Without a doubt the most famous carnivorous plant, the Venus Flytrap is – for many growers – a gateway drug! Charles Darwin famously described the plant as “one of the most wonderful in the world,” and few who have witnessed a healthy trap snapping shut on an insect would disagree.
Venus Flytraps attract prey using sweet nectar. Touch a trigger hair twice, or two hairs in quick succession, and an electric charge closes the trap, its interlocking teeth forming a cage. The insect’s struggles will seal the trap, at which point digestive enzymes dissolve the victim’s soft tissues. The trap reabsorbs this nutritious soup, and – after about a week – reopens, using the carcass to attract new visitors.
The Venus Flytrap’s reputation for being difficult to grow is undeserved. Follow this guide and you’ll soon be growing huge, healthy specimens of this magnificent plant.
Venus flytraps are one of the most fascinating carnivorous plants, instantly recognizable for their unique “snap trap” leaves that close to capture insect prey. While there is only one species, Dionaea muscipula, selective breeding has produced numerous cultivars with different trap shapes, sizes, and colorations. In this article, we’ll explore some of the most popular and distinctive kinds of Venus flytraps available.
The Classic Venus Flytrap
The original, unmodified Venus flytrap is sometimes called the “typical” or “classic” variety It has the iconic rounded traps up to 1 inch wide formed by two lobes closing together The traps are bright green and may develop red pigmentation in strong sunlight. This is the wild type originally discovered in the Carolinas. It makes an excellent beginner plant, being hardy and straightforward to grow.
Red Varieties
Red Venus flytraps are very popular for their dramatic color. Through breeding, the intensity of red can range from light pink blushing to nearly black burgundy.
Some major red cultivars include:
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Akai Ryu – Deep red traps and foliage, translating to “red dragon” in Japanese. This is the most common red flytrap.
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Clayton’s Red Sunset – Intense dark red traps that appear almost black against yellow teeth and spikes.
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Scarlet Bristle – Bright red traps with distinctive long red bristles along the edges.
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Bohemian Garnet – Vibrant red traps on compact growth, created by crossing Royal Red and Sawtooth.
Giant Traps
For those who love oversized carnivorous plants, there are some Venus flytrap cultivars well-known for their monster traps up to 2 inches across.
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B-52 – The current record holder for largest traps, capable of reaching over 2 inches wide when grown well.
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Big Mouth – Perhaps the most famous giant flytrap, Big Mouth can have traps nearly 2 inches across.
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King Henry – Another giant like B-52 and Big Mouth, King Henry is admired for its vigorous growth habit.
Unique Trap Shapes
In addition to size and color, selective breeding has produced Venus flytraps with distinctive trap shapes thanks to differences in tooth length and configuration.
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Sawtooth – Lots of elongated, spiky teeth give Sawtooth traps a fanged, fierce look. The dramatic teeth may interlock when closed.
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Dentate Traps – This variety is named for its short, stubby teeth that resemble shark dentition. It’s considered a good starter plant.
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Fused Tooth – Fused Tooth is normal in spring but the teeth fuse into peculiar solid shapes over the growing season.
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Alien – Alien flytraps have super skinny, highly elongated traps covered in long trigger hairs and spikes for a very peculiar look.
Miniature Cultivars
On the opposite end of the spectrum from the giant varieties are miniature Venus flytraps perfect for terrariums or windowsills with limited space.
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Microdent – Microdent is one of the smallest available, with tiny oval traps under 1/2 inch wide.
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Petite Dragon – A miniature version of Akai Ryu, with deep red coloration and traps under an inch across.
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Clone X – Clone X is another tiny red flytrap great for indoor growing, reaching only 3 inches tall at maturity.
Beginner Favorites
For those new to growing carnivorous plants, starting with hardy, vigorous varieties helps ensure success. Some top choices include:
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Typical – As mentioned earlier, the classic green wild Venus flytrap is straightforward to grow.
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Dentate Traps – Dentate Traps is a beginner-friendly shark-toothed variety that tolerates neglect.
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King Henry – Despite the giant traps, King Henry’s robust vigor makes it a sturdy starter plant.
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Sawtooth – Sawtooth grows steadily if given proper lighting and care. The unique teeth are enticing for new collectors.
With so many kinds of Venus flytraps to explore, it’s easy to get hooked on collecting these fascinating carnivores. Seek out reputable nurseries specializing in carnivorous plants to find healthy, interesting flytrap varieties. Give your plants proper growing conditions, and enjoy observing these alien wonders up close as they capture and consume bugs!
Soil & Water for Venus Flytrap
The traditional compost mixture for Venus Flytraps is sphagnum peat moss mixed with either lime-free horticultural sand or perlite, to a ratio of about 2:1. Hampshire Carnivorous Plants sell an excellent ready-made Venus flytrap soil. In the US, California Carnivores offers an excellent ready-made soil mix. Alternatively, you can buy this compost mix on Amazon worldwide.
An alternative peat-free growing media is pure long fibre sphagnum moss. I’ve had good success growing my own flytraps in pure sphagnum, and while it can be more expensive than a peat-based mix, it’s one of several peat-free solutions you might try. In the UK, I recommend The Sphagnum Shop – don’t forget to use the code TOMS10% to get 10% off your order.
During the growing season, you should stand the pot in about 1 cm of water (about ⅓ inch) and avoid watering from the top. They prefer to grow in soil which is wet, but not completely waterlogged. During winter they require less water, and the soil should be kept just damp.
Venus flytraps growing in a water tray.
Another critical point which is often overlooked: Venus Flytraps need pure water. Like many other carnivorous plants, they evolved to grow in damp, low-nutrient soil, and giving them bottled, filtered, or tap water can result in a build-up of minerals that will eventually kill your Venus Flytrap. You should avoid fertilisers for similar reasons. Your best options are rainwater, distilled or deionised water, or water produced by a reverse osmosis system.
Venus Flytraps require a cold winter dormancy between November and February. You need to mimic the conditions of their natural habitat, which means providing a cold resting period. Much like you need to sleep every night, Venus Flytraps need to go dormant over winter!
Venus flytraps entering winter dormancy, photographed by fellow grower Megan (@carnivorous_plant_girl).
If you grow your plants on a windowsill or in a terrarium during the growing season, you will need to move them somewhere colder – sit them next to a window in your garage or shed, for example. Plants growing in unheated greenhouses can remain there over winter.
As the days shorten and the temperature drops, your plant’s leaves will start to turn black and your plant will die back to the rhizome. This is normal, and you can safely trim off any dead growth. The end of the winter dormancy period is a good opportunity to repot – and even divide – your plants if they require it before growth begins in March. A 10 cm (4 inch) pot is sufficient for adult plants.
Feeding your Venus Flytrap
If grown outside, Venus Flytraps will catch more than enough food for themselves. If you keep your plants indoors then you can feed them with dead or live insects, but you should do so only once you’ve taken care of all their other growing requirements.
In order for Venus Flytraps to properly digest prey, the trigger hairs need to be stimulated after the trap has closed – this is to prevent the plant from wasting energy trying to digest non-edible matter which may have fallen into the trap. After dropping a dead insect into a trap, you can stimulate the trigger hairs with a toothpick, or by gently massaging the sides of the trap with your fingers.
If it’s time to feed your plant, check out my guide to feeding Venus Flytraps, in which I recommend a variety of suitable and easily-available foods.
The Complete Venus Fly Trap Care Guide
FAQ
Are there different types of Venus flytraps?
That means there is only one species of Venus flytrap: Dionaea muscipula. So the short answer is that there is only one kind of Venus flytrap. There is more to this, though. Even though there is but one species of Venus flytrap, horticulturists have developed a number of cultivar Venus flytraps.
What happens if you feed a Venus flytrap a dead fly?
ooh…don’t feed your venus fly trap dead flies. After triggering the trigger hair, the fly will move inside of the venus fly trap telling the fly it caught a “live” insect, instead of other things that can trigger the hairs, such as a raindrop.
Why are Venus flytraps illegal?
Because most flytrap populations are small and fragmented, and the species has limited dispersal (Hamon et al., 2021), illegal collecting has the potential to decimate entire populations.
What is the lifespan of a Venus flytrap?
- Perennial Nature: Venus flytraps are perennial plants, meaning they live for more than two years.
- Wild Lifespan: In their natural habitat, they can live for around 20 years.
- Cultivated Lifespan: With good care, they can live even longer, potentially exceeding 20 years in cultivation.
- Growth: It takes about 3-5 years for a Venus flytrap to mature from a seedling.
- Dormancy: Venus flytraps enter a dormant period in the winter when temperatures drop below 45 degrees Fahrenheit, and they resume growth in the spring.
- Reproduction: They can reproduce both sexually through seeds and asexually through clonal division, where new plants grow from the parent plant’s underground stems.
- Trap Lifespan: Each trap on the plant can only open and close several times before it dies and falls off, but the plant produces new traps.