Venus flytraps (Dionaea muscipula) are among the most fascinating plants in the world, captivating plant enthusiasts with their carnivorous nature and intricate trapping mechanisms. Native to the wetlands of the Carolinas, these unique plants have adapted to thrive in nutrient-poor environments by supplementing their diet with insects and arachnids. Understanding what to feed your Venus flytrap is crucial for its health, growth, and the mesmerizing display of its snap traps in action. This guide will delve into the specifics of Venus flytrap feeding, ensuring your plant thrives under your care.
Dionaea muscipula; photo courtesy of Flickr cc/Barry Rice
Understanding Your Venus Flytrap’s Dietary Needs
Unlike most plants that derive their nutrients solely from the soil, Venus flytraps have evolved to obtain essential minerals, particularly nitrogen and phosphorus, from living prey. In their natural habitat, the soil is acidic and deficient in nutrients, compelling these ingenious plants to become carnivorous. Their iconic traps are modified leaves that lure, capture, and digest insects, spiders, and other small invertebrates.
In the wild, the Venus flytrap diet primarily consists of crawling insects such as ants, beetles, and spiders. They may also occasionally trap grasshoppers and other flying insects that inadvertently stumble into their deadly embrace. It’s important to replicate this natural feeding behavior as closely as possible when caring for a Venus flytrap at home. While they can survive without supplemental feeding, providing them with appropriate food will significantly boost their growth rate, vigor, and overall health.
The Best Live Foods for Venus Flytraps
To truly thrive, Venus flytraps benefit most from live prey. The movement of a live insect inside the trap is essential for triggering the digestive process. When the tiny trigger hairs inside the trap are stimulated multiple times by a struggling insect, the trap seals shut, initiating digestion. This intricate mechanism ensures the plant doesn’t waste energy on non-food items like raindrops or debris.
Here are some excellent options for live food for Venus flytraps:
- Flies: Common houseflies or fruit flies are readily accepted and appropriately sized prey. You can catch them yourself or even purchase flightless fruit flies from pet stores or online suppliers.
- Spiders: Small spiders found around the house are another natural food source. Ensure they are not venomous and are small enough to fit comfortably inside the trap.
- Crickets: Pet stores sell crickets as feeder insects for reptiles. Choose small to medium-sized crickets and offer them to your Venus flytrap.
- Mealworms: Similar to crickets, mealworms are available at pet stores. While they are technically larvae of beetles, they are a good source of protein. You can offer live mealworms or even recently deceased ones, wiggling them slightly with tweezers to simulate life.
- Slugs: Small garden slugs can also be offered, though ensure they haven’t been exposed to pesticides or slug bait.
When offering live prey, simply place the insect gently into an open trap using tweezers. You can gently stimulate the trigger hairs with the tweezers to encourage the trap to close if needed. Avoid triggering the trap unnecessarily without food, as closing the trap expends energy for the plant.
Alternatives to Live Food: Dried Bloodworms
While live food is ideal, dried bloodworms offer a convenient and readily available alternative, especially during colder months or when live insects are scarce. Dried bloodworms are the larvae of midge flies and are commonly sold as fish food in pet stores. They are a good source of protein and can effectively mimic live prey when properly prepared.
To feed your Venus flytrap dried bloodworms:
- Rehydrate the bloodworms: Place a small pinch of dried bloodworms in a container and add a few drops of distilled water. Allow them to soak for a few minutes until they become soft and plump, resembling small, meaty worms.
- Prepare a small portion: Take a small blob of the rehydrated bloodworms, about ⅓ the size of the Venus flytrap’s trap.
- Gently place the bloodworms into the trap: Use tweezers to position the bloodworms inside an open trap.
- Stimulate the trap: Gently massage or tap the outside of the trap with your tweezers to mimic the movement of live prey and encourage the trap to close and seal. This step is crucial for initiating digestion.
Always check the label of the dried bloodworm product to ensure there are no added salts or preservatives that could be harmful to your Venus flytrap. Pure dried bloodworms are the best choice.
For a more detailed guide and visual instructions on feeding bloodworms, the International Carnivorous Plant Society (ICPS) offers excellent resources and fact sheets, which can further enhance your understanding of this feeding method.
Foods to Avoid Feeding Your Venus Flytrap
Just as important as knowing what to feed your Venus flytrap is understanding what not to feed them. Certain food items can be detrimental to their health and even cause harm. Avoid feeding your Venus flytrap the following:
- Meat (human food): Cooked or raw meat, such as hamburger or steak, is unsuitable for Venus flytraps. They lack the enzymes to properly digest meat, and it can rot inside the trap, leading to bacterial infections and trap death.
- Ants (as a primary diet): While Venus flytraps eat ants in the wild, they are not nutritionally sufficient as a sole food source. Furthermore, ants may carry toxins or pesticides from foraging around homes, which can harm your plant.
- Caterpillars: Some caterpillars are known to be able to eat their way out of Venus flytrap traps, escaping before digestion and damaging the trap in the process.
- Overly large insects: Do not feed your plant insects that are larger than about ⅓ the size of the trap. Large insects can take too long to digest, potentially causing the trap to rot before digestion is complete.
- Human food (other): Never feed your Venus flytrap human food scraps, bread, cheese, or any processed foods. These are not part of their natural diet and can be harmful.
- Fertilizer: Venus flytraps are adapted to nutrient-poor soils and should never be fertilized through their roots or traps. Soil fertilization will slowly kill your plant.
Feeding your Venus flytrap inappropriate items can lead to trap death, fungal infections, and overall plant stress. Stick to the recommended live prey or dried bloodworms to ensure their health and longevity.
How Often and How Much to Feed Your Venus Flytrap
Knowing how often to feed a Venus flytrap and how much food to give is essential for maintaining a healthy balance. Overfeeding can be as detrimental as underfeeding.
- Feeding Frequency: Generally, feeding your Venus flytrap one or two traps every 1-2 weeks is sufficient. During their active growing season (spring and summer), you can feed them slightly more frequently, perhaps once a week. In the fall and winter, reduce feeding frequency as their growth slows down, especially if you induce dormancy.
- Portion Size: As mentioned earlier, the food item should be no larger than about ⅓ the size of the trap. A small fly or a similarly sized portion of bloodworms is ideal.
- Don’t Overfeed Traps: You don’t need to feed every trap on the plant every time. Feeding just one or two traps is enough to provide supplemental nutrients.
- Trap Response: After you place food in a trap and stimulate it to close, the trap will seal tightly around the prey. It will remain closed for several days to even a couple of weeks while the plant digests its meal. Avoid disturbing the trap during this digestion period.
- Trap Lifespan: Each Venus flytrap trap will only open and close a limited number of times (typically 3-4 times) throughout its lifespan. After repeated feeding and digestion cycles, a trap will naturally die back. This is normal, and new traps will continuously grow from the plant’s rhizome.
If your Venus flytrap is kept outdoors during the summer months, it may catch enough insects on its own and require less supplemental feeding. Observe your plant’s growth and vigor to adjust feeding accordingly.
Beyond Feeding: Essential Venus Flytrap Care Tips
While proper feeding is vital, it’s just one aspect of Venus flytrap care. To ensure your carnivorous plant thrives, remember these crucial care tips:
- Light: Venus flytraps require very bright, direct sunlight – at least 6 hours per day. A south-facing windowsill is ideal, or supplement with a grow light, especially during winter months. Insufficient light is a common cause of Venus flytrap decline.
- Water: Use only distilled water, rainwater, or reverse osmosis water. Tap water contains minerals and salts that are toxic to Venus flytraps. Keep the soil consistently moist but not waterlogged by placing the pot in a shallow dish of water and allowing the plant to draw water up from the bottom.
- Soil: Plant your Venus flytrap in a nutrient-poor, acidic medium consisting of sphagnum peat moss and perlite or coarse horticultural sand. Never use regular potting soil or fertilized soil.
- Temperature: Maintain average room temperatures (65-75°F or 18-24°C). Protect them from extreme temperature fluctuations and drafts.
- Dormancy: Venus flytraps naturally undergo a dormancy period in winter. If you choose to provide dormancy, reduce watering, lower temperatures, and decrease light exposure for a few months.
By understanding what to feed your Venus flytrap and adhering to these essential care guidelines, you can cultivate a healthy and captivating carnivorous plant that will fascinate you for years to come. Enjoy the unique beauty and predatory prowess of your Venus flytrap!
A thriving Venus flytrap specimen showcased at NYBG. Providing the correct food, light, water, and soil conditions will lead to similar vibrant growth in your own plant.
