Expert: Christopher Littrell - 1/23/2009

Question
I bought a Venus Fly Trap a few months ago from a gardening place & pretty much since I've had it, it looks like it's dying!! I read the info on the little tag that came with it & I've kept it moist & on the kitchen window so it gets sunlight. I've caught a few flies & fed it to it & some of the leaves wouldn't close when I tried to put the fly in?? & also all the leaves & 'fly catchers' are black & I've cut off the dead ones & the new ones that are growing just keep going black before they are fully developed?? I've kept it in it's original pot & soil since I bought it & I've been using tap water to keep it moist.... Can someone PLEASE help???

Answer
Hello Jaime,

In most cases, tap water contains too high a level of mineral salts, shown as hardness, which kills most carnivorous plants rather quickly. As calcium and magnesium builds up in their soil , they succumb to altered Ph levels and begin to die off after a few months of such treatment. If you can, check your hardness levels to determine whether your problem might be the water. If the hardness levels are under 50 parts per million, the water will be O. K. to use on carnivorous plants. If the hardness is over that level, use only rain, distilled, or reverse osmosis water that has all minerals removed.

In addition, Venus Flytraps are temperate plants from North Carolina (they are not tropical). They go dormant in winter and must be allowed to feel the cold weather and shorter days of winter so that they will basically go to sleep. The plant might be dormant if the window you have it in gives it a good idea of the actual day length and provides a chill from winter cold. If the plant has been kept warm it might be suffering from low light in a winter sun window. Venus Flytraps are more like garden plants in their requirements for direct sun.. which  means outside sunlight like you would give a rose bush.

First off, check that tap water and stop using it for now until you know what the hardness levels are. Next, make sure the plant has been getting cold weather down to below 60 degrees at least most of the winter days. If so, it might be dormant.

Get back with me in a followup once you have more information on the plant's conditions so I can determine what might be the problem and advise further.

Christopher