🌿 Venus flytrap

Use a very low-nutrient, acidic, water-holding but aerated substrate for carnivorous plants. Standard mixes are 1:1 (by volume) sphagnum peat moss : perlite, or sphagnum peat moss : washed silica sand (not limestone-based building sand). Long-fibered sphagnum peat moss alone is also suitable. Avoid all ordinary potting soils/compost, fertilizers and all limed or mineral-rich media (no garden soil, no manure, no vermiculite with added nutrients), as Venus fly traps are adapted to the nutrient-poor soils of peat bogs and are sensitive to salts.

Use fresh seed whenever possible. If seeds have been stored or are of unknown freshness, cold stratify to improve and synchronize germination: place seeds on damp (not dripping) sphagnum moss or peat in a sealed bag at 1-5°C for 4-6 weeks, then sow. Sow on the surface of a moist, acidic, nutrient-poor medium (e.g. ground sphagnum peat moss or a 1:1 peat:perlite/silica sand mixture). Don't cover the seeds; Venus fly trap seeds need light to germinate. Use clean pots/trays with a drainage system; if necessary, apply a thin layer of rinsed long-fibered sphagnum moss to the surface to help it stay evenly moist. Water only with rainwater, distilled water or reverse osmosis water (avoid tap water/minerals). Keep the medium constantly moist (wet-wet) but not stagnant; it's common to place the pot in a shallow tray filled with pure water. Maintain high humidity (a transparent dome/bag is useful) with some ventilation to reduce mold. Provide bright light (strong artificial light or filtered sunlight) and warm temperatures around 20-25°C. Germination usually occurs in ~2-6(+) weeks, but can be slower. After germination, gradually increase ventilation to harden seedlings. Do not fertilize. Transplant/embed carefully once seedlings are large enough to handle and roots are holding the plug together (often when several true leaves/trapes have formed), keeping the same low-nutrient acidic substrate and pure water regime.

Do not apply conventional fertilizers to the potting medium. Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) is adapted to nutrient-poor bogs and gets most of its nutrients from captured insects; fertilizer salts can burn roots and kill the plant. If grown outdoors, no fertilization is required. If grown indoors with few prey, it needs to be "fertilized" only by feeding: offer a small live insect (no bigger than about 1/3 the size of the trap) to a few traps during active growth (spring-summer), and avoid meat, cheese or oily foods. Optional (advanced) supplementation: if you choose to use a fertilizer, apply only an extremely dilute, urea-free fertilizer (e.g. an orchid/epiphyte fertilizer at a concentration of around 1/8-1/4) as a very occasional foliar/trap fertilizer, never in the soil, and only during active growth. Do not feed or fertilize during winter dormancy.

Keep pruning to a minimum. Remove only completely dead/blackened traps and leaves by cutting them close to the rhizome with clean scissors; avoid cutting green, working traps, as they continue to photosynthesize and store energy. Don't cut old traps to shape them, as they will die back naturally and be replaced. Flower stems: if you don't want seeds, or if the plant is small or weak, cut off the flower stem as soon as it appears (near the base) to conserve the energy needed to grow the traps. If you allow flowering, remove the spent flower stalk after fanning by cutting it off at the base. During/after winter dormancy, clean up by removing dead shoots as they blacken to reduce the risk of mildew, but avoid disturbing the rhizome.