Question
We live in Pittsburgh Pa.  My 8 year old daughter wants a venus fly trap. Is this good choice? What easy carnivorous plants would you recommend for indoor growing through the cold winter months here with artifical or window sunlight.
THANKS

Answer
Hi Lisa,  

Ahh, this is always the first desire of a young new carnivorous plant grower, but not a great first plant.  Because Venus flytraps are actually a Zone 8 perennial, and a U.S. native, they do best outside.  Consequently, like all perennials this time of year, they loose most of their leaves and are dormant.  All of our flytraps in the nursery are outside in Oregon and regularly experience freezes.  Spring is the best time to purchase a Venus flytrap.

However, a great indoor plant would be the Cape Sundew (Drosera capensis).  It's a sub-tropical, does well in sunny windows or under fluorescent lights, and is fun to watch catch insects on its sticky leaves.  They do move some also, just not as fast as flytraps.  Due to the short days in winter you'll get your best growth out of a Cape sundew if you use a combination of window light and something like fluorescent light.  (Fluorescent desklamps work well.)  For more information visit:  http://cobraplant.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=26_15&products_id=1...
For more information on growing them visit our caresheet pages at http://www.cobraplant.com/caresheets

Also, if you check out the video slideshow, Encounters, we have on the website, we have lots of photos of Cape sundews capturing insects.


Good Growing!

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