Question
Hi. I'm a 12 year old vft grower from the south of england (near London) and I am wondering about my vft. It sits on my bedroom window sill (which is east facing). The sun is blocked by a few houses but it gets direct sunlight from 11-1 o'clock. We bought it from a local garden centre which gave us no information about the plant so we don't know what soil it is in. I have had the plant for 2 months now and there has been no need to repot it yet. We give it rain water. My problem is that it is the 1st of september but small brown circles are appearing near the edge of some of the leaves so im worried that it might be going into dormancy early and I have no clue what to do with it. Im not sure if the temperature is right for it. So could you suggest whether inside or outside dormancy would be best and if that is what is going on with my plant.   sorry there is no picture I took one but my laptop is misbehaving.

Answer
Hi Leah,

Two hours of sun in your window is woefully inadequate light for a Venus Flytrap.  They are full sun plants, and by that I mean the kind of sun you would need for a vegetable garden.  Almost all the carnivorous plants from North America are like that with very few being shade tolerant.  Problems you may be starting to see most likely relate to the lack of sun.

I'm going to send you to this link on our webpage about growing Venus Flytraps.  As you read, keep in mind that your climate in the U.K. is very similar to ours here in the Pacific Northwest of the U.S.  What works for us should be work well there too.  After reading the article, feel free to visit me back here at Allexperts if you have additional questions.  http://www.growcarnivorousplants.com/Articles.asp?ID=257

Good Growing!

Jeff Dallas
Sarracenia Northwest
http://www.growcarnivorousplants.com