Growing Venus Fly Traps

Update: I didn’t kill the plants…technically they were never alive. The seeds didn’t germinate so I bought another kit. This kit had two directions that were very different from the other kit despite being the same seeds. The first difference was that second kit says the cover on the pot should be taken off once a day to allow fresh air, the first kit said to never take it off. The second difference, and the one that most likely made it so they wouldn’t germinate was that where the first kit said to keep the plants above 60 degrees the second kit said to keep them above 78. These are two different numbers. There is, in fact, many different numbers between 60 and 78… I am borrowing a friends heating pad and starting with the second kit.

If I can’t get these to germinate I will be using some venus fly traps that have already been germinated :(

Meet Jupiter and Mars. I have never grown a plant before and I have no faith whatsoever that I am a natural in caring for plants. Nevertheless, I will not kill these plants. I’ve watched a single youtube video and read the 2 inch long instruction sheet that came with the plants. I am beyond qualified now. There are some guidelines that I need to be wary of. I don’t think any of them are too difficult, although the youtube video said I’d need the temperature to be constant during winter for hibernation (Constant in the sense that they don’t get cold enough to die, but also not warm enough to wake up from hibernation). I’ll have to worry about that once I’ve finished the scope of this project as it is currently May. I am growing two of them, one for myself and one as a backup. If both survive I might give one to my boss since he also likes the pot I bought for my desk.

The pot hasn’t arrived in the mail and won’t really be necessary for a month or two (I think?). Here are the things to do now as to not kill the plants:

• Don’t put nutrients in the soil - I bought a kit to grow them and am using the soil from the kit so this should be relatively easy. I’ll need to buy nutrient free soil once I move them from their cheap growing kit pot to the desk pot. Fun fact, soil with nutrients are poisonous to carnivorous plants. I can’t use typical gardening soil.
• Don’t put nutrients in the soil… again - This means I can’t use tap or hose water for the plants. I can only use distilled water or rain water. This might be difficult because the soil needs to be pretty damp from my understanding. I don’t trust someone else to help me so I’ll just have to remember to water them frequently and buy distilled water whenever I run out.

I read online that Venus Fly Traps might not be good plants to have as your first plant, but honestly the only thing you need to do is not add excess stuff to the soil. That seems kinda easier to me… hopefully I’m not just overconfident :P. Last comment to those that are curious, you don’t have to feed them insects either. Feeding them insects will help them grow and be healthy, but it is perfectly normal for one to go its entire life without eating a single fly.