Information and Care
Even though there is only one species, there is wide variation among plants. The typical plant is green, with a reddish-orange color on the inside of the mature trap. There is a ‘red-mouth’ variety that can range from bright red just inside the trap to a dark burgundy that colors even the teeth on the edge of the trap. There is also a ‘big-mouth’ variety that grows huge traps, and other varieties have ‘saw-teeth’ instead of hairs around the edge of the trap. We have plants that sprout a whole new plant from the top of the bloom spike, and have had one plant to produce two traps on one leaf!

Traps have ‘trigger hairs’ inside; an unwary insect that is attracted to the plant’s nectar will brush against the trigger hairs, causing the trap to snap shut. It literally squeezes the body fluids out of the insect and digests it, opening back up in about 4 days with just a carcass left! Each trap only closes about 4 times, then turns black, and new growth then replaces it. This is the reason you should not stick your finger in the trap - if you want to show your friends how the traps close, catch a fly, moth, cricket, or other small insect and feed your plant!

Venus Fly-Traps are bog plants, growing in nutrient-deficient soils like peat moss or long-fibered sphagnum moss. The pot should be set in a bowl or dish of water (not tap-water - use distilled or rain-water), and in a sunny location. In the winter the plants like to go dormant. This is their normal resting period, and the size of the ‘corm’ (similar to a bulb) will increase during dormancy. The best way to help your plant is to remove it from the pot, cut back the leaves, and put the corm in a zip-lock bag in your refrigerator for 2-3 months. About mid-February, replant the corm in peat with a little sand added, and put the pot back in water on a sunny windowsill. It usually takes about 6 weeks for your plant to grow large again, and they will also flower at this time.