How to Raise Carnivorous Plants

Co-authored by Lauren Kurtz

Last Updated: September 16, 2021 References

There’s nothing cooler than watching a carnivorous plant trap and eat bugs like flies, spiders, or even beetles! While these amazing plants aren’t the easiest to grow, with some time and patience you can raise carnivorous plants to be big and strong. There are tons of different plants to choose from, so you’ll need to pick one that works with your lifestyle and environment. You can then germinate the seed. Once you’ve got some seedlings, get ready to wait a while for them to mature to become full-grown indoor or outdoor plants.

Part 1

Part 1 of 3:

Picking Your Plant

Cape sundews will do well in bright greenhouses or even on a windowsill that gets lots of light. Unlike lots of other carnivorous plants, they don’t need to spend part of the year in a lower-temperature “dormancy period.” You also won’t be able to overwater these guys -- they love being wet!
2
Choose Sarracenia for a good outdoor plant. So long as you’ve got a spot in your garden with full sun, these trumpet-like pitcher plants are for you! There are lots of different Sarracenia varieties that can stay outdoors all year round. They appreciate warm to hot summers and high humidity, and they thrive in in-ground bogs or outdoor pots.^{[1]
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- Sarracenia purpura does just fine in areas with shorter growing seasons and freezing temperatures over the winter, such as in the Northeastern United States or Southern Canada.^{[2]
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- Some Sarracenia varieties, including psittancina, rosea, and minor, do better in areas that don’t experience harsh winters or long periods of freezing temperatures.^{[3]
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Grow a marsh pitcher plant if you want to keep it inside. Marsh pitcher plants, also called Heliamphora, appreciate a cooler indoor environment. They need lots of light, water, and high humidity, and they’ll do well in any room where you can provide these elements. These plants produce attractive red-greenish “pitchers” that catch their prey.^{[4]
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- These plants are pretty picky about temperature and light -- they need a cool spot and lots of sunlight! Because they’re so temperamental, they’re not great for beginners.^{[5]
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There are lots of different varieties of butterwort, but an easy one to grow is the Mexican Pinguicula. This pretty little plant produces purple flowers and rosettes of silvery leaves. They do well as houseplants so long as they’re kept next to a bright window.^{[6]
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These guys are so cool they’ve inspired Broadway musicals! Like Sarracenia, Venus fly traps thrive in outdoor full-sun spots that don’t drop below about 20℉ (about -6℃) during the winter.^{[7]
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Part 2

Part 2 of 3:

Germinating the Seeds

1
Germinate outdoor plants outside in the fall. If you’re planting Sarracenia or Venus flytraps outdoors, you can germinate the seeds in a pot outside. Choose a spot that gets full sun exposure and sprinkle the seeds over a 1:1 mixture of coarse sand and peat in a pot that’s 6 inches (15 cm) deep. Mist the soil with distilled water until it’s fully damp.^{[9]
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- Plant before the first frost occurs in your area, but after the weather has turned chilly.
- Use a tarp to keep heavy rain off your seeds. Remove the cover when the sun’s out.
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Pick up a 3x3 inch (8x8 cm) pot for indoor germination. Choose a plastic or ceramic pot. You’ll also need a small tray to keep under the pot. Block off the draining holes at the bottom of the pot with small squares of polypropylene weed block cloth. This will keep the damp soil from draining into the water tray.^{[10]
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- You can buy weed block cloth at your local nursery or online. The fabric will probably come in pretty large swaths, so use a utility knife to cut a square that fits inside your small pot. Set aside the leftover in your garage.
- You’ll only need one pot for all the seeds.
3
Start germinating in early spring or late fall. To stick with the plant’s normal growth cycle, start germinating in either late fall or early spring. If you’re germinating seeds that you plan to transplant outdoors once they’ve matured a bit, it’s better to begin in early spring.^{[11]
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- Indoor plants are a little more flexible. You can actually start the germination process for these plants at any time during the year.
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Make a 1:1 mixture of sand and peat for the soil. Use silica sand number 12, which is a coarse sand meant for planting. In a small bucket, mix it with peat moss to make an equal-parts potting soil. Dampen the sand and peat to make mixing easier. Both of these materials will be available online.^{[12]
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- Do not use beach or building sand.
- Local nurseries and retailers may not carry these potting materials, since they’re specialty items.
- For Mexican Pinguicula butterwort, use a mixture of equal parts peat, coarse sand, and perlite. You can then add about a tablespoon (14.18 g) of dolomite lime per cup of soil (about 225 g). These materials will also be available online.^{[13]
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- For marsh pitcher plants (or Heliamphora), use an equal-parts mixture of sphagnum moss, coarse sand, and aquatic plant soil.^{[14]
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Use a scoop or trowel to transfer the mixture to your pot. Fill the pot to the top, but loosely. You can then gently pack down the soil, but don’t pack it too tight. The soil will expand with water later.^{[15]
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Sprinkle the seeds over the soil and mist the pot. Distribute the seeds evenly across the surface of the soil. Do not bury them. Use a spray bottle to mist the seeds with distilled water until the soil is damp. Then pour a little water inside a resealable plastic bag and put the pot inside. Now seal it up!^{[16]
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- If you’re germinating Sarracenia seeds indoors, they need to have an artificial winter in the fridge before they’re ready to germinate. Dampen some peat soil and use it to loosely fill a small, resealable plastic bag. Put the seeds in the bag with the peat and leave the bag in the refrigerator for 4 weeks. You can then transfer the seeds to the pot.^{[17]
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Over the next several weeks, keep checking the soil. If it’s dried out, re-mist it. Always use distilled water. Keep the room where you’re germinating at about 70-80℉ (about 20-25℃)^{[18]
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Keep the seeds under fluorescent lights for 4+ weeks. Your pots should be kept about 6-10 inches (15-25 cm) from the lights. Check for signs of germination after 3 weeks, but keep the pots in the sealed bags until the seedlings look like they’ve fully rooted into the soil. This could take a few months.^{[19]
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- Rooted seedlings will look more stable and mature, and they shouldn’t appear as though they’re just “floating” on top of the soil. They’ll also have some “true leaves,” such as ones with traps if you’re growing Venus flytraps.^{[20]
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Part 3

Part 3 of 3:

Caring for Your Plant

While most carnivorous plants like the same things, they all have unique needs! It’s best to do a little online research to find out how to take care of your particular plant as it matures and grows over the next several years.^{[21]
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Move seedlings to a greenhouse or bright windowsill. Once your seedlings are mature, you can take them out of their plastic bag. They can now be moved to bright greenhouses or windowsills. Be sure they’re getting plenty of sunlight, however! ^{[22]
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- For plants that you’re keeping inside (like butterwort and Cape sundews), these conditions will continue to work for years to come!^{[23]
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- If you’re concerned your plants aren’t getting enough light, continue to use 25W fluorescent lights on them. Turn off the lights at night.
3
Give your plants plenty of distilled water. Keep your pots in water trays and add water to the tray frequently, never allowing the soil to dry out. You shouldn’t top water carnivorous plants. While a light misting works if the soil feels dry, they’ll do much better drawing water up from their trays. There should always be a few centimeters (about an inch) of water in the tray.^{[24]
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- Top watering is when you pour water onto the surface of the soil surrounding the plants using something like a watering can. Carnivorous plants prefer “bottom watering,” which means that you pour water into the tray you keep beneath the pots.^{[25]
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Feed seedlings and mature plants dried blood worms. Unless your plants are outside catching bugs, you need to feed them. Buy a container of pure blood worms online or at your local pet store. You can then feed your plants by following these steps:^{[26]
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- Put a small amount of dried worms onto a plate you use only for this purpose.
- Add a few drops of water to the plate to rehydrate the worms.
- Use a toothpick to spear some wet worms and put them in the plant’s trap. Use tweezers to very gently “seal” the trap once it closes on the worms.
- Pitcher plants, Sarracenia, Pinguicula (butterwort), and many other carnivorous plants prefer a “dusting” of worms. Grind a few worms into powder then dip a toothpick in water. Touch the wet toothpick to the dust and bring the dust pieces into the pitcher or onto the leaves of these plants.
5
Transplant mature seedlings if they’ll grow well outdoors. Some carnivorous plants do great in pots outdoors once the seedlings are established. Go online to see if your particular carnivorous plant will thrive outside in your area.^{[27]
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- For most plants, you can keep using the peat and sand soil mixture. Make sure you put the pots in a spot with full-sun exposure. Use a water tray underneath the plant to make sure the soil stays moist.
- Venus flytraps need humid conditions. If you live in an extremely hot and dry region, you may need to keep this plant inside.
- Unless you can create a mini-bog in your garden, carnivorous plants will need to be kept in pots outdoors. Planting them in normal gardens won’t provide them with enough water.
6
Monitor the humidity and temperature for indoor plants. Generally, carnivorous plants like a warmer, humid environment. You may need to invest in a humidifier and keep the plants’ room at about 70-80℉ (21-27℃). However, you should go online and look up your plant’s specific growing guide to be sure you’re giving it what it needs!
- Pitcher plants, for example, need a growing area kept at 70% humidity (or more) with a temperature of 60-68℉ (16-20℃). Place the pots by a bright windowsill or under fluorescents. Keep about ¼ inch (0.63 cm) of water in their water tray to make sure the soil stays moist. If you need to use fluorescents, keep a small fan by the plants to ensure they stay cool.
7
Avoid using any fertilizers on or near most carnivorous plants. Venus flytraps, sundews, butterworts, and most other carnivorous plants don’t need fertilizers. In fact, they hate them! Be sure to look up your particular plant’s growing guide online before you fertilize.^{[28]
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- Sarracenia in its seedling and juvenile phases (the first year or so of growth) grows well if you add a small amount of pelleted fertilizer high in nitrogen to its soil. Use a slow-release fertilizer at the beginning of the growing season in spring. You only need about 4-6 pellets per small pot.
- Pitcher plants also appreciate a bit of fertilizer. Once the seedlings are mature, spray a fertilizer with high nitrogen but no urea content onto to the plants.^{[29]
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8
Allow most indoor plants to have a dormancy period. If you’ve got Sarracenia, Venus flytraps, pitcher plants, or some varieties of sundew in pots inside, give them a rest period for about 10 weeks beginning at the start of winter. The plants will begin to wilt and their leaves may turn brown or black. Don’t worry, they’re not dying! To provide dormancy, simply:^{[31]
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- Put the plants on an unheated porch. The nighttime temperatures should drop to about 32-55℉ (0-13℃).^{[32]
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- Slightly reduce the amount of water you give the plants. While the soil shouldn’t be allowed to dry out, it shouldn’t be wet or even extremely damp.^{[33]
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- Mexican pinguicula only needs seasonal light cues. If you’re just using sunlight, it’ll get less light naturally. For fluorescents, reduce the amount of light you give them by a few hours per day.^{[34]
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Expert Q&A

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Question

How should I prepare my 2 month old sarracenia minor seedlings for the upcoming Californian winter. It usually does not get colder than 55 degrees F.

Lauren Kurtz
Professional Gardener
Lauren Kurtz is a Naturalist and Horticultural Specialist. Lauren has worked for Aurora, Colorado managing the Water-Wise Garden at Aurora Municipal Center for the Water Conservation Department. She earned a BA in Environmental and Sustainability Studies from Western Michigan University in 2014.

Lauren Kurtz

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Expert Answer

You can leave your seedlings outside but bring them inside if the temperature drops below 32 degrees F. Reduce watering but not by much. Add a layer of mulch around your seedlings to insulate the pot. To be safe, put your seedlings in a cool spot inside for the winter, such as a basement or shed.

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Question

Why are my nepenthes turning black on the bottom of the leaves?

Lauren Kurtz
Professional Gardener
Lauren Kurtz is a Naturalist and Horticultural Specialist. Lauren has worked for Aurora, Colorado managing the Water-Wise Garden at Aurora Municipal Center for the Water Conservation Department. She earned a BA in Environmental and Sustainability Studies from Western Michigan University in 2014.

Lauren Kurtz

Professional Gardener

Expert Answer

This could be that your plant has experienced a stress and is in shock. This can happen from moving location or transplanting. If you don’t think your plant is in shock, it could be going dormant. This will happen every fall and is natural, keep your plant moist and keep it in a sunny location. Make sure to feed your nepenthes mealworms or crickets every once and awhile if it is kept inside.

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Why is my Venus flytrap turning black?

Caeiia

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That's normal, after a few feedings a head will die off. Don't worry, there will be new growths!

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Tips

You'll know you've been successful as a carnivorous horticulturist if your plants are catching bugs by themselves, producing many leaves or traps, and are strong and stiff to the touch.

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Respected carnivorous plant nurseries are usually the best place to buy plants and seeds. You can find these nurseries online.

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Dormancy extends the life of carnivorous plants. Outdoor plants will experience this rest period naturally, which is why you need to simulate the conditions for indoor plants.

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Warnings

Never let your carnivorous plants dry out completely. Unlike normal plants, these bog plants will not recover from dehydration. To avoid this, check your plants every day to ensure there is at least some water in their tray.

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Never use tap or well water on your carnivorous plants. The minerals in the water will kill them. It’s best to use distilled water (which you can buy at the grocery store) or rainwater if you’d like to collect that.

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