Plants
Venus Flytrap
Dionaea muscipula · Droseraceae
The Venus flytrap is the star among carnivores: its snap traps close in a fraction of a second, turning your windowsill into a living natural history museum. In our Düsseldorf workshop it is the plant children linger at the longest — and with a few simple rules it is easier to keep than its reputation suggests.
- Light
- Full sun — a south-facing window or a summer spot on the balcony.
- Watering
- Stand it in rainwater or distilled water; never use hard tap water.
- Care level
- Medium
- Botanical
- Dionaea muscipula
Each trap consists of two leaf halves with fine trigger hairs. Only when an insect touches two of these hairs in quick succession does the trap snap shut — that is how the plant avoids false alarms from raindrops. After three to five digestions an individual trap dies off and is replaced by new ones.
The most important care point is the water: Venus flytraps come from nutrient-poor bogs and cannot tolerate lime. Water exclusively with rainwater or distilled water from below — a saucer that always holds one to two centimetres of water is ideal.
You do not need to feed it. On a sunny windowsill, or outdoors in summer, it catches more than enough by itself, and its basic supply runs on photosynthesis anyway. If you offer it an insect out of curiosity, use only small, live prey — and never trigger the traps with your finger, as that costs the plant unnecessary energy.
In winter the Venus flytrap needs a cool dormancy at around five to ten degrees, for example on a bright, unheated windowsill or in the stairwell. It visibly retreats during this time — that is not dying, but preparation for vigorous new growth in spring.
Is Venus Flytrap toxic to children and pets?
- Children
- Non-toxic
- Cats
- Non-toxic
- Dogs
- Non-toxic
Harmless to cats, dogs and children — the digestive fluid in the traps is innocuous. If anything, the plant needs protecting from curious paws, not the other way round.
Overview: toxic & non-toxic plants for cats, dogs and children
Care
- 01A spot in full sun — the more light, the deeper red the traps colour up.
- 02Water only with rainwater or distilled water, never with tap water.
- 03Keep it standing in water: the saucer should never dry out completely in summer.
- 04Do not fertilise and do not play with the traps — both weaken the plant.
- 05Overwinter cool (5–10 degrees) and bright, keeping it only moderately moist.
Frequently asked
- Do I have to feed my Venus flytrap?
- No. The plant feeds itself through photosynthesis and catches enough insects on its own in a sunny spot. Feeding is a bonus, not a duty — if you do, use only small live prey and no more than one or two traps at a time.
- May I trigger the traps with my finger?
- Better not. Every snap costs the plant a lot of energy, and each trap can only open and close a few times before it dies off. Empty false triggers shorten its life considerably.
- Why do the traps turn black in autumn?
- That is usually normal winter dormancy: the plant withdraws older traps and continues growing more compactly. You can simply pluck off blackened parts. It only becomes critical if the heart of the plant turns mushy — then it was kept too wet and too warm.
- Is the Venus flytrap dangerous to cats?
- No, it is completely non-toxic to pets, and its traps can at most tug gently on a whisker. The plant, however, rarely survives a playful cat unscathed — so place it out of reach.