Venus Flytrap
Dionaea muscipula, aka Venus Flytrap, is a carnivorous plant famous for its unusual habit of catching and digesting insects and other small animals. Touch a trigger hair twice, or two hairs in quick succession, and an electric charge will close the trap, the interlocking teeth forming a cage. Digestive enzymes will then digest the plant.
They should not be in a position to see the sun directly, although early morning or late evening sun is fine. Filtered sunlight through a sheer curtain is best and most homes are comprised primarily of indirect sunlight. The best spot for them is where they do not see the sun during the majority of the day but still get bright, indirect light.
They will thrive in bright light, but also can tolerate medium light. A good medium-light place in your home would be in the middle of a room that has a regular size window. They can be placed anywhere between the middle of the room and the window. Remember that plants will grow based on how much light they receive.
They like the soil to stay consistently moist, but not soaking wet. Give them water whenever just the surface of the soil is starting to get dry. Expect to water more often in brighter light and less often in lower light.
They like a high humidity environment, give them a mist daily or as often as possible. Alternatively, you can put them around a humidifier. Although they won't die if they don't receive enough humidity, their leaves may have some dry, crunchy, or yellow edges.
Their main diet is flies (or other small insects) but the trick is that the prey must be alive when caught. Dead flies won't work in Venus flytrap feeding; the insect must move around inside the trap to trigger it to close and digest it. It also needs to be small enough that the trap can close tightly around it to keep out bacteria.
Like many other plants, Venus flytraps need a period of winter dormancy when they appear to be dead (the leaves may die back). Keep it somewhere warm and bright, and don't let the soil dry out completely. Using rainwater or distilled water would also be ideal.
The plant comes with a default nursery pot. The nursery pot is usually 0.5" - 1" smaller than stated to fit into the same size decorative pot. Washable Paper Planter Bags are sold separately.
As with all living things, no two plants are alike. There is some natural variation in size, shape, and characteristics. We make every effort to bring you a plant that as closely as possible matches the plant as it appears on our website, in the size you have chosen, and have a good potential to happily grow in your home.
