Features

Everyone is familiar with the ominous looking leaves of the Venus’ flytrap, spiked at their edges, hinged at their centers, and ready to clamp shut around unwary prey. There’s little chance of a fly alighting on the leaf this time of year, so you might consider dropping in a piece of hamburger. 

But Venus’ flytrap won’t eat hamburger — without some coaxing, at least. The trap might not even close up around a piece of hamburger. It closes only if two of the usually sensitive six hairs on its surface are bent, or if one hair is touched twice. It’s the kind of stimulation an insect might give walking across the trap. 

Even if all those hairs are just touched, the plant still might not eat the hamburger. The plant isn’t a finicky eater; it just feels the same about that lump of hamburger as it does about any small stick or seed that might accidentally fall into the trap. The plant wants live food. Venus’ flytrap recognizes a live catch by sensing movement within the trap for a few minutes after it clamps shut. 

Other than having to hunt up suitable food for the plant, you won’t find Venus’ flytrap difficult to grow as a houseplant. It is native to infertile, acidic bogs in North Carolina and South Carolina, so it thrives in a potting soil that is rich in sand and peat, without any lime or fertilizer added. This is one potted plant that you can leave standing in water, or even under water, for extended periods of time. If your tap water is alkaline, just add some vinegar (1/2 teaspoon per quart), collect rainwater or melt snow. A terrarium with some ventilation is ideal. 

Given humidity, a suitably poor, moist, and acidic soil, and as much light as possible, a Venus’ flytrap not only will grow, but might even flower, as well. The flowers are not showy, but they are followed by seeds — scores of them. Planted soon after ripening in moist sphagnum moss, the seeds germinate within a couple of weeks. 

New plants also can be propagated from the underground stems. Cut pieces from the mother plant, remove all but one attached leaf, then stick them into moist moss to root. 

Incidentally, you can trick the plant to eat a dead fly or hamburger by gently massaging the trap after it closes, mimicking movement of a live insect within. Bon appetit.