Hello sutalli,

Venus Flytraps are North American plants that go dormant in the winter and are best grown outside in full sun. They are just like any other plant except they require acid soil (sphagnum peat moss in the dry bales and regular perlite or horticultural sand with no additives to any ingrediants in 50/50 mix of moss to whichever drainage material you choose), no fertilizer in their soil media, and soft water like distilled, rain, or reverse osmosis water. Hard water, fertilizer, copper based, and soap based products would all be harmful to the plant as would any salts or minerals that add calcium, magnesium, potassium and such, not to mention the non-mineral nitrogen byproducts in fertilizer, to their soil. It is safe to say that almost all carnivorous plants are deadly allergic to fertilizers in their soil.

Venus Flytraps live in peat bogs in North Carolina, getting full sun, temperatures of 100 degrees Fahrenheit in summer max and down to 30 degrees or so in winter. From November to February they go dormant and rest, living off of their rhizome like root starch reserves, sometimes called a bulb.

You could make a mini bog for them by digging up a section of ground, placing a pool liner in it, and filling it with the acid soil mix. You could create a water section with stones or other materials, like ceramic or plastic, just make sure that they do not have any dangerous minerals like lime that cement or some other materials might have. That water section could be like a moat around the plants or on one side of the bog setup. Just make it so that it is well drained and does not waterlog the plants. You might just bury the pots in the bog so you could dig them up whenever you want. The winters in Georgia get a little colder than in North Carolina, so you might want to think about mulching or covering the plants during really cold winter days below 30 degrees to keep them from freeze drying.

What type of pitcher plants did you buy? There are five different genera of pitcher plants. There are the North American Sarracenias and Darlingtonias, Asian Nepenthes, Australian Cephalotus, and South American Heliamphora. Each has it's own environmental quirks. The Sarracenias are temperate plants like the Venus Flytrap and can be placed in almost identical conditions except the Sarracenias like even more water. Venus Flytraps like their soil always moist, but their roots above the water line. Sarracenias like their root tips right in the water and their soil very damp. Other than that, they go dormant and like full sun like Venus Flytraps.

Nepenthes are tropicals, so would require very different conditions.

In any event, the last place a Venus Flytrap should be is in a terrarium inside. They can adapt to low humidity just fine and need bright light. Closed terrarium conditions also increase the risk of mold and infections. More Venus Flytraps die in terrariums inside than in pots outside. The reason that people think that Venus Flytraps are tropicals is that the hardware stores often sell those weak little flytraps in the barely lit indoors tropical section with humidity domes over them. A couple of weeks after buying them, they often die from light starvation and mold infection.

What company did you buy them from?

Yeah... what he said! I would create a small bog with the big bales of sphagnum peat, that one could purchase at Home Depot or Lowes. Your climate is close enough to be able to cultivate them year round, outside.

sphagnum peat moss in the dry bales..... meaning the sphagnum peat moss is dryed out? I've never dealt with sphagnum peat moss before so I am assuning you break up the sphagnum peat moss and mix in the perlite so it is all mixed together?

Where would I get horticultural sand?

So water from my fauset is no good for the plants? I have a well that is loaded with minerals (sulfer), would this water be ok?

When you say distilled water do you mean like the bottled watewr you but?

I have a creek running through my property, would this water be ok?

The pitchers I bought are Sarracenia Northwest (hooded pitcher and sweet pitcher)

Sorry for all the seemingly stupid questions but I want these plants to live.

I bought them from cobraplant.com

Hi sutalli,

I buy from cobraplant.com too. They have some great care sheets on their site that can help you with the plants.

1. Yes, the bales are large cubes a couple feet across in plastic wrap and dry. It will say something like Canadian premium sphagnum peat on the side. Just mix the perlite up in it and add water until it is chocolate brown and moist to the touch. Then it is ready for your plants.

2. A plant nursery would probably have the sand if you use it, but if you use perlite, you really wont need to.

3. Tap water from the faucet is only ok for carnivorous plants if it is less than 50-100 parts per million in hardness (calcium and magnesium minerals and salts). The well water sounds ok if it only has sulfur in it and no other minerals like calcium or magnesium. Sulfur is one substance that the plants are fine with, so long as it is not lime sulfur. Lime would change the acidity of the soil and rot the roots eventually. The creek would also need to be checked for mineral content. You never know, it might run through a mineral deposit. Yes, distilled water like from the bottled water that says distilled water. If it says drinking water it is full of salt and minerals, so is no good. The water vending machines often have reverse osmosis water that would be good to give carnivorous plants, so long as it says steam distillation, carbon filtered, mineral content removed. If it says salt or minerals added for taste, it is drinking water and should not be used.

I just got a Sweet pitcher (Sarracenia rubra) too. The hooded pitcher is Sarracenia minor, I haven't raised any of those yet, but their care is much the same as the sweet pitcher.

Those are not stupid questions. You are doing the right thing by ensuring that you gather all the information you can to raise your plants properly. I only wished I had done the same when I was 10 years old so I would not have killed all my carnivorous plants the first time around.

Keep up the good work and you will gather all the info you need to be a pro at raising carnivorous plants.