FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

So today I got my first venus fly trap and I named him Cerberus. Normally I do research before anything else involving new plant's care, but this time I completely blanked and I ended up feeding all his open heads at once. All I gave him was a few bloodworms, and some sites say that you can't overfeed while others say you can. Will he be okay? Is there anything I can do at this point if I screwed up?

I don't think it's possible to kill any carnivorous plant by overfeeding it. Seems like they would simply drop the trap, pitcher, etc., if the nutrients were more than they could handle.

The best thing you can do is keep the plant warm to aid with speeding up digestion. In any case, it should be fine if you are giving it good care.

Would wager the plant just uses what it needs from the various sources to survive and grow. I agree with Matt, I've personally never had a plant die back from being overfed using their natural functions. When my plants were really small I would try to fill whatever traps were large enough to use. The plant will likely look boring for a time and a couple traps may go black but it'll be fine.

But this certainly a good time to review the info on VFTs. They're unique in how they're grown but they aren't difficult if you can provide its basic needs.

Thanks y'all <3 I put Cerberus near my lamp so he'd be warm, and a few of his heads are already starting to open up again (I think). I was pretty worried for a hot minute there, but I'm really glad he's gonna be okay, and I definitely won't pull a "try it and see what happens" anymore

The way i think of it is that the plant needs light for energy more then it needs to be fed(fertilizer). it is a plant after all and needs to be treated like a plant.

Traps can only feed 3 to 4 times max so i think letting the trap last longer getting more photosynthesis over its life time would be better over all for the plant.

Just my 2c, i keep my plants out side and don't feed so i am no expert

I would say don’t worry.
I’ve done that so many times, running out of open traps to feed when I got my first VFT.

It just grew so big and fast. Now I’m less enthusiastic cos I have many more plants and they just grow slower.

Please give more light and not let the nutrients go to waste.

The “overfeeding a Venus flytrap” nonsense is just that, nonsense. I can’t ever get a photo of my plants outside with a beautiful mass of waiting traps, because they rarely have an open trap through the entire summer. What happens? They grow.

I don’t know who actually comes up with this kind of misinformation. Probably the same people who think that a bloom stalk will kill your plant. Or that water from the top will kill your plant. (Remember the Great Flytrap Die-Off that time it rained in North Carolina? Me neither.)


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Also, where do you live? A flytrap should be dormant now, outside *if your climate allows.* You can skip dormancy a couple years in a row if you give them enough hours under a good grow light, but they will grow a lot better if they get that dormancy.


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