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Caring for
Venus Fly Traps
Venus Fly Traps
(Dionaea muscipula)
The best way to care for your Venus fly trap is to try and duplicate its natural habitat.
Light: VFT do best in full sun to part shade. They are best grown outdoors where they will receive ample light and access to insect prey.
Water: VFT grow in swamps, in these areas water seeps through the ground constantly keeping plant roots wet and also leaching away any build-up of nutrients or salts. Hard water will kill them so avoid town water. Rain water is ideal. Your plant should sit in a tray of water around 3-5 cm deep at all times through the growing season. Keep moist through dormancy.
Humidity: As swamp plants, VFT enjoy naturally high humidity throughout their active growing seasons. This can be supplied by ensuring your water tray is wide and kept topped up.
Dormancy: From mid-Autumn until Spring your plant will need to experience a rest period.
This is easily achieved by keeping your plant outdoors and allowing it to experience winter. The summer leaves will turn black but your plant will produce a smaller basal rosette of leaves with traps that don’t respond to touch very quickly at all. This dormancy period is part of the plants natural life cycle and the plant will return to vigorous growth in spring.
Potting Medium: I recommend and use, 1:1 Perlite and Sphagnum Peat Moss. Do not use peat substitutes as these are often not acidic enough, contain salts or fertilisers and breakdown under constant wet conditions.
Do Not fertilise your plants.
Repotting and Division: In late Winter to early Spring, you can re-pot and divide your VFT. Fresh medium removes the possibility of salt and nutrient build-up. Plants are easily divided where multiple growing points have been established.
Flowering: Removing newly emerging flowers will encourage bigger traps and more robust plants.
Caring for
Sarracenia (Trumpet Pitchers)
Trumpet Pitcher Plant
(Sarracenia)
The best way to care for your Trumpet Pitcher is to try and duplicate its natural habitat.
Light: Sarracenia do best in full sunlight. They are best grown outdoors where they will receive ample light and the opportunity capture prey.
Water: As swamp plants Sarracenia need to be kept permanently wet. Keep them in a water tray e.g., a kitty litter tray or ice cream container and keep the water level at least 1/3 the depth of the pot. Always try to use RAINWATER as town water contains chemicals and salts used to treat it, therefore; chemicals and salts build-up and will poison the plant.
Humidity: Sarracenia appreciate high levels of humidity which can be provided by sitting the pots in wide water trays. Avoid placing them in areas where heat can radiate on to them such as hard up against a brick wall in the summer time.
Fertiliser: JUST DON’T…. These plants prefer to catch their own nutrients.
Dormancy: From mid-Autumn until Spring your plant will need to experience dormancy. This is easily achieved by growing your plant outside year-round where the temperature and light levels are correct. The plant will not actively grow at this time and the leaves may turn brown and wither. Do not be alarmed – this is normal. Some species produce flat leaves called Phylodia. Leave these flat leaves but trim away all of the previous season’s pitchers to encourage strong, healthy new growth.
Potting Medium: Sarracenia do very well in pure Sphagnum moss or 2 parts Sphagnum Peat to 1 part Perlite. Always make sure the peat moss you use is Sphagnum based. Other peats such as coco peat do not have the low or acidic pH pitcher plants require and cannot handle being wet all the time and soon breakdown into slimy sludge.
Repotting and Division: In late Winter to early Spring, you can re-pot and divide your plants if they have outgrown their pots. Simply remove the plants from their pots and wash away the old soil. Make sure each growth point has some roots attached and cut the rhizome into separate plants. Re-pot into their recommended soil mix and water in well.
Caring for
Drosera (sundews)
Drosera Sundews
(Cape Sundew)
The best way to care for your Drosera (sundew) is to try and duplicate its natural habitat.
Light: Drosera like most carnivorous plants love getting plenty of light, it does not like harsh direct sunlight, you can grow near any window if it isn’t exposed to scorching afternoon light or you can put them under artificial lights.
Water: Drosera like their soil moist, it’s not a disaster if you let it dry out a little too much. The tray method (putting your pot in a tray) where you can fill up the water into the tray and the plants will soak it up this saves damaging their leaves.
Humidity: Drosera is not too picky when it comes to humidity although most sources recommend 50% humidity or higher. You can also try placing in a bathroom.
Fertiliser: Drosera don’t need or require regular houseplant fertilizer (It can be fatal to your plant). Drosera has developed to survive in poor soil and obtain the nutrients from catching insects. If you grow your sundew outdoors, there will be plenty of prey for it to feed on. Inside if you do not see dead flies and other bugs stuck to the plant you can feed the plant with small flies or dried bloodworms.