Growing venus flytraps in South Africa: The ultimate guide

THE HELP FILES: GROW LIKE A PRO

The complete beginners guide with basic care instructions.  Learn how to grow carnivorous plants in our South African climate

GROWING VENUS FLYTRAPS (Dionaea Muscipula)

LIGHT:

• Venus flytraps need a lot of light to thrive, often more than we realise. They grow best in a sunny spot outdoors in a protected area with full sun year-round and are not suitable as indoor plants. In select cases, they may survive (but not thrive?) in a terrarium with strong enough light, but a 'windowsill with bright light' will not provide enough light for long-term survival
• In sunny South Africa, we recommend growing flytraps outdoors with at (the very) least 6 hours of morning sun—8 hours is great, 10 hours even better. Note that during the summertime, the soil may become very hot, and plants may overheat during heatwaves. If daytime temperatures stay above 33°C for more than a couple of days, we recommend shading your plant from the harsh afternoon sun during this time

WATER:

• As Venus flytraps are bog plants, always keep the soil moist using the tray method. Top-watering is fine during winter when plants are dormant and sluggish traps will not be triggered accidentally
• Low-mineral water is highly recommended; we use distilled- or reverse osmosis water, when rainwater is scarce

• The tray method: Fill a shallow tray with around 1-2 cm of water. Place the planter inside and top up when it’s dry. Fluctuate the water level to air the roots by letting the tray dry out between waterings, but never let the plant itself dry out completely

• Boiling tap water will not remove any minerals or solutes and is therefore not a suitable replacement. Depending on where you live, well water and spring water may have a high mineral and salt content—it's best to test this water first. We recommend a total dissolved solids (TDS) reading of below 50 ppm. Bottled drinking water such as Valpré, H2O and aQuelle contain extra minerals to improve taste for humans and should not be used to water your carnivorous plants

FEEDING:

• Carnivorous plants are self-sufficient hunters, adapted to catch and digest their own food. There is no need to feed them - Venus flytraps, like all plants, derive their growing energy from the sun through photosynthesis (therefore, your plant will never starve due to a lack of insect meals).  During the growing season, they lure, catch, and digest insects, which act as a natural fertiliser
• If you want to impress your friends, you can feed them, but don't overdo it! Both digestion and trap movement require a ton of energy, and Venus flytraps can indeed be overfed. Just as we stop eating when we're full, they'll feed when they need to - don't force-feed them. If grown outdoors where they should be, they will catch their own insects naturally.
• If you choose to feed them, offer only 1 live fly per trap once a month, ensuring the insect is no larger than a third of the trap's size. Never feed your flytrap hamburger meat, viennas, mince, biltong, braaivleis, milk, or vegetables (let me know if I left something out 😂)
• Venus flytraps also do not eat human fingers or pencils.  Trap movement requires a lot of energy and therefor each trap have a limited lifespan for opening and closing - usually 1-3 times.  Triggering the traps manually, waste their energy and the trap will die off prematurely

SOIL:

• Do not fertilise your plant and only use sphagnum-peat based plant soil, which is low in minerals. Compost, coco peat, palm peat and regular garden variety potting soil contains salts and minerals that will kill your plant
• We recommend repotting venus flytraps yearly, into fresh carnivorous plant soil, at the end of winter dormancy (around August) or just before they wake up in springtime

WINTER DORMANCY:

• Venus flytraps are sun-loving temperate plants which means they grow actively during summertime, and die back to a dormant rhizome (underground stem) during the winter months when the daylight period is shorter
• If you are new to carnivorous plants, read this section on what to expect from your plant during dormancy
• Please note that images mostly represent mature plants in full summer growth cultivated in optimal conditions
• Plants will appear smaller, and traps close slower during and a couple of weeks after the dormancy period in the colder months of the year (Usually May to October)

QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE:

• This is a lot to digest, but following this guide we trust that your venus fly trap will thrive in your care.  Below is a quick reference guide on growing a happy and healthy venus flytrap