FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

I was just wondering, what is the average life span of a venus fly trap? Not the leaves, but the whole trap?

well you say not the leaves but the whole trap?!?!?!??!!?!?
do u mean the whole plant?!?!?!?
maybe the life span of a vft plant is like 7-8 years.....?
my traps barely even last 3- 4 weeks.
does anyone know how to make it so that the traps stay alive longer?
i give my plant a whole lot of sunlight but it doesnt help at all

I think that a venus fly trap could live up to 20 years. Any were from 15 to 20 years if all the plants conditions are good.

I believe it is 10-11 years old if grown properly

That's really an impossible question to answer. Venus flytraps can live forever, in a way. I have a plant that's been around since 1955. They way that they grow, they naturally divide forming "new" plants that are genetically identical to the parent plant. If you grow a Venus flytrap properly, it will never die because it will form new divisions before the main plant completely dies off. So my answer is that they have an indefinite life span if they are grown properly.

Alright, thanks guys.
And kevin, I did mean the whole plant.

But what about the first plant? Since they divide, the little plants should be considered as a different plant... So if I had a plant, just one, how long would it live for?

When a plant divides, how can you tell which one is the original plant? In some cases it's almost impossible to. Further, you can forcefully divide a plant by snapping its rhizome in half. Which plant is the "original" plant in that case? Also, why should the little plants be considered a different plant? Just because something is divisible doesn't mean that it's different.

These are reasons why it's almost impossible to answer the question "How long can a Venus flytrap live?".

Oh...... Whoops! I made a very bad mistake Matt. I have forgotten that they divide and separate. I was thinking of something different. I was thinking that they grow more plants, coming from the roots. Some plants do that, but Dionaea just separate into smaller plants.

Oh, and if you say it's 'almost' impossible to tell how long they live for, can you still figure it out? Since you said that it will always be the same plant, even if it separates, can we just grow the plant until they all die? And look for the longest living one? But yes, that would take forever.

You can tell which is the main plant by watching the direction the plant is growing in. A VFT grows to one side and after a year you may notice that the plant has moved over half an inch or an inch over. The part of the rhizome that gets "left behind" is where you will see new offshoots usually. So if you track the growing direction of the main plant, you will see that it will grow forever if cared for properly.