This Is How You Killed Your Venus Flytrap

When I was a kid, I owned two legendary botanical disasters: a Venus flytrap and a container of Mexican jumping beans. The beans—panic-inducing once I was told they were writhing grubs—and the flytrap, which died within a week.

Fast forward a few decades, and my 90-year-old mother, Betty, shows up at my back door with a tiny Venus flytrap in a plastic cup. So now I’m very determined to add venus flytrap care expert to my resume.

Fast forward five minutes later, and I’d already almost killed it. And named it! She's Maureen.

These plants are weird. Not like your basil or begonias. They’re finicky, demanding, contradictory—and difficult. Which sounds like every other plant, but they’re not. They’re weirder.

The #1 cause of death for this plant? Treating it like a plant.

Venus Flytrap Quick Care Summary
(Dionaea muscipula )
Light: During growing season they should be outside - not on a windowsill
Water: Rain, distilled, or reverse osmosis only
Soil: Peat & Perlite
Feeding: Live insects only (no dead windowsill flies), 1 trap/week max
Dormancy: Required! From Nov–Feb you can stick it somewhere cold

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Always remember the #1 killer of flytraps are experienced gardeners who treat them like every other plant they've grown.

Alright. Who's ready to kill a Venus Flytrap?

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How to Kill one in 9 Easy Steps

(A visual guide to lovingly doing everything wrong.)

❌ Mistake	☠️ Result
Using Tap Water	Mineral buildup = root death
Growing Indoors Without a Grow Light	Weak traps, slow death, lots of Googling
Planting in Potting Soil	Nutrients = poison. Compost = sabotage
Feeding It Human Food	It’s a plant, not your dog
Overfeeding	One bug per week. Not a buffet
Skipping Dormancy	No winter nap = spring collapse
Overwatering	Damp = good. Swampy = rot
Confusing Dormancy with Death	Nov = normal. June = funeral time
Tiny, Cute Pots	No roots, no hope, no mercy

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How to Actually Keep One Alive

Don't worry about trying to keep it alive forever - that kind of thinking leads to Gaviscon. Pledge to keep it alive for a month. It's easier on the psyche that way.

Venus Flytrap Care: What It Needs to Survive

Let’s break down how to care for a Venus flytrap without accidentally turning it into compost. Our first goal is to keep it alive for 1 month.

Why So Fussy?

Venus flytraps aren’t houseplants. They’re bog-born weirdos. They adapted to live in acidic, nutrient-poor soil where the only thing worth eating was the thing crawling across it.

So if you’re thinking of treating it like your spider plant—don’t

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Light Requirements

Venus flytrap light needs aren’t negotiable—it’s full sun or bust. Which is why when people keep them on their kitchen windowsill, they die.

• Full sun outside: 6–12 hours/day
• Windowsills won’t cut it
• Grow lights are your only indoor option Take a look at my grow light setup.

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Best Soil (Is the Worst Soil)

The soil requirements for a Venus flytrap are aggressively bland. She is the child who will only eat beige. They need a no nutrients growing medium, not potting soil. Which is why when gardeners plant them in potting soil, they die.

Use:

• 1:1 peat moss + perlite*, or
• Long-fiber sphagnum moss

Avoid:

• Potting mix
• Compost
• Fertilizer
• Miracle-Gro anything

Quick Summary: Good soil is bad. Bad soil is good. Confusing? Welcome to flytrap ownership. Wait'll you hear about the water.

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Watering Rules

THIS is what led me to look into Venus flytrap care. As soon as I got my flytrap, I put it in a saucer of tap water to drink. That'll kill it.

The best water for a Venus flytrap is … not convenient. It's definitely not tapwater.

• Only use distilled, rain*, or reverse osmosis water
• Tap water = mineral buildup = root death
• Use the tray method (water from below)
• Keep soil damp, not soggy

I even just bought an instant mineral tester so I can test my homemade distilled water or rainwater. I am leaving nothing to chance.

I’m caring for this flytrap like it’s 1998 and I just hatched a Tamagotchi.

A lot of plant guides claim plants CANNOT have tap water. It's mostly false. I often use water straight out of the tap on my plants. I tend not to abide by any rules and just do and see what happens.

However. After researching and reading and double confirming -the Venus Flytrap truly cannot have tap water. There are too many minerals in it.

*Rainwater has trace minerals but not enough to harm a flytrap.

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Pot Type & Drainage

• Use plastic or glazed ceramic pots, 4–6" deep
• Must have drainage holes
• Avoid terra cotta (leaches minerals) and dries out quickly

What I Did:
Mine came in a 2" pot. Cute, but suicidal in full sun. I carefully moved it into a 4" plastic pot with fresh peat and perlite—keeping the root ball intact and giving it a few days inside before a few days in part shade before finally moving into full sun. It has survived thus far. It's been 2 hours.

Temperature & Humidity

• Active growth: 70–95°F
• Dormancy: Can handle temperatures down to 35°F
• Humidity helps but isn’t mandatory. Airflow is more important than humidity

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Outdoor vs. Indoor Growing

Outdoors is best. Traps grow bigger and brighter, bugs do the feeding for you, and sunlight takes care of most of the heavy lifting. Indoors, on the other hand, is high maintenance. It only works with strong grow lights, you’ll need to hand-feed the plant, and chances are it'll be stuck somewhere in the basement where you can't enjoy showing it off.

Dormancy

This I had no idea about. Part of Venus flytrap care is ensuring dormancy. This happens naturally from Oct–Mar. The plant stops growing, traps turn black and it looks generally morbid. So if you’ve been Googling ‘why is my Venus flytrap turning black,’ congrats - It’s not dead. It’s resting.

• In zones 8-10 flytraps can stay outside and go naturally dormant.
• In zone 7 or below (me), before freezing temperatures arrive, move the flytrap to an area that stays above freezing; in a garage, shed, basement, mudroom (I use my mudroom) or fridge.
• Continue to water while dormant. Don't let the soil dry out.
• Water from the bottom when top of soil is dry.

Quick Summary: If it looks dead in winter, that’s dormancy. If it looks dead in July, that’s your fault.

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Feeding Your Venus Flytrap

What They Eat

• Flies, spiders, ants—live.
• No raw meat. No cheese. No dead bugs from the windowsill.

Manual Feeding Tips

• Use tweezers, gently trigger twice.
• Don’t feed newly opened traps.

How Often to Feed

• 1 trap per week per plant is plenty.
• Don’t feed during dormancy.

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Waking Up in Spring

• New traps will appear.
• You can move your Venus flytrap outdoors once overnight temperatures are consistently above 5°C (41°F)—usually mid to late spring, depending on your zone.
• Resume your full care routine including that thing where you bring it out into the shade for a few days, then partial shade and so on.

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What's Going to Go Wrong With It?

Traps Turn Black
🪦 Old age, overfeeding, wrong food (Cheezies), or weak light.
✂️ Cut ‘em off and adjust care.

Traps Not Closing
💤 Dormancy, weak light, or damaged hairs.
💡 Improve light. Then stop poking it.

Tiny or Misshapen Traps
🤏 You've used nutrient rich (gasp) soil, low light, or skipped dormancy.
🪴 Time to repot, relocate, or reset its cycle.

Pests
🦟 Fungus gnats → yellow sticky traps
🪲 Aphids → insecticidal soap

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Weird and Wonderful Flytrap Facts

Each trap only closes about five times.
It counts. Two touches close it. More taps get it to start digesting.
They're endangered in the wild.
Try not to ruin it.

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FAQs

Do Venus flytraps need bugs to survive?
Yes. They really do. They won’t die immediately, but they need nutrients from insects long-term.

Can I grow one from seed?
Yes, but it’s slow. For instance I've had seeds for 8 years now that I still haven't planted. They're so slow to grow I can't motivate myself to plant the seeds. Like when you don't plant asparagus because you can't harvest it for 5 years (except you really can.)

How long do they live?
With proper care? 20+ years.

So they live longer than a frog but less than a Betty.

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🧰 Stuff You Might Need (Affiliate Links)

These are the tools and supplies I actually use—or would, if I ever bought things in advance.

• 🪵 Peat Moss – Don't use Coco Coir.
• 🏖️ Perlite – Looks like popcorn. Works like drainage insurance.
• 💧 Distilled Water – Or collect rainwater and feel superior.
• 💡 Grow Light – The ones I use.
• ✂️ Tweezers or Tongs – I'm using the Bug Bite Tick tweezers I own for feeding.

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