FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hi! My name is Alicia! I'm new to VFT's and plants in general. I recently got a Venus Fly Trap as a gift so I have many questions!

This is Seymour (sorry for the orientation of the image)
I got it exactly one week ago. I currently am living in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The temperature has been between 30-50 degrees Fahrenheit. I keep my VFT on my windowsill in the morning because it is too cold to put it outside. When it warms up I put my plant in my backyard and it gets about 3-4 hours of direct sunlight. I take it back inside and put it on my windowsill at night because it gets too cold. I've been giving it distilled water using a tray so that the soil is moist, but not soaked.
Now that I've given you my background information here are my questions:

I believe my cold windowsill and the temperature outside has triggered Seymour's dormancy, but I'm not entirely sure. Should I skip dormancy? Or should I just let it do it's thing? How can you tell when a plant has gone dormant? It's usually cold in Albuquerque until April. Is that plenty of time for my plant to be dormant?

Also, should I repot my plant? I feel like it's pot isn't deep enough. If so, when should I repot it?

This is Seymour yesterday
(The dark specs on the plant are just soil) Keep in mind that this is my first VFT and plant in general so I'm unsure about everything lol.
Thank you!

Should I skip dormancy? Or should I just let it do it's thing? How can you tell when a plant has gone dormant? It's usually cold in Albuquerque until April. Is that plenty of time for my plant to be dormant?

Also, should I repot my plant? I feel like it's pot isn't deep enough. If so, when should I repot it?

First of all, Welcome to the forum! I'm not a flytrap expert but I'll offer my 2 cents worth. I grow a few flytraps.

A flytrap needs dormancy. I would recommend not skipping it. I leave mine outside outside until the temperature drops below 30 degrees, then they come into a cool basement until Spring. I give them the same hours of light, they'd get outside.

A dormant plant will stop or slow down its growth. Leaves produced now are usually shorter, wider, and tend to lay flat on the ground.

3 months is the shortest dormancy period, longer will not hurt.

If 30 degrees is as cold as your Winter gets, you can leave your plant outside. They can survive a light frost, but not a hard freeze. They can be mulched or covered to protect them from a cold steady wind which can dry them out.

Here is what an expert says about repotting and transplanting: Barry Rice's FAQ

Good growing,
Mike

Thanks Shadowtski!
I appreciate the quick reply and the information provided

Venus fly traps do very well in temps well below 30 as long as there are no heavy freezing winds. My VFTs just experienced temps in the 20s for multiple days with minimal insulation and I see no damage except for a but of frost bite on the old summer leaves.

Thank you Benurmanii
I wasn't entirely sure how low the temperature could get that would be suitable for my plant.