FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hello everyone,

I have a couple questions that have to do with Venus flytraps and the type of climate they will be in once they arrive here. I live in Key West, FL. It's very hot and humid 95% of the year, usually the humidity in the summer is 90%+ which I think is actually perfect for a VFT but is there such thing as too much sun? Too much heat when it comes to these plants? It's hot at night, it's hot during the day. During the summer temps are usually in the 90's and the lows at night are still in the 80's, so it doesn't change much. So if you guys could let me know if it is possible to do harm with too much sun and so forth that would be great.

As for my 2nd question, like I said earlier...95% of the year it's very hot and humid, the other 5 percent is split into hot and humid and....warm and humid... =D. Now I know that they usually go into a dormant state when winter is upon us, but for me down here, that's maybe 1-4 days of it being below 60, if we're lucky. This is a odd question and maybe crazy, but do people induce them into a dormant state somehow if there is no winter? Will they be fine without entering the dormant state?

Edit: Another question I forgot about. Due to the warm climate down here, we have tons of "sugar ants" those extremely small ants that gather around any type of food, but mostly attracted to sweet things, would they do any harm to a VFT? I know it's nectar is sweet and was wondering if they would actually mess with the plant itself somehow, even though I think they are way to small to actually do anything.

Any suggestions and comments would be greatly appreciated! Thank you.

Photos: The VFT has 2 of the lower traps turning black, should I cut those off?

Akai Ryu


Drosera Spatulata

u vft will thrive there!
i think u might be ok about the sugar ants but be weary

I think flytraps would do amazingly well there outside all year long. I don't know if the winters will be cool enough or the days short enough to induce a proper dormancy, but my guess is that the flytraps will go dormant long enough to not have any problems.

I can't say anything definitive about the ants, but my guess is that they'll not bother them.

Your flytrap will do so well where you live. You might have to give
it an artificial dormancy because I don't think the winters where you live are cold enough.

My thought is that it will do wonderfully here just due to the fact it will get incredible amounts of sunlight and it's always humid. I've read a lot of the basic's that you have on the site and don't see any problem with it being able to grow and thrive down here, just the winter part seems a little iffy to me just due to there not being much of a winter here lol

At the worst you may have to do some sort of fridge dormancy, but see if the plants go dormant on their own before you try to put them into it artificially. They should do great during the summer!

MWarp wrote:Now I know that they usually go into a dormant state when winter is upon us, but for me down here, that's maybe 1-4 days of it being below 60, if we're lucky.

If I were growing Venus Flytraps in Key West (I've been there, once!) I would grow them in pots outside in full sunlight. Then in late Fall when the days are noticeably shorter, I would move them to a shadier, cooler spot and allow them to become drier (dry until just moist or even barely moist if they aren't wilting too much) before watering again.

By keeping them shadier, a little cooler and drier, they may be able to rest enough and have a satisfactory and refreshing dormancy. Venus Flytraps do not need a very long dormancy nor a very cold one. Cooler, less sunlight (but still sufficient for continued photosynthesis during dormancy) and drier may be enough in your almost tropical climate.

Steve_D wrote:

MWarp wrote:Now I know that they usually go into a dormant state when winter is upon us, but for me down here, that's maybe 1-4 days of it being below 60, if we're lucky.

If I were growing Venus Flytraps in Key West (I've been there, once!) I would grow them in pots outside in full sunlight. Then in late Fall when the days are noticeably shorter, I would move them to a shadier, cooler spot and allow them to become drier (dry until just moist or even barely moist if they aren't wilting too much) before watering again.

By keeping them shadier, a little cooler and drier, they may be able to rest enough and have a satisfactory and refreshing dormancy. Venus Flytraps do not need a very long dormancy nor a very cold one. Cooler, less sunlight (but still sufficient for continued photosynthesis during dormancy) and drier may be enough in your almost tropical climate.

Ah, that seems like it would work, thanks for the tip I will definitely try that when our winter comes back around.

Good luck with it!

I just got my plants today, I didn't expect them to arrive from CA so quickly (2 days) so I brought them to work with me, they are in their ziplock bag and it came with two 3" pots and New Zealand Sphagnum Moss. Since they got here so quickly, I haven't even had time to buy some distilled water, so I will when I get out of work.

I''m excited lol

Awesome! As soon as you can, get them in some distilled water and out of those bags. Be sure to post some pictures when you get them potted!

I read somewhere that I should dunk them in distilled water for about 15minutes before potting them? I forget where I read that since I've been surfing so many sites lately brushing up on information.

Is that true?


Also the pot they came with are 3" net pots, should I buy some larger ones that are not netted or is netted fine?
I will definitely post some pictures once they are potted.

You should soak them in distilled water for at least 15 minutes. I usually take them out of the bags and put them in a bowl of distilled water first thing. Then I let them sit there as I mix up my potting mix, pack it into the pots etc.

If I were you I would look for some deeper pots. Whether or not they're netted or not shouldn't be any significance to the plant...an easy and cheap solution that works very very well are 16oz Styrofoam drinking cups. They're tall and insulated well.

95slvrZ28 wrote:You should soak them in distilled water for at least 15 minutes. I usually take them out of the bags and put them in a bowl of distilled water first thing. Then I let them sit there as I mix up my potting mix, pack it into the pots etc.

If I were you I would look for some deeper pots. Whether or not they're netted or not shouldn't be any significance to the plant...an easy and cheap solution that works very very well are 16oz Styrofoam drinking cups. They're tall and insulated well.

I see. Well I'll be going to Home Depot either tomorrow or the next day so I will buy some larger pots so they have a bit more room to grow and they get decent insulation.

Also another question, at the local pet store they sell crickets (dead) but still moist and meal worms are either of these safe to feed a flytrap/sundew?

Thank you for the help!

Those are safe to feed because if they're safe to eat for lizards or spiders than they're safe for VFT. Although your drosera
(I don't know they species) might not be able to eat the insects but while your at the pet store you can buy fish food or beta pellets for them to eat. Those once again are also safe to feed.