FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

HI EVERYONE!
So it has been 3 months since I purchased my very first Venus Fly Trap. I followed all of the suggestions on this page to give him (Jabber Jaws) the best home I could and besides the squirrel eating 3 of his traps on his second day with us we have had no issues since! .... Since then he is INSIDE in his own little corner right next to a window that gets just a few hours of direct sunlight (I live in the desert so the sun is HOT!) I have been clipping his stalk regularly and watering him about once a week. for almost almost 2 months he didn't grow any new traps but the last month he has grown 3. I have posted a picture below. I am not to sure what a healthy VFT looks like but he looks great to me! Please give me some feedback on if my system is working or not, and how you think he is looking (health wise)... THANKS SO MUCH!

I guess I should add that I have been looking at others peoples pictures.. It seems like everyone elses traps are shooting straight up. When I bought him all of the traps were very close to the base but his new ones have been growing up. How should they be growing?

the traps will either grow close to the round or tall and upright depending on the season... summer is generally straight up

It partly depends on the flytrap. Some flytraps make leaves that lie flat on the soil year round, but most flytraps make new leaves that grow up during the spring/summer, then flat during the fall/winter.

I grew my first plant inside on a sunny windowsill for about 3 months, and it had leaves just like yours, only they were all flat on the soil (i thought there was something wrong with him at first!). He did fine, but he seems to like outside better, now he's making leaves that are much shorter, thicker, less floppy, and they're greener too, so I think he wasn't getting enough light before. Someone else might have suggestions about how to prevent squirrels from doing too much damage, but I think your plant would be better off outside.

Another thing though, is that if you do move it outside after being in for so long the leaves might burn, so you would need to slowly introduce it to longer and longer periods of direct sunlight, like 3 hours a day for a few days, then 5 hours for a few days, etc.

I would say that your plant would benefit from more direct sunlight. Typically if you're getting long leaves that are low to the ground that's an indication the plant is light starved. Is there a window that you can move Jabber Jaws to where he can get more sunlight?

well you could put it outside. if you do it right, and slowly transition it to the sun then it wil be okay. no need to prevent it from getting sunlight if you have plenty

the longer leaves are the result of the plant reaching for more light, meaning it is in an area that is lacking sufficient light. you need to move it outside but slowly at first.

Overall it looks pretty healthy though so well done!