Question
I Have a Venus Fly trap. I give  it water when it looks dry at the bottom.I put it in sunlight during the day and darker places at night.my bedroom is most of the time 69 degrees.I feed it house flies every week.My Venus fly trap has peat and sphagnum moss.I got this plant from Lowes.When I checked my plant,one of my Venus fly traps suspiciously was black and had white fuzziness all over it.My question is,why is that?

Answer
Hi Connie,

It's normal for traps to turn black.  They live for only a couple months.  After that they die off.  As long as the plant is growing in the proper growing conditions and you see new growth, your plant is healthy.  

However, the white fuzz is a problem.  It's likely fungus.  You mentioned that you got the plant from the hardware store.  By any chance do you have the humidity dome over it?  If so, this is the likely cause of the fungus.  Humidity domes are breeding grounds for fungus and mold because of the constant high humidity.

You'll need to treat this immediately with a sulfur fungicide.  You can find prepared solutions of this at your local garden center.  Follow the directions on the bottle.

I'll also recommend growing your plant outdoors.  There's no need to bring it indoors at night.  At our nursery in Oregon, we grow flytraps exclusively outdoors.  For general growing recommendations, read our care sheet online:
http://www.cobraplant.com/caresheets

For more details about growing Venus flytraps and other North American carnivorous plants, watch our DVD:
http://www.cobraplant.com/DVD

For myth-busting information about humidity, visit our photo gallery on the subject:
http://www.cobraplant.com/humidity

Good growing!
Jacob Farin