Expert: Christopher Littrell - 10/9/2007

Question
Hello, I planted my venus fly traps about 2 months ago and the instructions that came with the seeds said to plant it in half sand half peat moss (which is what I did) and then seal it shut in a plastic ziplock bag...

It's been 2 months and its still in the ziplock bag, but what does the bag do? and it still hasn't germinated

Any tips or tricks? thanks in advance!

Answer
Hello Asim,

Sprouting Venus Flytraps is much like sprouting other plants from seds, however; takes a lot of patience as some seeds take a long time to germinate and some carnivorous plants in particular take years to grow big enough to even see well. In addition, when you buy seeds from some places, they might not have fresh seeds... Venus Flytrap seeds only last for about a year or so in refrigeration, so if your seeds are old, they might not sprout at all.

The instructions basically would work, however; the ziplock bag might have caused the seeds to become covered by too much soil. The best bet with carnivorous plant seeds is to just make a pot of peat and sand or perlite in a 50/50 mix and just drop the seeds on the top without covering them. Keep the seeds and their soil moist all the time by placing a tray under the pot with about 1/4 the pot depth in water. If you use a 4 inch pot, just put about an inch of water in a large tray that is about 6 inches or so across and over an inch tall.

Use only mineral free distilled, reverse osmosis, or rain water to water them as minerals in tap water and drinking water will harm and kill carnivorous plants by souring their soil. (the soil has to remain acidic, which is what the peat moss provides) In addition, you can spray the seeds lightly from above with a fine mist spray bottle of distilled water one or more times a day to keep them hydrated... Seeds need water to germinate as they absorb the water through the seed coat and pump themselves up. As they grow bigger, they split the seed coat by sheer force of water pressure they have absorbed.

Use only fertilizer free soil mixes... small bags of moss are often fertilized, particularly if they say "miracle grow." That is not good for carnivorous plants as their roots rot when fertilized. The moss to use says premium Canadian sphagnum peat moss and comes in a large 2 foot bale of dry compressed material wrapped in plastic. The sand to use ould be silica sand with nothing added to it.

Keep the pot in a well lit window where sun reaches the pot all day if possible and keep them at about room temperature or over, about 75-85 degrees is good.

Some people use a humidity dome (which is what the ziplock bag is for) so if you live where the humidity is under 30 percent, you might want to cover the pot with cellophane wrap with a few toothpick holes in it for air. If you live where the humidity is over 30 percent, you do not need to cover the pot at all. The seeds should sprout in 2-6 weeks normally, however; some are late to sprout and will continue doing so for months after.

The problem with the ziplock bag is that while it does provide humidity, the seeds do not get much air circulation and they are likely to be killed by fungus. If you see any white, grey, or yellow fibers and spheres growing in the soil, fungus is attacking the seeds before they can germinate. You can treat fungus with neem oil and sulfur based fungicide, but stay away from anything with soap based mixes.

I would take the soil out of the ziplock bag and spread it very thinly (less than 1/8 inch) on top of a pot full of peat moss and sand and see if any seeds might still sprout.

Never fertilize them and when they are a year or so old, place them outside where they can get full sun if your region provides temperatures under 100 degrees and humidity of about 30 percent or more.

I had a Venus Flytrap that produced seeds this year and just dropped the seeds around the adult plant... there are several half year old tiny seedlings growing there now... no ziplock bag needed.

Keep trying with those seeds.

Christopher