When Feeding Venus Flytrap, Skip the Burger

Venus Flytrap: The Fascinating Carnivorous Plant

Although my first plant was a coleus, I have to credit my Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) for getting me hooked on gardening. While watching the prehistoric-looking plant eat flies and other wayward insects, I became enamored with nature and its possibilities.

When we become adults, childhood discoveries sometimes lose their luster. Not Venus flytraps. These carnivorous plants continue to amaze gardeners of all ages.

“Venus flytraps appeal to the kid in everyone,” said Chris Barnhill, who is in charge of plant collections at the Fullerton Arboretum. “The flytrap looks like it’s been brought down by aliens, and it moves.”

A small plant, Venus flytrap grows to about 6 to 8 inches in diameter. The leaves consist of toothed traps that lure and digest insects. When trigger hairs inside a trap are touched, the plant responds by closing on its prey.

It takes up to a week for a flytrap to digest a fly and other insects. The trap reopens to display the evidence—a shriveled insect carcass.

Although they look like they come from a distant locale, Venus flytraps are native to the United States. In nature, they can be found only within a 100-mile area along the coast of North and South Carolina.

There is only one species of Venus flytrap, but many cultivars, said Leo Song, curator of the biology greenhouse complex at Cal State Fullerton, where he keeps a collection of carnivorous plants.

“Plant experts are continually coming out with new types of Venus flytraps,” said Song, a member of the International Carnivorous Plant Society. “At the university, we’ve discovered a flytrap that resembles a shark and we’re calling it ‘Jaws.’ It’s still in production and should be available commercially in two to three years.”

The flytrap is a warm weather plant, active from April through October. It goes dormant in the winter, requiring the cold days of December and January to store energy and remain healthy, said Peter D’Amato, co-owner of California Carnivores in Forestville, Calif., a mail-order company that specializes in Venus flytraps and other carnivorous plants. The company will have a display at the Southern California Spring Garden Show at South Coast Plaza May 3-6.

“When it’s dormant, the flytrap can withstand very cold temperatures, but the 40s and 50s are ideal,” said D’Amato, author of “The Savage Garden” (Ten Speed Press, 1998, $19.95.)

Flytraps can often be found at local nurseries and via mail order. Grow them outdoors in our mild climate, or indoors in containers. Keep the following tips in mind:

Tips for Growing Venus Flytraps

  • Provide Ample Light: The flytrap is similar to a succulent in its light requirements. Place in full sun outdoors. During especially hot days of summer, move it into partial shade. Indoors, it requires at least two to three hours of sun a day. Place it in an unobstructed eastern, southern, or western window, or any combination of these locations.
  • Water Properly: Flytraps need to be kept moist, and the right type of water is critical. Avoid regular tap water, as it’s too high in salts and minerals. Use deionized, reverse osmosis, distilled water, or rainwater. The plant should sit in standing water in a dish with about an inch of water at all times. Replace the water if it dries out, and ensure the soil never dries out.
  • Feed Well: Most experts recommend not fertilizing flytraps. The plant receives its nutrients from the insects it eats. Outdoor plants will catch insects, but those grown indoors need to be fed. Good food choices include flies, sowbugs, ants, small moths, and spiders. Avoid using hamburger, cheese, or similar foods as they can rot the traps. Touch the tiny trigger hairs inside the trap to activate its closure.
  • Repot Every Two Years: Repot the flytrap at the tail end of dormancy in January or February. Use a soil mix of two parts peat moss and one part perlite or silica sand. Moisten the mix before planting. Plastic pots are recommended for flytraps.
  • Move Outdoors for Winter: If you grow the plant indoors, move it outside during winter months for adequate chilling. Make sure it doesn’t become waterlogged during winter rains, or it could drown.

Where to Find Venus Flytraps

You can find Venus flytraps at local nurseries or through mail order. Here are some resources for purchasing or learning more:

Julie Bawden-Davis

Julie Bawden-Davis is a bestselling journalist, novelist, blogger, and YouTuber. A prolific author, Julie writes in several genres. She enjoys creating page-turning suspense served up with a dose of romance, garden books that turn any brown thumb green, and spiritual books meant to enlighten and inspire. Widely published, Julie has written 45 books and more than 4,000 articles for a wide variety of national and international publications. She lives in Southern California, where she enjoys sunny, blue skies most days and year-round gardening. Julie gains inspiration from being surrounded by plants when she writes.