Expert: Sarracenia Northwest - 6/2/2010

Question
Hello, I have been growing venus flytraps outside under 6+ hours of sun in Massachusetts after reading your e-book (which is fantastic btw). I have all of my plants in 50/50 peat moss perlite mixture with each plant in a individual pot which are all sitting in a tray of water about 3/4 of the way up the pots. They all have been growing perfect until two days ago I looked at one of my plants (which normally has deep deep red traps) and I noticed that during the night it caught something inside of 2 of its traps. When I looked closer though I noticed that where the bug was inside of the trap, there was a dried shriveled up part of the trap in a circle shape. It looked as if whatever it caught sucked up the plant from the inside out. The rest of the trap is green except these circle shaped dry spots on the hinge of the trap. I have never seen this before and just want to make sure something isn't attacking my plants before it is to late.  
Thank You.

Answer
Hi Kenneth,

This is a normal occurrence.  If the bug is too large for the trap, it will attempt to chew its way out.  Another possibility is that another scavenging insect found the captured insect and chewed through the trap to get to the insect.  In either situation, the flytrap is unharmed.  Just look for new growth.  If this happens on a regular basis, then write back for more instructions about insecticide.  For now, monitor your plant.

Good growing!
Jacob Farin