Expert: Christopher Littrell - 10/23/2008

Question
i bought my trap about a year ago and it was tiny i have never had plants before and it turns out i have done not to bad as its massive now so this is my questions to you. is it possible to take cuttings from my flytrap if so how?
and how do i repot it without killing it i have only ever feed it rain water

Answer
Hello Micheal,

Good job with your Venus Flytrap. It is possible to remove leaves from a Flytrap, called leaf pulling, by basically pulling a couple leaves off the plant when you repot it. The trick would be to pull down slowly and carefully until you have a strip of white rhizome peeled off with the leaf. Make sure the leaf is an adult, healthy leaf. Place this leaf on the surface of damp perlite in a tray and keep it moist and in strong florescent light, 12000 lumens for 16 hours a day one inch from the pullings would be good. You might also want to place a humidity cover over the leaf pullings to keep moisture in. Even easier would be to wait for the plant to produce rhizome divisions on its own. Every couple years your Flytrap will have half to near adult grown divisions from the main crown that can eventually be removed during repotting and placed in their own pot to mature. You can also just wait to collect seeds each spring when the plant flowers.

Venus Flytraps can be easily repotted at any time, however; just before the plant comes out of winter dormancy is the least problematic. Repot the plant in 50/50 sphagnum peat moss and perlite from the large square bales sold in garden centers. Avoid anything sold in small bags as it might be fertilized, which would kill your Flytrap. You can also buy from carnivorous plant vendors online as they tend to have the unfertilized materials premixed. Try cobraplant.com and californiacarnivores.com for good stock and good soil mixes that can be quickly sent by mail.

You can give the plant rain, reverse osmosis, or distilled water. Avoid anything that says drinking water or that indicates that it has salt or minerals added as those will harm and kill your Flytrap.

Christopher