dionea) at home

As of March 8, predatory Dionea was bought almost more often than tulips. And of course, there were many questions about the care of this amazing plant. This once again prompted us to think about a blog where we will publish tips from Jungle salon biologists on caring for the most popular indoor plants. This time we were able to materialize thoughts into text, so we start with a useful article about flycatchers.

Dionea or Venus flytrap (lat. Dionaea muscipula) is a carnivorous plant native to the swamps of the South Atlantic states of America. It belongs to the same family as Rosyanka, which grows in Belarusian swamps. The peculiarity of predator plants is that they not only obtain energy through photosynthesis, like all plants, but are also able to feed on small insects. With insect treats, they mainly compensate for the lack of nitrogen in the swampy soils on which they grow in the wild

By the way, the Dionea that grows in the swamps of America is endangered. The same can't be said about house flycatchers: in recent years, they have become one of the most popular houseplants around the world, although they are quite picky.

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Especially for the readers of our blog.

Caring for a Venus Flytrap

To make friends with Dionea and she stays in your house for a long time, you will have to follow a few rules. It cannot be said that they are already very complex, it is another matter that caring for Dionea requires some scrupulousness and, most importantly, regularity.

Dealing with the location and light regime for Dionea

The location of the flycatcher is a question that is best resolved immediately and for a long time. The thing is that Dionea really does not like moving.

An ideal place for a predator plant is a place on the east / west window sill of your apartment. The most-most ideal - southern. But only if you have the opportunity to protect the flycatcher from the midday sun every day!

Important to know! If the traps of Dionea lose their bright color, and the leaves become thinner, this is a sure sign that the plant lacks lighting.

Sunbathing from indirect sunlight for 5 hours a day is the most optimal mode for the flycatcher. Of course, it is impossible to provide such conditions in the Belarusian climate in winter and autumn. Therefore, if additional lighting is not planned, do not be alarmed if Dionea loses its decorative effect during wintering.

Another important parameter for the flycatcher is fresh air. Dionei feel uncomfortable in rooms with stagnant air, so it is advisable to air the room where the flycatcher has settled daily. At the same time, drafts are detrimental to the predatory Dionea, so ventilation must be done carefully.

What about watering?

It is important to keep Dionea constantly moistened potting soil. If this parameter is ignored, the traps, and sometimes the plant itself, die very quickly.

The swampy soils of Dionea's natural habitat are so poor that in the course of evolution the roots of this plant completely forgot what minerals were and became very sensitive to them. Therefore, the Venus flytrap should be watered only with clean water without any impurities. Dionea is just that plant, which, if approached with all seriousness, will not have enough settled tap water. Ideally, this is filtered, distilled or boiled water. But, if you periodically break this rule, nothing bad will happen to the flycatcher;)

It is important to water the flycatcher exclusively in the pan. The thing is that when watering on top of the soil, the earthen ball is compacted and enough oxygen does not pass to the roots.

Important to know! Cover the soil in the flycatcher pot with sphagnum moss. So it will not dry out and the access of oxygen will remain.

Pour water into the tray until it reaches the holes in the bottom of the pot. So Dionea can get as much water as the plant needs. However, it is important to regularly update the water in the pan and prevent stagnation.

Venus flytrap is responsive to spraying, it is especially important to remember to moisten the plant and the surrounding area if the air in the room is dry enough.

Is it necessary to feed the flycatcher with insects?

Daylight is much more important for the flycatcher than eating insects, since the basis of its existence, like any plant, is photosynthesis. Eating insects acts rather instead of top dressing, because Dionea's roots are not able to absorb fertilizers. So, a predator plant receives nutrients, nitrogen, first of all, when digesting insects: flies, bees, spiders, ants, bugs and even slugs. Moreover, Dionea knows her norm, and if the plant has enough nutrients, the traps simply will not work on insects for some time.

So, it is not necessary to feed the flycatcher regularly, except during the period of flowering and active growth, and if insects do not get into the room where it is kept.

If you decide to feed the flycatcher with insects for fun or for food, remember the following rules:

Transplanting Dionea: choosing a pot and soil

Dionea in nature lives on acidic soils (3.5-4.5 pH). If you plan to prepare the soil yourself, take two parts of perlite, four of peat and one part of quartz sand. Perlite should be soaked in water for about a week, and sand should be boiled in distilled water. Do not use nutrient soils - the swamp predator will wither in them. You can go the simpler way and buy specialized soil on our website.

Venus flytrap should be repotted every two or three years, preferably in spring. The most ideal container is an aquarium. In it, drafts will not reach the flycatcher, but fresh air will circulate perfectly. If the choice is made in favor of the pot - choose tall and narrow pots of light shades. The thing is that the root system of the predator plant grows down. The color of the pot matters: since the flycatcher needs the sun, and in the sun in pots of dark shades, a "greenhouse effect" is created, which leads to overheating of the roots.

To transplant Dionea into a new pot:

  1. Carefully clean the soil from the roots, soak the plant in water (from the filter) if necessary. Rinse the roots with warm water.
  2. Place the Dionea in the center of the pot and cover the roots with potting mix without crushing the soil.
  3. Cover the ground with damp moss.
  4. Pour water into the drip tray.

Dionea will need some time to recover from the transplant - from four to five weeks. Provide shade for the predator plant at this time, and increase watering as well.

How does Dionea bloom?

In May-June, Dionea produces a long peduncle with an inflorescence of small white fragrant buds. The flowering of the flycatcher lasts a couple of months and requires a lot of strength from the predator. Therefore, if there is no goal to get seeds, it is worth cutting off the inflorescence before the buds open. In this case, the flycatcher will focus its forces on the formation of new traps.

Overwintering predator plant

If the flycatcher does not provide 12-15 hours of daylight with the help of lamps, in autumn it will definitely begin to prepare for hibernation and lose its decorative effect. As soon as you notice that new leaf growth has stopped, reduce watering and do not leave water in the pan. The best conditions for a quiet wintering of Dionea are coolness and partial shade. You can leave the flower on an insulated unheated loggia, where the temperature will stay around 7-10 ºC, or you can even put the flycatcher in the bottom drawer of the refrigerator. The only thing that needs to be done during such a winter is to occasionally moisten the soil.

In February, it is worth returning Dionea to her usual place, cutting off all last year's traps, and then resuming standard care. By May, the plant should fully return to its previous form.

Reproduction of the Venus flytrap

There are four ways of reproduction of Dionea:

What can threaten the flycatcher: diseases and pests

The flycatcher is a fairly viable plant, but with a significant violation of the conditions of detention, it can be susceptible to some ailments:

Gray rot.

Gray rot infects Dionea with systematic overflow. Especially if the temperature in the room where the flycatcher lives is low. Gray rot resembles fluff - it can appear on any part of the plant. You need to fight the disease by adjusting the conditions of the Venus flytrap and fungicides.

Bactericidal damage

The most dangerous disease of the flycatcher, as it quickly spreads through healthy tissues and, if measures are not taken in time, Dionea may die. A bactericidal lesion appears when a predator plant has caught prey "too tough" and cannot fully digest it. As a result, the trap turns black and rots. Rot quickly passes to neighboring organs, so it is important to remove the affected parts with a sterile instrument as soon as possible and treat Dionea with a fungicide.

Insect infestation

A little strange, but the insectivorous plant itself can be infested by insects. This happens quite rarely, but it is still better to be aware of the possible danger.

Dionea's traps are attacked by aphids. If this happens, they will deform. Like any other plant affected by aphids, the Venus flytrap needs to be treated with insecticides, preferably in the form of an aerosol.

Another pest that can attack a predator plant is the spider mite. This usually happens when the indoor air is too dry for the flycatcher to live. Treatment with acaricides will help.

Other problems

When hard water is used to irrigate Dionea, the soil gradually becomes saline with minerals, especially calcium. Dionea will react to an excess of minerals by yellowing the leaves.

With insufficient watering and systematic drying of the topsoil, the Venus flytrap can shed all the leaves. To prevent this from happening, always keep the potting soil slightly moist.

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