The Venus flytrap comes from the same Carolina bogs as Sarracenia and wants the same treatment. Most flytraps die from being kept as houseplants — they belong outside.
Light: Full sun, 6+ hours. A flytrap grown in strong sun develops colored traps and a compact habit; a shaded one grows floppy and green, and slowly weakens.
Water: Tray of standing water (about an inch) through the growing season. In our area, tap water is low in dissolved minerals and works fine for flytraps, and rain flushes out any buildup outdoors. We don't suggest well water or city water if it reads above about 50 PPM — use rain, distilled, or RO water instead.
Soil: 1:1 peat and perlite. Never use a mix with added fertilizer.
Feeding: It will feed itself outdoors. We've experimented with fertilizer, but nothing beats full sun and letting the plant catch its own bugs. If you must feed one, use a live insect about a third the size of the trap. Each leaf only closes a few times in its life — springing traps for fun costs the plant real energy.
Winter dormancy: Required. From roughly Thanksgiving to Valentine's Day the plant shrinks to a small rosette and stops growing. Keep it outside, damp, and cold. Potted flytraps are hardy to about 20°F and in-ground plants to about 0°F, so protect pots during a hard cold snap. Skipping dormancy kills flytraps by year two or three.
Flowering: Flytraps bloom in spring. Keep the flower stalk if you want seed; cut it when it appears if you want bigger traps — blooming takes a lot of the plant's energy.
