Question
Hey my man Steve, what's crackin?!

I had a question pertaining to venus flytrap seedlings. Once the flytraps have germinated and they are actively growing, would you recommend letting grow for a couple of seasons before allowing them thier dormancy period? Or would it be better to let them experience a dormancy period before their second growing season??

BTW, my 'Big Vigorous' flytraps are already starting to perk up in the greenhouse. They will be a botanical force to be reckoned with...bring it own bugs! LOL

Thank you,

Derick

Answer
Hello Derick-- Venus Flytraps are used to sprouting the same year as the seed are produced, and usually grow for about half a season before dormancy sets in for adult Venus Flytraps. In nature of course, the little baby Venus Flytraps become dormant at that time as well.

However, when grown indoors where heat can be controlled, Venus Flytrap seed can be germinated and baby Venus Flytraps grown at any time of the year, including when other Venus Flytraps would normally be dormant. What happens is that after a certain number of months of growing, the baby Venus Flytrap plants seem to expect a dormancy and slow down their growth drastically, even if that time happens to be in the middle of summer and the growing season (if the Venus Flytraps were germinated during the previous winter, for example). At that point their growth will stall, but it's not necessary to give them cool dormancy conditions. Instead, after some weeks they will start growing again.

Then, as the young Venus Flytraps become a little more mature, it's good to sync them with the seasons and allow them to become dormant when all of their brothers and sisters do so, perhaps after a year and a half to two years' worth of growth.

So the baby Venus Flytraps determine their own time to go through a stall in growth that would approximate a natural dormancy, and it's OK to keep the very young plants in normal growing conditions throughout that first year and a half, and just be aware that they will more or less stop growing for a while sometime during that period, although no special treatment of them is necessary when they are that young, and they will grow more mature more rapidly during that time than if they had been forced into a dormancy.

Best wishes,
Steve