Question

colorado giant   i purchases a "medium" sized Colorado giant flytrap in May. it arrived with large healthy traps. i replanted it as directed using poor soil and was kept in full sun and always moist using rain water and occasionally distilled water. Once the traps died off it has only had tiny traps coming back since. I live in southern NY so its almost time for the plant to go into dormancy state anyway but i was wondering if theres some reason the plant stopped producing larger traps all summer. picture attached taken just now.

Answer
Thank you for supplying the photo.  This helps me out a lot.  Based on the information and photo, there are a couple issues that could be possible.  The first is the soil.  You mentioned using "poor soil," but that could mean a lot of things.  Specifically, flytraps need acidic soil that's low in nitrogen and minerals.  Using the wrong type of soil can cause your plant to produce smaller traps.  We recommend using sphagnum peat moss and perlite.  Based on your photo, the soil doesn't have the right color for peat moss, so I suspect you're using something else.  I can see that you're using lots of granules for drainage.  It's best to use perlite, pumice or horticultural sand for drainage because they are non-reactive.  Other types of granules may cause the soil to become alkaline.

Another possibility is insufficient light.  You mentioned full sun, but the plant doesn't look like it was grown in full sun.  It actually has the classic signs of being grown in a windowsill or in partial shade.  These signs include lack of red pigments, small traps, numerous leaves.  These signs occur when the plant is trying to increase photosynthesis because of decrease light levels.

In horticultural terms, full sun is defined as 6 or more hours of direct, unobstructed sunlight.  If you're growing your plant in a windowsill (something we do not recommend), you may not be getting sufficient ultraviolet light, which is necessary for optimal plant growth and color.  Glass will reduce UV transmission, even if you provide the recommended hours of sunlight.  (We grow our flytraps strictly outdoors in full sun, and all of them have large, colorful traps.)

Those are the two main issues I see for the time being.  I recommend changing the soil if you're not using peat moss and perlite.  If you have your plant in a windowsill, you'll need to keep it there until the following spring.  It's already too late to transition it to outdoor growing since the first frost is coming soon.  With indoor growing, you simply have to accept the fact that plants will not look as large or as colorful than if it were growing outdoors.  You also have to accept the fact that the plant will live for only a year or two.  (I tried growing flytraps in my home.  The longest I could keep them alive was 18 months.)

For more information on growing flytraps, read our care sheet on our main website.
http://www.cobraplant.com/caresheets

For additional information on growing flytraps, watch Volume 1 of the Grow Carnivorous Plants DVD series.
http://www.cobraplant.com/DVD

I also recommend perusing through our photo gallery and watching our monthly video podcast.  You can see how we grow these plants at our nursery.
http://www.cobraplant.com/gallery
http://www.cobraplant.com/videos

Good growing!
Jacob Farin