Expert: Sarracenia Northwest - 5/12/2006

Question
I just bought a Venus Fly Trap and then read that these plants require a period of winter dormancy.  I live in Hawaii.  Any advice?  I assume the freezer is not the answer.

Thanks!

Jeanne

Answer
Hi Jeanne,

The freezer isn't, but the refrigerator may be.  Continue to grow your flytrap outdoors until November or December.  When you see many of the decidious Plumeria beginning to drop their leaves, put your flytrap in the refrigerator only at nighttime for a couple of weeks.  Put it back outside during the day.  Make sure, however, that it doesn't freeze.  You should see it begin to loose it's larger traps and only have a few smaller traps.  Once that happens, you can put it into the fridge for about two months.  It won't need light during this time period.  Clip off dead leaves, unpot it, wrap the plant in a little damp sphagnum moss (you can get this where they sell orchid supplies), and spray it with a sulfur based fungicide.  After the two months you can repot it in standard media, or sphagnum moss, and put it back outside for another growing season.  For general flytrap care, visit:  http://www.cobraplant.com/venus-flytrap.html

One quick note.  Almost all of Hawaii's water is very hard.  Be sure you are using rainwater, distilled water, or water purified by reverse osmosis.  The tapwater would kill a flytrap fast.

Let us know if this technique works for you.  Dealing with Venus flytraps in tropical areas is still a bit of unexplored territory for us.  Nepenthes and Mexican butterworts do great in Hawaii, however.
Good Growing!

Jeff Dallas
Sarracenia Northwest
http://www.cobraplant.com